ab trust

What is the name of your state? california
aunt and uncle had ab trust
aunt died
uncle hooked up with another woman-never married
uncle died
surviving lady he was with refuses to give any information about trust-she says he had a new trust made out leaving her everything-bypassing part b of the original trust
we have a good idea who the originating attorney was that drew up the first and second trust
when the attorney was contacted, his secretary was going to send us what information was in the file(approx. 100 pages)the the attorney stopped her from doing so.
as heir to my aunts portion of the estate, how can we make him produce his records?
this "lady" has a history of befriending elderly people and taking their assets
she also signed his death certificate as his wife, and collected his ss death benefits
Help!!!

This is a specific situation that needs the counsel of a local trust attorney.

That attorney can tell you whether you have the right in Arizona to request a copy of the trust by sending a certified letter to the trustee, requesting a copy of it and the accounting information.

You would also be wise to pay a private investigator a few hundred dollars (or do an online search yourself) to check into this lady's background (has she ever been arrested on a criminal complaint) that you might use to disqualify her as trustee, if she is in fact a trustee.

With the aunt's death, then 2 separate trusts were established. Have you already received anything from the aunt's trust? Are you thinking that perhaps you are named as a beneficiary in the husband's trust also?

It looks as if this lady probably got uncle to amend his trust to leave her everything. You at least have the right to get a copy of the aunt's trust and the accounting information for it to get some idea of how it was handled. I'm not sure her comment about it bypassing part b is true (it sounds suspiciously to me like a lie) so you really do need to pursue this to find out what the facts are.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

thanks don.
i don't claim to know much about legaleze, but it is my understanding that with an AB trust, once party A dies, that portion of the trust becomes irrevocable. so even if he had his part B amended to accomodate the old lady, part A is still intact and upon the uncles death should have been distributed according to the terms of the trust.
we are not positive that the attorney that drew up the second trust is the same party as the first(90% sure), however, he probably has information regarding the original ie: who, where, when etc.
however, if he did something underhanded in establishing the second trust, it is in his best interest not to disclose this information. we need to know how to compel him to do so.
thanks,
steve

When did the aunt's death occur (what year) and how much later did the uncle's death occur? Have you received anything as a beneficiary from the aunt's trust?

hi don-
the aunt died in 1990 and the uncle in 1999. to date we have recieved nothing from any of them, even though all of her life and up until three days before her death, the aunt stated that my wife was named as sole beneficiary and her trust document would distribute the estate that way.
now, from what she is describing is seems like an AB trust, part A of which became irrevocable upon the aunt's death.????

It doesn't make sense for the first part of a trust to be set up to become irrevocable upon the first party's death. I think you are being deliberately misled. Who is/was the official trustee? You need to be consulting with a trust attorney as soon as possible to get to the bottom of this. It would seem that the trust should have been activated upon the aunt's death.

hi don-
fromwhat we were led to believe, the uncle was trustee, with lifetime use of the Proceeds, not principal, of the aunt's estate, but we have never seen anything legal describing him as such. all of our inquiries about this matter(to the old lady) have been met with rebuff.
from what i have read, with an AB Trust, while both establishing parties are alive, the trust remains revocable.(which according to the aunt shortly before her death, was not the case-the trust was in place). however upon the death of the first party, that portion of the trust becomes irrevocable because the founder is no longer around to make any changes, leaving only part B subject to any change. i've also read that there is a clause which can be used allowing the remaining party "lifetime use" of the proceeds ie; interest etc. but unable to touch the principal. that being the case, distribution of the aunt's estate would not take place until the uncle's death. meanwhile, he would be able to make any changes he deemed appropriate to HIS HALF of the estate.
of course this is just what i have read.
we had a PI check all county records in riverside and surrounding areas for any paperwork being filed and there was none.
a trust not being a public record, such as a will, is a dangerous vehicle if there is any dissention among the heirs. ther has got to be a way to convince them that it would be in their best interest to disclose any documents they might have.
it is our contention that the attorney that supposedly drew up a second trust did so without regard to the existence of the original which either he or his father drew up in the '70's or 80's. consequently, he is not going to be eager to disclose this information without coersion.
might add, the estate in question ranges somewhere in the 4-6 million category.
thanks,
steve

p.s.
any idea on how we can obtain a copy of the trust?
the second trust was dated 1996+- and the aunt's trust was originally created in the '70's