What is the name of your state? Oklahoma, but the probate law is applicable to Massachusetts.
DEAR USAAIRCRAFT from Massachusetts:
You had posted a message on 6-3-2002 entitled "Overseas Millions" but the message has disappeared. You had asked about what could you do to claim some funds that were being held in Africa for a business partner of yours. I don't know if you or someone else deleted your message, but I thought it was important enough that I should respond.
You were very smart to realize that falsely filing as next-of-kin would be improper, illegal and fraudulent.
Estates are normally, primarily, probated in the country where the death occurred. However, the estate of an American citizen can be probated, secondarily, in the US in every state where he may have assets (money or property) that need to be claimed, especially in whatever city/county where his primary residence was whenever he lived in the US.
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DO YOU WANT TO BE ADMINISTRATOR/EXECUTOR OF HIS ESTATE?
You can file paperwork at the Massachusetts courthouse probate court to become administrator/executor of his estate (if he has no will, your title will be administrator--if he has a will, your title will be executor), or you could hire a probate attorney to perform that function. Soon after you file, the court will issue to the administrator "letters testamentary", a document giving the administrator the legal, official authority to start claiming all of the decedent's assets.
It would be smart to order about 5 certified copies of the letters testamentary, as you will need to present certified copies of the letters to any agencies/companies to claim any monies/properties.
Of course, it is the certified copy of the letters testamentary that you would present to the lawyer or bank in Africa to claim that money.
To get an idea of the responsibilities and modest amounts of paperwork involved in being an executor, visit your local library to check out a book called "THE EXECUTOR'S HANDBOOK" or something similar.
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GET ADVICE ABOUT CREATING A TRUST
THE MAIN THING YOU NEED TO DO is to consult with any one or more of the following professionals to decide whether you would want to do the simple paperwork to create a trust for these millions: the trust department of a local bank, a CPA (certified public accountant), or a fee-only estate financial planner (any of which can be found in your local yellow pages).
A trust would give you the advantage of bypassing probate and therefore reducing all or most of the federal and/or state income tax burden that you would normally have to pay, reducing it to the least amount of taxes possible, leaving more money for you to spend.
YOU MUST HAVE YOUR FINANCIAL STRATEGY PLANNED IN ADVANCE, BEFORE THE WIRE TRANSFER OCCURS, since the bank handling the transaction (your bank) is automatically required by federal law to report to the IRS the fact of any transactions that occur over the amount of $10,000, so you need to already have a federal tax ID number already established for the trust, and you must know what you need to do (be prepared to pay taxes) when the IRS contacts you (soon after the wire transfer is done, maybe a few days or a few weeks), requesting tax payment on that money.
IF YOU DON'T CREATE A TRUST, most of the money you will receive will be eaten up in taxes, probably about 50% to 70% of it.
You will also need to have the CPA or the trust department, at some future date, prepare for you an estate tax return or a trust tax return.
Send me an e-mail message so I can send you a few more important details that apply to your situation, which is certainly a unique one and a happy one!
DANDY DON ([email protected])
DEAR USAAIRCRAFT from Massachusetts:
You had posted a message on 6-3-2002 entitled "Overseas Millions" but the message has disappeared. You had asked about what could you do to claim some funds that were being held in Africa for a business partner of yours. I don't know if you or someone else deleted your message, but I thought it was important enough that I should respond.
You were very smart to realize that falsely filing as next-of-kin would be improper, illegal and fraudulent.
Estates are normally, primarily, probated in the country where the death occurred. However, the estate of an American citizen can be probated, secondarily, in the US in every state where he may have assets (money or property) that need to be claimed, especially in whatever city/county where his primary residence was whenever he lived in the US.
------------------------------------------------------
DO YOU WANT TO BE ADMINISTRATOR/EXECUTOR OF HIS ESTATE?
You can file paperwork at the Massachusetts courthouse probate court to become administrator/executor of his estate (if he has no will, your title will be administrator--if he has a will, your title will be executor), or you could hire a probate attorney to perform that function. Soon after you file, the court will issue to the administrator "letters testamentary", a document giving the administrator the legal, official authority to start claiming all of the decedent's assets.
It would be smart to order about 5 certified copies of the letters testamentary, as you will need to present certified copies of the letters to any agencies/companies to claim any monies/properties.
Of course, it is the certified copy of the letters testamentary that you would present to the lawyer or bank in Africa to claim that money.
To get an idea of the responsibilities and modest amounts of paperwork involved in being an executor, visit your local library to check out a book called "THE EXECUTOR'S HANDBOOK" or something similar.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
GET ADVICE ABOUT CREATING A TRUST
THE MAIN THING YOU NEED TO DO is to consult with any one or more of the following professionals to decide whether you would want to do the simple paperwork to create a trust for these millions: the trust department of a local bank, a CPA (certified public accountant), or a fee-only estate financial planner (any of which can be found in your local yellow pages).
A trust would give you the advantage of bypassing probate and therefore reducing all or most of the federal and/or state income tax burden that you would normally have to pay, reducing it to the least amount of taxes possible, leaving more money for you to spend.
YOU MUST HAVE YOUR FINANCIAL STRATEGY PLANNED IN ADVANCE, BEFORE THE WIRE TRANSFER OCCURS, since the bank handling the transaction (your bank) is automatically required by federal law to report to the IRS the fact of any transactions that occur over the amount of $10,000, so you need to already have a federal tax ID number already established for the trust, and you must know what you need to do (be prepared to pay taxes) when the IRS contacts you (soon after the wire transfer is done, maybe a few days or a few weeks), requesting tax payment on that money.
IF YOU DON'T CREATE A TRUST, most of the money you will receive will be eaten up in taxes, probably about 50% to 70% of it.
You will also need to have the CPA or the trust department, at some future date, prepare for you an estate tax return or a trust tax return.
Send me an e-mail message so I can send you a few more important details that apply to your situation, which is certainly a unique one and a happy one!
DANDY DON ([email protected])