Beneficiary Status on Retirement Account

[Supernova8]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio
My step-mother passed away and her retirement account named my father as the primary beneficiary and her three children as her contingent beneficiaries. My father passed away 24 days after she did. According to the company who holds the account, it is to be distributed to my father's estate since he survived her, even though it was for just a short period of time. Her children and their attorney have managed to get the account put on hold, since they believe that their mother's will, which has a 30 day survivorship clause, somehow has some bearing on the distribution of this retirement account. As administator of my father's estate, he died intestate, should this delay be cause for concern? Do they have any standing at all?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[curb1]

What did the institution explain to you about the "hold"? What did they expect to release the "hold"? That payout should have been made regardless of what the will stated.

You said, " Her children and their attorney have managed to get the account put on hold ....".

 

[anteater]

Do you mean that the IRA custodian decided to put it on hold? Rather than, say, by some court order?

Off the cuff, since the IRA is governed by the IRA agreement, I would say that only some sort of survivorship clause in the IRA agreement would be relevant.

 

[Supernova8]

What did the institution explain to you about the "hold"? What did they expect to release the "hold"? That payout should have been made regardless of what the will stated.

You said, " Her children and their attorney have managed to get the account put on hold ....".

They didn't explain anything other than there was ongoing communication between their legal counsel and her children's attorney and they didn't have a timeframe in which the funds will be disbursed. They have all of the required claim paperwork. I just wanted to be sure that there wasn't a way to get the beneficiary designation overturned or somehow voided since he died shortly after she did.

 

[anteater]

I just wanted to be sure that there wasn't a way to get the beneficiary designation overturned or somehow voided since he died shortly after she did.

One learns to never say never.

Apparently, someone at the IRA custodian at least blinked when contacted by the kids' attorney. Like life insurance companies, custodians don't like to distribute money to the wrong beneficiary(ies). There is at least a possibility that the custodian will take the path of least resistance and turn the matter over to a court through an interpleader action.

Only you can get a sense of how the wind is blowing. But, if you do not already have an attorney, you might think about lining one up.

 

[Supernova8]

Thank you for your input and advice. It would probably be best to have our attorney contact the fund holder directly.

 

[curb1]

I would suggest that you should be getting a better explanation from the IRA custodian. I would be making daily phone calls to find out their exact reason for the "hold".

 

[Supernova8]

I was told that they didn't have a timeframe for the hold and could not discuss the reason with me and that I would have to contact her children's attorney. That just doesn't make sense to me at all. I'm the legal representative for a beneficiary's estate who has made a valid claim to the account. They have copies of the death certificates, letters of authority, etc. How can they stonewall me?

 

[Zigner]

I was told that they didn't have a timeframe for the hold and could not discuss the reason with me and that I would have to contact her children's attorney. That just doesn't make sense to me at all. I'm the legal representative for a beneficiary's estate who has made a valid claim to the account. They have copies of the death certificates, letters of authority, etc. How can they stonewall me?

They can stonewall you by passing the buck.
I suggest you at least have a consultation with an attorney.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Have you been appointed by the court as his legal executor? You may need to be, in order to force their hand.

 

[Supernova8]

Have you been appointed by the court as his legal executor? You may need to be, in order to force their hand.

Yes, I have been appointed by the court as his legal administrator and the IRA custodian has an original of my letters of authority.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

As executor, I would retain the services of an attorney to represent the interests of the estate in this manner. The fees will be deductible as an expense of the estate.

 

[anteater]

As executor, I would retain the services of an attorney to represent the interests of the estate in this manner. The fees will be deductible as an expense of the estate.

Apparently, the OP already does...

Thank you for your input and advice. It would probably be best to have our attorney contact the fund holder directly.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Apparently, the OP already does...

Actually, she was considering it. Since she has the legal authority to represent the estate, she needs to present the amount of pressure that is coming from the children. Otherwise the IRA custodian might lean the other way as the path of least resistance.

 

[Supernova8]

Resolution

Thank you everyone for the sound advice. I thought you would appreciate an update on the situation. The attorney for the other estate was finally given a deadline by the account custodian in which to file a claim. He stalled for as long as he could, and in the end, didn't file a claim. Evidently it was either a delaying tactic to try to find some loop hole or he just wanted to delay the inevitable as long as possible out of spite. Either way, it's finally in process to come to my father's estate.