Living Trust & Will Process

[JFDowling]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? LA

Dad passed away this summer. He had a Living Trust which listed myself and sisters (2) as successor trustees. Also a Will which left everything to us.
Now the problem ... he married subsequent to creating the Trust and Will ... bought a house and car in both their names. Did not update the Trust or Will to reflect his marriage.

Do I have to probate the 'joint-property' alone or include the Trust Assets. Where would I do this ... house and car are in Louisiana and the Trust Assets are in Texas.
Do I need to open a new account for proceeds of his life insurance settlements and keep it seperate from the Trust Assets? What about credit card debts that he had in his name only.
The debts exceed the Trust Assets.

Thanks in advance,
JFD

 

[seniorjudge]

Use a trusted lawyer.

 

[curb1]

Who were the beneficiaries of the life insurance? You are going to have to separate Trust assets from those assets not in the trust. You will need to probate non trust assets. Are the debts in the trust greater in value than the assets in the trust? Where is all of the debt, inside or outside the thrust?

And yes, get an attorney to advise you.

 

[TrustUser]

plus, louisiana is the one state that follows the french system, and is much different from the typical english system that the rest of the country uses. i hope i got the originating countries correct. (regarding trust law).

for the most part though, the language in a trust agreement only covers those assets that are titled to that trust.

if the item is held in joint tenancy between dad and new wife, i would say that it is doubtful that the trust has anything to do with it.

typically, properties owned in joint tenancy has an automatic right of survivorship. by that, i mean that one tenant dies, that share is owned equally by the remaining joint tenants.

 

[colourfastt]

FYI .. Louisiana does not have "right of survivorship" in its civil code. If a person dies without a wil while jointly owning a property/item then the surviving owner will own half and the other half will be part of the intestate succession and handled per CC Art 880 et seq.

 

[tranquility]

There is a mess here and you're going to have to get an attorney to work it out. LA law is wierd, the remarriage without changing documents is an issue and the joint ownership of some things, but not all, is an issue. Because the process may work to some heir's advantage, it would be best to take this slow and work things through correctly.