Finding lost or stolen trust money

[shanes1068]

What is the name of your state?California
How do you find trust money that is not in the acct specified in the trust? Or find out where,when and to whom the money left with?

We suspect my grandfathers New wife to have taken his money or taken money setup for my mother and aunt in a 2 part trust setup 25 years earlier, once he died.

He took ill from a stroke and she immediately told everyone in his family they were not welcome and continued to keep everyone away until 3 months after he died, When we finally found out he died they we're all gone. The police had also told us only 20 days earlier he was ok...when in fact he had died 2 months earler.

We have also discovered his house was somehow quickdeeded to her children while he was incapacitated from a stroke? It was quickly sold.

 

[Dandy Don]

Is there a trust now that you know of? Do you have a copy of the trust or know the attorney he may have used to help him draft it?

It's not clear from your posting exactly when (how recently) your grandfather died.

You need an attorney to review the information you have. The quitclaim deed is possibly illegal and can possibly be voided since he may have been mentally incapacited and therefore not legally allowed to sign any documents about his property.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[JETX]

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA

Gee, Keith, this process of 'discovering' unclaimed funds is right up your alley, isn't it??

 

[Dandy Don]

What a useless comment!! If you have nothing to add to respond to help the poster, please show some good manners by being quiet for a change.

 

[JETX]

What a useless comment!! If you have nothing to add to respond to help the poster, please show some good manners by being quiet for a change.

Awwww, come on, Keithie baby!! Don't get your little feeling hurt.

 

[shanes1068]

response

He died in Nov 2004 and we found out he had died in Feb 2005. We have a copy of the original trust and have had contact with the original lawyer that drafted it but he has said he could not help my mother and aunt and that she would have to find a probate attorney on her own and that she should write to the DA of the county my grandfather lived in, which she did but has received no response from them after about 6 months. They have ordered copies of his tax returns from the last 2 years from the IRS.

 

[Dandy Don]

Besides his personal income tax returns, the executor (or whoever is asking for the tax returns) needs to also specifically ask if there is a TRUST tax return with his name and/or tax identification number on it, and you also need to be asking for STATE income tax returns.

Who is the executor--or is there even one? Is it the wife or her attorneys?

The executor (if it is someone favorable to your interests as a beneficiary) also needs to be looking at/asking for the checking account records from the bank to actually figure out what happened to the money.

Also need to be asking the attorney who helped draft the old trust if he helped wifey draft a newer one.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[shanes1068]

hmm

My Mother(his daughter) is the person who had requested previous tax returns. His wife has skipped town with his death certificate, so we are limited to what information people will supply without that DOC.
My mother has spoken to the attorney that drafted the original trust and he doesn't know of any new trust drafted and had not spoken to my grandfather in years. He didn't even know he had died.
The wife had no rights to the trust and had actually been written out of his will and testament a number of years ago when he caught her forging his signature and had stolen about 25k from him; for some reason he stayed with her... we are discovering all this after the fact. The tax returns we have been able to get and it shows the trust money up until 2000 and then its not on any Tax returns after that.
My guess is that he used the money to buy his new house and when he took ill it was quick deeded to her kids and then later sold....

How do i get his Checking acct records without a death cert? Who do i contact about the possibility of an illegal transaction with the quickdeed? My mother has written a letter to the DA of that County but there has been no response and im not sure if there is a limitation on how much time can pass after the quickdeed transaction. it would be terrible to find out that what they did was illegal but to much time has gone by and nothing can be done.

 

[Dandy Don]

You are making a serious mistake by trying to do everything yourself without a real estate or probate attorney's help. An attorney's help is seriously needed to correct the quitclaim deed. And court action is required before you will get the checking account records you want--a death certificate makes no difference at all about that. And did you specifically ask for copies of a trust tax return or did

It's possible that he could have decided to dissolve the trust.

 

[shanes1068]

the trust was in existence 6 months before he died. My mother has a letter he wrote requesting a copy of the trust at that time. she did not specifically ask for a trust return or state returns.
I'm wrong, my mother has a copy of the death certificate.

This lady has about 6 AKA's. We just want to know if she did something illegal. She never contacted anyone in the family about his death or anything...Just dissappeared

Im not sure if he could have dissolved the trust with out my mother and aunt not knowing. It was originally setup from my Grandmother and the money was all made by her and her Dance studios and was setup by her with 2 parts. One for my mom and aunt the other for my grandfather.

 

[Dandy Don]

You say "mother has a letter HE wrote requesting a copy of the trust"--do you mean SHE wrote or HE wrote?

When I mentioned requesting a copy of the state and federal tax returns, I mean did you or your mother order them directly from the state and federal tax agencies, or did you get these from the trustee? You need to request specifically a copy of his personal return and an estate or trust tax return for the year he died (2004) and if there is nothing there then you will know that the trust was not in existence, or at least the trustee did not submit a return.

If I were you, if you could afford it, I would pay a private investigator $1,000 to have a financial background and criminal background check done on this lady. I think it would turn up some very interesting clues as to how she has handled her finances and just might give you the breakthrough you need, but you also need to seriously get an attorney's help to find out how to get the checking account records, which will be the most important breakthrough in figuring out exactly what happened.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[shanes1068]

She got a Letter he Wrote to the Trust attorney requesting a copy of the trust. It came from the trust attorney herself when my mother requested a copy of the trust.
He died in nov 2003 and in around April 2004, my mother requested only his federal tax return from the IRS for years 1998-2002. She did not specify the trust returns and did not contact the state for state Tax return. (im not sure why, i think she just overlooked it)
we did hire a PI in Jan 2004 and he is the one who found out my grandfather had died in Nov 2003 and he found she had a few AKA's also. Plus she was 10 years younger then she had led us to believe. This lady was nuts ...but i believe this to be her way of life. Leach onto an old man til he dies, alienate him from his family, then take him for everything he has and then dissappear. Will a DA investigate this? Or will that never happen since they have bigger fish to fry. That is the only reason we have been hesitant to attain an attorney. If the DA was going to investigate then im sure they would discover all her wrong doings. It's the principal of the matter to us, I just want her to get what's coming to her if she did swindle him then hopefully she will not be able to do this again.
thanks

 

[Dandy Don]

You can make a complaint to the DA, but first you need an attorney to decide what if anything she has done illegally. Did your PI check to see if she has a criminal background?