Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Virginia
Executor shenanigans (an attorney, too!!)
I am one of six. Dad died 10 years ago; Mom (AZ resident) died 8/2006 with a trust. Co-executors are my sister ''Jane'' (a VA resident) and �Larry,� a brother, former attorney now going for his PhD (Oregon).
Larry wrote me saying my mother�s papers noted that in 1997 she had bought a savings bond for me �in the amount of $5,000 (or $10,000).� As I was divorcing in '97, she noted that she'd hold it in her bank box. Larry asked if I knew about the bond or had I ever seen it. (I lived with my mother briefly.) I said no. I then called the Treasury Dept to check.
(Jane later told me my sibs had gotten $10,000 that year but my mother thought it best not to send mine then.)
I now have my copy of the bond. It was apparently cashed the year after purchase and endorsed by Larry. It is in my name.
I sent Jane a copy. In a later call, I said that it looked like Larry�s signature. Jane said she �thought so too,� but she had talked to him and he had denied signing it or any knowledge of it.
Jane said that the question then is what would it be worth now. And, in a pique, I said perhaps Larry would owe me interest. Jane's reply was that ''you wouldn't have known if he hadn't told you.''
I suspect the whole process no
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Executor shenanigans (an attorney, too!!)
Forgery is a crime. As with any serious crime, of course, charges must first be brought against the accused after the matter has been appropriately investigated.
Re: Executor shenanigans (an attorney, too!!)
It seems to me that there are still some details missing in this story.
If it is true that the savings bond was in YOUR name, but someone else signed it, that needs to be investigated.
You say that all of your siblings got $10K that year, which was a good estate planning strategy at that time. It would be good if you can get admissions, such as a letter, from all of your siblings establishing this. That would clearly show that the plan was to give EVERYONE a $10K gift.
You will need to find out for certain if Larry was not simply cashing Larry's $10K, instead of yours.
It does seem odd that Larry would forge your name on the savings bond and then tell you about it. So you want to be certain about what happened here.
However, if you can determine who got the money you can sue them to get the money back, probably with interest.
The statute of limitations would be a problem, but in this case there are two ways you can sue to recover the money anyway.
If the savings bond "endorsement" was forged, you may be able to get the money from the Treasury and/or the bank on the theory that they should not have honored the forged signature. However, the statute of limitations may be a problem with that, even though you just discovered the problem.
Also consider whether your ex-husband may have somehow gotten his hands on the savings bond.
In general, this is not really a probate issue because it happened before your mother died. However, it would be possible for the executors to deduct money from one heir to make up the shortfall to another. Here, it is fairly obvious that the $10,000 was an advance inheritance, because all siblings got the same amount.
However, your mother's estate has the power to file lawsuits and recover money taken from her during her life and collect on debts, etc., etc. So the estate could act against anyone who wrongfully took the money.
But you also could probably just sue the person directly.
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