house in trust

[tinkanddeet]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? pa
my mother put her house in a trust, I am the successor of the trust. Wonder what steps to take, I would like to sell.

 

[anteater]

Retain a real estate agent and put it on the market.

 

[curb1]

Is mother still alive? Probably shouldn't sell the house without mother's permission. Or, are you now the trustee of the trust?

 

[anteater]

Is mother still alive? Probably shouldn't sell the house without mother's permission. Or, are you now the trustee of the trust?

Check posting history.

 

[tinkanddeet]

I am the trustee of the trust, the house and some assets where in the trust. Other things I am beneficiary. Trying to settle the estate my self without lawyer fees. The trust lawyer turned out to be a jerk. I was doing all the leg work myself. I find it to be fairly easy but I want to do everything legal. Any guidance is sure welcome. Somethings I will need a short certificate, but don't want to throw everything into probate if I apply.

 

[anteater]

Somethings I will need a short certificate, but don't want to throw everything into probate if I apply.

What is it that you need probate for? Are there assets that are not part of the trust and do not have beneficiary designations?

The only probate assets will be those that are not part of the trust and do not have beneficiary designations. Opening probate does not "throw everything into probate."

Don't forget the PA Inheritance Tax. Other than life insurance proceeds, everything owned by your mother is subject to the tax. The return is not due until 9 months after the date of death. But getting an estimate paid within 90 days earns a 5% discount.

 

[tinkanddeet]

thank you for your information, the only things that don't have a beneficiary and were not in the trust was a savings account, xmas club and vehicle. I know the short certificate will take care of the savings account, and xmas club, wondering about the vehicle.

 

[anteater]

Maybe I am surmising incorrectly. But the way that you are putting things leaves me wondering a bit. A short certificate is a short form issued by the Register of Wills that certifies that the court has appointed you to administer a probate estate. It is essentially a proxy for the full letters testamentary/letters of administration which would be a real pain to copy and carry around. It isn't something that somehow gets issued outside a probate proceeding. I guess what I am trying to say is that you just don't go to the Register of Wills and say, "I'd like a short certificate, please."

Once you are appointed by the court and are granted letters, a short certificate should enable you to handle the vehicle with PennDOT. Some states have easier methods available for dealing with the deceased vehicle(s). Unfortunately, unless something has changed very recently, PA does not.

Also, unfortunately, PA does not have available the kind of affidavit process that is available in many other states for dealing with a small value probate estate. The closest is:

§ 3531. Estates not exceeding $25,000.

When the gross real and personal estate of a decedent does not exceed the value of $25,000, the personal representative, after the expiration of one year from the date of the first complete advertisement of the grant of letters, may present his petition to the court with an annexed account showing the administration of the estate, the distribution theretofore made and suggesting the proper distribution of the estate not theretofore distributed. Thereupon, the court, upon satisfactory proof of notice to all known parties in interest, may approve the distribution theretofore made and order distribution of the assets not theretofore distributed and discharge the personal representative and his sureties from future liability without the expense of proceedings as in a formal account. The court may discharge only the surety from future liability, and may allow the personal representative to continue without surety upon condition that no further assets shall come into the possession of the personal representative until he files another bond, with sufficient surety, as required by the register.

Which is not all that different from a normal probate proceeding.

 

[tinkanddeet]

Ok, now i'm more confused. House, cd, checking in trust. Opened a joint account which added me to her trust checking account enabling me to deposit assets from mom and pay her bills. Cashed cd and deposited into trust checking account. Notified annuities and awaiting life insurance policies. That leaves, xmas club, savings account, and vehicle not trust, nor am I beneficiary, what do i do to lay claim to these items? Also, house is in trust and I am trustee so what action do I take when I am ready to sell the house. I appreciate any response. Once I liquidate accounts and deposit into trust checking I file inheritance tax right?

 

[anteater]

You are getting me confused about what money is going where.

The assets that are titled in the name of the trust are administered by the successor trustee. If, somewhere in your post, you were mentioning placing funds that were not part of the trust in a trust checking account, then, no, you should not be doing that.

Also, house is in trust and I am trustee so what action do I take when I am ready to sell the house.

I answered that in my first response in this thread: retain a real estate agent and put it on the market. Really, I was not kidding.

The assets that were not titled in the name of the trust on which you were a designated beneficiary now belong to you. With a certified copy of a death certificate and your identification, you should be able to re-title them to your name or liquidate and take cash.

If you were the designated beneficiary on any annuities and insurance policies, those proceeds are yours, also. Not part of the trust. Do not need to be probated.

As for the xmas club, savings account, and vehicle, if you can somehow cajole the bank into transferring the accounts to you, you might be able to avoid opening probate since it appears that PennDOT does have a process to transfer a vehicle without necessarily having probate opened and an executor/adminsitrator appointed. See this document:

http://www.dmv.state.pa.us/pdotforms/fact_sheets/fs-vehtrans.pdf

(The bank should not let you do anything with those accounts unless you open probate and show them one of those short certificates. But, one can never tell what a bank might do or not do.)

If you do need to open probate, then you head to the county Register of Wills office. Check for Register of Wills office at the county website. You can an idea of what probate is all about from The City of Philadelphia and Allegheny County websites:

http://secureprod.phila.gov/wills/

http://www.alleghenycounty.us/wo/index.aspx

Once I liquidate accounts and deposit into trust checking I file inheritance tax right?

You don't really have to wait. The relevant values are the values on the date that your mother passed away. The websites I mentioned above have some info on the inheritance tax. You can also go to the Dept. of Revenue website:

http://www.revenue.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/inheritance_tax/11414

And check out the forms at:

http://www.revenue.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/inheritance_tax/14695

The instructions on Form 1501 should be useful.

 

[tinkanddeet]

Sorry for any confusion, My moms checking account was in the trust, along with the house and a cd. That bank agreed to add my name to that checking account because I was successor of the trust upon her demise. Her name with trust after it along with my name are now on the checks. Enabling me to draw from the account to pay her final bills. I also deposited the cd that was in the trust held at that bank, into the checking account with my mom and my name on it. The xmas club, savings account is in another bank and even though I have an abstract copy of the trust and the full copy of the trust and certified death certificate and copy of the will, they will not grant my access without a short certificate. You have been very helpful and the links proved to be of assistance also. Just scared because its someone elses money and want to do things right. Thank you