Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

My mother passed away on May 03,2014, before she passed her jewelry was stolen and she had some water damage in one of her bedrooms from her cooler, so I made a claim on her homeowners policy. I am executor, POA, trustee of her estate. The insurance paid me two different checks and put them in her name, (I just received them Sept 10), and none of the banks will cash them even though I am POA and have death certificates, they say I need to have insurance make checks payable to the estate of, but the insurance says they won't do it, it needs to remain in my mothers name, What do I do now?


Asked on 9/22/14, 3:52 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Scott Jordan Jordan Law Office

I am sorry for your loss.

Your POA terminated on your mother's death. Your are the trustee of her estate and need to open an estate trust account. You should then be able to deposit the checks into that account. If not, the insurance company will need to re-issue the checks to you as trustee of the trust.

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Answered on 9/23/14, 9:28 am
Len Tillem Tillem McNichol & Brown

If you haven't filed for probate (if, for example, her estate is worth under $150,000 and isn't subject to probate in the courts) then if your mother still has a bank account in her name, you should be able to endorse the back of each check "for deposit only" with her account number and deposit the checks that way.

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Answered on 9/23/14, 12:33 pm


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