Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
My sister received a check for my portion of the sale of my father's house (deceased 2 years) made out as "Sister's name as trustee for My Name". She took it to her bank with the intention of depositing it into her account and sending a check to the firm where I have my investment account. Her bank will not cash the check. They say they need a trust attached to an account with "Sister's name as trustee for My Name". She would have set up an account but a trust was never created. How do we fix this? My sister lives in Florida, my dad's house was in New Mexico and I live in California.
3 Answers from Attorneys
Have the title or escrow company that handled the closing and issued the check, void the check and issue one made out properly.
Or have the money wired to your investment account directly.
Depending on what else the trust is doing, she needs to open a bank account for the trust, with her name as trustee. That should be done where the trust is administered.