Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
Does the monies belong to me or the estate?
My father passed away on April 30, 2007. He and I had a joint checking account. on the day he passed away his income tax return check was deposited into our account. My sister had the probate attorney write me a letter stating that i needed to write a check to his estate acoount for the monies that were deposited that day. I'm just a beneficary and my brother and sister are the excuetors of dads estate. I also had gave my sister half of the monies that was left in the checking account.This has turned into a ugly situation. Can I leagally ask for her to give me the money back or is this a hard lesson learned.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Does the monies belong to me or the estate?
The money was his, of course. Did he endorse the check? If not, it belonged to the estate and the money should go back. Wherever wound up with the money would be liable on an unjust enrichment theory. If he did endorse it, you can take the position that the money did not go into the estate because it was a lifetime gift, given during his life to you for deposit into his joint account.
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