Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania
Assets Siezed by Relative
My uncle recently passed away. During his life, he purchased numerous US Savings Bonds listing me as the co owner. I was unaware of the existence of these bonds until he was hospitalized some time before his death, when they were discovered by my mother and two of her sisters. One of the sisters now has these bonds in her physical possession, and refuses to turn them over to me. No listing of serial numbers or denominations exists outside of the listing found with the bonds, and also now in her possession.
Do I have any recourse, and is there any way to obtain information about the bonds or have them replaced? My mother and other aunt tell me that the face values alone were several thousand dollars, and all would have reached maturity by now as they were purchased in the early 60s when I was a child.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Assets Siezed by Relative
Your question does not indicate whether your uncle had a will or not. In either event, an estate should be raised -- this means probating the will by filing it with the Register of Wills for the county in which your uncle resided at the time of his death, or if there was no will, seeking appointment as personal representative of the estate, which is done by making an application to the Register of Wills. The staff in the Registers' offices are helpful and can assist in this.
However, the person seeking appointment as personal representative should be aware that there are duties to administer the estate: to collect the assets and debts, to pay debts and all taxes on behalf of the decedent and his estate, and only after all of that has been done, to distribute assets.
Depending on exactly how the Savings Bonds were titled, you may be the owner of them as of the time of your uncle's death, or they may be part of his estate.
If your aunt was names as executrix in your uncle's will or was appointed personal representative, she has a duty to notify all heirs that an estate has been opened and to provide heirs with an accounting, showing what the assets and debts were and how the debts are being paid and the assets distributed. If distributions are made without paying all debts and without properly accounting for the estate administration, the personal representative (which includes executor/executrix) may have personal liability. This means that person would have to personally pay back to the estate the amounts improperly distributed.
You may go to the Register of Wills office to find out if any documents were filed in your uncle's estate.
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