C
Complicated
Guest
What is the name of your state? IL
First of all, I would like to apologize if my english seems awkward. I live (and grew up) in Europe and english is my second language, so it might seem a little 'unnatural'.
Me and my mother recently heard of the passing of my great-aunt, who lived in Illinois. She left a sizeable estate which is to be distributed among three main benificiaries and several charities. My mother is one of those three benificiaries. This seems to pose several problems, as we learned from the co-executor of the will. Note that my great-aunts only living relatives are those mentioned below.
The "full" picture:
- three benificiaries: 1) 1 friend of my great-aunt, not related.
2) Neice of my great-aunt.
3) My mother, widow of my father(cousin).
Executor: the friend of my great-aunt, also benificiary.
Co-executor: Financial company that managed the trust (estate).
My mother was contacted by the co-executor several weeks ago with the message that she was one of the three benificiaries in my great-aunts will. The first thing she was asked to do was fill out a W8BEN form, because she is a non-US citizen but she does have a social-security number. The co-executor immediately mentioned to my mother that her non-citizenship would be a very big problem. The solution would be for my mother to disclaim her share of the trust in benefit of her children (me and my sister) who are US citizens. This raises several questions with me:
1) Is non-citizenship really such an obstacle that disclaiming, which seems a pretty big deal to me, is the only obvious solution?
2) Is it true that disclaiming would really benefit my mothers children (me & my sister) in this case? My mother is not directly related to my great-aunt, she was only married to my father(cousin) Is there a chance that her share, if she disclaims it, does not go to her own heirs or children, but to my great-aunts heirs? My great-aunt did not have any children and the first heir in line is her neice, who is one of the benificiaries.
Furthermore, we received the trust agreement from the co-executor, but not the will. We heard this week that the will was filed for probate, but the co-executor said it was not necessary for my mother to have a copy. If she does want a copy, can she request it from the county court where the will was filed?
The reason I'm asking these questions is that we are a long way from Illinois and it is very difficult for us to keep track of what these people are doing. Added to this, we can't seem to get any straight answers about anything. When my mother asked the same questions as stated above about disclaiming, the answer from the co-executor was that she "really wasn't sure" but would discuss it with someone over lunch
Why suggest something you can't explain? Furthermore, mail seems to get 'misdirected' a lot, especially when it's coming our way, causing everything to take twice as long. And perhaps the most interesting thing is that calling any of these people is only succesful if you use a 'secret' number (i.e. they can't see where you're calling from) If you don't block your number, phones simply aren't answered.
Finally: Is my mother at risk of being conned out of her share simply because it is too easy? Ruling out the foreigner? Do we need a lawyer?
First of all, I would like to apologize if my english seems awkward. I live (and grew up) in Europe and english is my second language, so it might seem a little 'unnatural'.
Me and my mother recently heard of the passing of my great-aunt, who lived in Illinois. She left a sizeable estate which is to be distributed among three main benificiaries and several charities. My mother is one of those three benificiaries. This seems to pose several problems, as we learned from the co-executor of the will. Note that my great-aunts only living relatives are those mentioned below.
The "full" picture:
- three benificiaries: 1) 1 friend of my great-aunt, not related.
2) Neice of my great-aunt.
3) My mother, widow of my father(cousin).
Executor: the friend of my great-aunt, also benificiary.
Co-executor: Financial company that managed the trust (estate).
My mother was contacted by the co-executor several weeks ago with the message that she was one of the three benificiaries in my great-aunts will. The first thing she was asked to do was fill out a W8BEN form, because she is a non-US citizen but she does have a social-security number. The co-executor immediately mentioned to my mother that her non-citizenship would be a very big problem. The solution would be for my mother to disclaim her share of the trust in benefit of her children (me and my sister) who are US citizens. This raises several questions with me:
1) Is non-citizenship really such an obstacle that disclaiming, which seems a pretty big deal to me, is the only obvious solution?
2) Is it true that disclaiming would really benefit my mothers children (me & my sister) in this case? My mother is not directly related to my great-aunt, she was only married to my father(cousin) Is there a chance that her share, if she disclaims it, does not go to her own heirs or children, but to my great-aunts heirs? My great-aunt did not have any children and the first heir in line is her neice, who is one of the benificiaries.
Furthermore, we received the trust agreement from the co-executor, but not the will. We heard this week that the will was filed for probate, but the co-executor said it was not necessary for my mother to have a copy. If she does want a copy, can she request it from the county court where the will was filed?
The reason I'm asking these questions is that we are a long way from Illinois and it is very difficult for us to keep track of what these people are doing. Added to this, we can't seem to get any straight answers about anything. When my mother asked the same questions as stated above about disclaiming, the answer from the co-executor was that she "really wasn't sure" but would discuss it with someone over lunch
Why suggest something you can't explain? Furthermore, mail seems to get 'misdirected' a lot, especially when it's coming our way, causing everything to take twice as long. And perhaps the most interesting thing is that calling any of these people is only succesful if you use a 'secret' number (i.e. they can't see where you're calling from) If you don't block your number, phones simply aren't answered. Finally: Is my mother at risk of being conned out of her share simply because it is too easy? Ruling out the foreigner? Do we need a lawyer?