12 months & still no will

[ashton10]

What is the name of your state? Texas. A relative on the west coast passed away 1 year ago this week, my father was named executor to the will, and is also named in the will along with several other friends and relatives of the deceased. One of the large financial companies such as Smith Barney, Merril Lynch is where this relative had his money invested. from what i understand, this company has been handling everything related to the will and is keeping my dad informed, the last i heard, they had everything in order and had to submit it to the IRS back in August. This is all new to the family and my dad is really laid back about it. i am starting to become a little suspicious of the long delay and would like to know if anyone has ever heard of this and could shed some light on what is going on. Is this a normal process, and how long can something like this take? Thx.What is the name of your state?

 

[Dandy Don]

Is this story about Smith Barney handling the matter something that someone told your dad or did Smith Barney tell him that?

Your dad needs to ask Smith Barney specific questions--are the assets in a trust, if so, who is the trustee (probably a bank or another third party individual) and am I named a beneficiary in the the trust? If so, then he can request a copy of the trust and an accounting statement. How much is he supposed to receive? Are there other beneficiaries besides him? He needs to check at the county courthouse to see if anyone has filed anything in regards to this estate, such as a will, but if all assets were put in the trust, the trust is a private record and won't be in the courthouse. If the holder of the funds will not cooperate in giving him information, it's time for him to hire his own trust attorney or probate attorney to get answers and to double check what has been done already to make sure no improprieties are occurring.

This is an extraordinarily long amount of time for an estate to be handled unless the assets are very complex (such as sale of stock or real estate, etc.). Your father needs to get more informed so he can find out if he is being bs'ed or is actually being told the true facts.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[seniorjudge]

Has anyone looked in the files of the probate court in the county and state where the dead person resided?

As DD said:

"...He needs to check at the county courthouse to see if anyone has filed anything in regards to this estate, such as a will, but if all assets were put in the trust, the trust is a private record and won't be in the courthouse...."

 

[ashton10]

dandy don, and senior judge

Thanks for your response, now that you mention it, i guess merril lynch/smith barney is the trustee, my dad was introduced to the rep when the relative was still living. my dad has met with them and they have kept him updated. the deceased had a lot of stock with this company and my dad said it was because of the stocks that this was taking so long, however, this relative left a property to my dad, and merril lynch/smith barney has already released this property to my dad, i think this was a seperate deal from the will, it would have to be right? there are apprx 10 or 11 other people named in the will. i am just worried that this company may be dragging it out for financial gain for themselves or the company and how would we ever know. we dont know the laws or the normal process for something like this, this is the first inheritance this family has ever seen. thx.