Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Michigan
Trust
My father just passed away. He had a checking account that was not a part of the trust, and no beneficiary on it. Can the successor of the trust (my uncle) use the money in checking to pay off funeral costs, my dad's last house payment(bless his heart he only had one more house payment)? The only other thing my father owed was $8000 on a car loan. He has about 40,000 in checking. The trust states that he wanted it to be 50/50 between my brother and I. My father told me about the trust, and thought everything was set in place. He really did not want us to have to deal with probate. He changed his life insurance policies to me, but still had my deceased mother on savings and retirement. My husband and I thought we wanted to set up a living trust, but, now I just don't know the best route. I feel really bad that my dad was misinformed. He paid a lot of money for things to still have to go to probate.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Trust
Since there are no beneficiaries, the checking account will need to go through probate. Funeral costs and bills can be paid with the funds in the estate.
A living trust can still be an effective way to avoid probate. If the checking account had been a part of the trust, then there would be no need for it to go through probate.
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
