Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Missouri
My father died May 2011 and per his will, his life insurance was split between his 3 biological children and his stepson. Dad lived with my stepbrother and had his name on his bank account so that my stepbrother could write checks and make withdrawls for Dad. After the funeral, my stepbrother told us that there was only enough money to pay for the funeral in Dad's account. I was suspicious of this but never questioned him. Now, a year later, I found out from a reliable source that there was money, but my stepbrother kept it for himself. How do I go about getting copies of Dad's bank statements? The bank won't do anything since my name wasn't on the account. I live in California and Dad lived in Missouri.
2 Answer from Attorneys
Until an estate is opened, you don't really have any power to demand your fathers bank records. Unfortunately, in Missouri, you only have one after the date of death to submit a will for probate. As for the stepbrother being the other one on the account, unless he was specially placed as an agent signor onlyh, the funds in the account probably became his to ujse as he saw fit, after yhour fathers death. The good news is that if a probate estagte has not been opened, the sgtepchildren inherit nothing. The estgagte would rougghly pass one half tol the surviving spoujse, and one half to the children not of the survivng spoujse. As for the life insurance, unless the beneficary was a trust, the will does not control who gets the payout, the deisgnation in the policyh does.
Good luck
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