Can executor choose not to distribute inheritance?

Minnesota. My Fiance and I have been pondering the fact that the contents of his Dad's will have never been made known by his mother. His father died in 2005 in the state of Florida. His mother has since moved back to the state of Minnesota (where we live) and has never said a word about his Dad's will. He knows that his mom was named the executor of his will and he had assets. He senses she may be hiding something and plans to confront her about what was in it. However, if she deny's that he was left anything without letting him see a copy of it, is the only alternative to hire an attorney? We already checked with the probate court in the county he died in and they have no record of his will, we can only assume it's because his mother was named the executor, is that possible?

If probate was never started then no one is the executor. It is possible that everything was in a trust so probate was not required. If you know of specific assets you can try to check to see how they are titled. Was he a resident of Florida? It is possible the will was probated elsewhere, especially if he owned real estate.

lwpat said:

If probate was never started then no one is the executor. It is possible that everything was in a trust so probate was not required. If you know of specific assets you can try to check to see how they are titled. Was he a resident of Florida? It is possible the will was probated elsewhere, especially if he owned real estate.

Click to expand...

Has he checked their previous county of residence to see if the will was filed?

It is VERY possible that his parents left all their assets to each other, with their children as continquent beneficiaries. That is NOT uncommon, and exactly what my parents did. Meaning they each inherit everything they acquired together from the other spouse, if the second spouse is still living. If the second spouse is deceased, then and ONLY then, the children inherit. So, if mom got everything per the will, the estate could have been probated already.

It also could be that all their accounts, real estate and such was owned jointly in such a way that it would NOT have passed through probate, but automatically became the property of the co-owner. A jointly owned house, savings account etc. can pass to the co-owner upon death. A life insurance policy or 401K, IRA, etc. goes to the beneficiary without probate as well.

And it's also possible that she is withholding something and may have even destroyed the will. You will need to consult an attorney to find out if you need to file for probate and then ask the judge to ask the mother to produce the will for court if she has it. Another alternative is that executor (after filing for probate and receiving letters testamentary) can ask for copy of the state and federal tax returns for the father for the last year he was alive and the year preceeding, to get some idea of what his assets would have been, or hiring a private investigator or forensic accountant to trace his financial asset background.

Check at his place of employment to see if any pension or insurance benefits were claimed and who claimed them.

Is it possible that she had power of attorney for her husband?

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

Dandy Don said:

And it's also possible that she is withholding something and may have even destroyed the will. You will need to consult an attorney to find out if you need to file for probate and then ask the judge to ask the mother to produce the will for court if she has it. Another alternative is that executor (after filing for probate and receiving letters testamentary) can ask for copy of the state and federal tax returns for the father for the last year he was alive and the year preceeding, to get some idea of what his assets would have been, or hiring a private investigator or forensic accountant to trace his financial asset background.

Check at his place of employment to see if any pension or insurance benefits were claimed and who claimed them.

Is it possible that she had power of attorney for her husband?

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

Click to expand...

Yes, but poster is making allegations of "shady" against her fiance's MOTHER without having even bothered to check the county records to see if there was a will. Solely because her fiance didn't inherit and with no research to back up her allegations. She has no clue whether a probate was filed or not.

Checking for a probate filing is the very FIRST thing to do. Does her BF have any idea what assets dad may have had? Did he ever help mom and dad with their financial planning? Of those assets of which he was aware, HOW were they held?

http://www.janejlarson.com/probate.jsp
In Minnesota, there will be no probate if:
All the assets are in joint tenancy or are payable on death to a specific person or persons; or
The total of all assets is less than $20,000.00; or
All the assets are in a trust; and
No one DEMANDS a probate proceeding.

Poster is setting up a situation that could cause the mother to forget about the Son in her will. This is a touchy situation that could blow up in her face if handled clumsily.

I find it entirely plausible that with a married couple, everything was left to the surviving spouse. Thus, it is not any child's business what the will directed, she has no reason to call up sonny boy and say, oh by the way, your dad left me everything.

Could be that the mother hasn't probated it, doesn't know about it, or scandalously, destroyed it. Who knows. I still think she received everything and that's normal.

PixieChic72 said:

Minnesota. My Fiance and I have been pondering the fact that the contents of his Dad's will have never been made known by his mother. His father died in 2005 in the state of Florida. His mother has since moved back to the state of Minnesota (where we live) and has never said a word about his Dad's will. He knows that his mom was named the executor of his will and he had assets. He senses she may be hiding something and plans to confront her about what was in it. However, if she deny's that he was left anything without letting him see a copy of it, is the only alternative to hire an attorney? We already checked with the probate court in the county he died in and they have no record of his will, we can only assume it's because his mother was named the executor, is that possible?

Click to expand...

Response to posts on my question

While I appreciate all of the responses and comments I really was only wanting to know if it is possible for someone to be named in a will and the executor of the will decide not to let that person know they are in the will. I guess I had never heard of that happening, or didn't think it could happen. I understand it is easy for someone to make assumptions from reading my brief descriptions, please understand my description of the situation is VERY bried and there a many details I am not disclosing as to why my fiance would have reason to believe his mother would keep his Dad's will from him.

Many families are based on trust, unfortunately there are many that are not.

It appears from some of the replies that it is plausible for this to happen. I am not saying it is what has happened but we don't know and that in itself is the problem. My fiance and I feel that he has a right to know what his father's last wishes were regardless of if he was left anything or not. If his mother had been forthwright about the will we wouldn't be having to wonder why it was never discussed, that can leave too much to be assumed.

Again thank you for the responses and insight in to different opinions on our dilemma.

Sorry, just a few follow up notes to clarify

I realized there were some questions from some previous posts that I didn't respond to.

Yes, there was a will. His parents told him they went to an attorney to do their will's and that they named each other as the executor's of each other's will's. I am not sure if she was Power of Attorney but I think is very likely she was as he had severe health issues before he died.

I did check with the probate court in the county in which he died and there was no record of his will.

I don't think it's that unusual for a parent to disclose to a child what was in the other parent's will. My mother was very open with me about what was in my father's will, and it left nothing to the imagination.

PixieChic72 said:

I realized there were some questions from some previous posts that I didn't respond to.

Yes, there was a will. His parents told him they went to an attorney to do their will's and that they named each other as the executor's of each other's will's. I am not sure if she was Power of Attorney but I think is very likely she was as he had severe health issues before he died.

I did check with the probate court in the county in which he died and there was no record of his will.

I don't think it's that unusual for a parent to disclose to a child what was in the other parent's will. My mother was very open with me about what was in my father's will, and it left nothing to the imagination.

Click to expand...

That's YOUR mom.

On the other hand, many others feel that their own financial matters are nobody elses business and a private matter, and feel it is a lot of "chutzpah" to expect their living parents to disclose their wills with them.. It is an individual matter, and their is a broad spectrum of approaches by parents.

Just an FYI - the will CANNOT control distribution of certain jointly held, POD, and jt tenant assets, nor can it control IRA, 401K, or life insurance distribution. It also cannot give away what belongs to the spouse due to marital/community property laws.