maroonblue11
Junior Member
Illinois
Setup:
In the 1990's, my grandfather set up a trust. At the time, I guess the maximum inheritance tax-free was $600,000, and at the time he set up a $600,000 trust that was to go to my brother and I after the death of our mother.
The rest of the inheritance was in another trust, it was another $10 million or so. That was to go to my mother immediately, which is pretty clearly laid out.
Since that will was written, his net worth decreased for a number of reasons. At the time of his death, the total pool of money left was about $4 million, under the $5 million tax-free inheritance threshold.
My grandfather died last summer, and the bank that held his trust has decided that they're now going to interpret the will as meaning that all $4 million is in the "tax free trust" going to my brother and I, and my mother gets nothing.
My brother and I would both prefer to honor the original agreement, but my cynical side says it's pretty clear why the bank is trying to change the interpretation: if they can lock the money up for the next 30+ years until my mom dies, they get to retain control over the money for the next 30+ years until my mom dies.
Is their changed interpretation correct? Can they do this? If we want to fight their decision, does my brother and I's opinion on the subject matter? Would we be better off taking this to court or arbitration?
We would ask our attorney...but apparently our attorney also works for the bank, and has said that if we want to fight this, we need to hire a different attorney.
Setup:
In the 1990's, my grandfather set up a trust. At the time, I guess the maximum inheritance tax-free was $600,000, and at the time he set up a $600,000 trust that was to go to my brother and I after the death of our mother.
The rest of the inheritance was in another trust, it was another $10 million or so. That was to go to my mother immediately, which is pretty clearly laid out.
Since that will was written, his net worth decreased for a number of reasons. At the time of his death, the total pool of money left was about $4 million, under the $5 million tax-free inheritance threshold.
My grandfather died last summer, and the bank that held his trust has decided that they're now going to interpret the will as meaning that all $4 million is in the "tax free trust" going to my brother and I, and my mother gets nothing.
My brother and I would both prefer to honor the original agreement, but my cynical side says it's pretty clear why the bank is trying to change the interpretation: if they can lock the money up for the next 30+ years until my mom dies, they get to retain control over the money for the next 30+ years until my mom dies.
Is their changed interpretation correct? Can they do this? If we want to fight their decision, does my brother and I's opinion on the subject matter? Would we be better off taking this to court or arbitration?
We would ask our attorney...but apparently our attorney also works for the bank, and has said that if we want to fight this, we need to hire a different attorney.
