probate - trust in will

[abroad]

state: new york
I live outside the us and am a citizen of that country.
my mother - who lived in ny recently passed away. she left a
will that amoung other stipulations included a portion of
her remaining capital to be placed in a trust for my 4 children
with me as the trustee. the lawyer handling the will tells me
the money must be placed in a ny banking institution. this
i find objectionable on practical and other ideological/political grounds. i do not think he pointed out the problems involved(for me -i.e. living abroad) sufficently to my mom when making the will (i have a sister in ny for whom a similar trust was proved for in the will)
*** can i get this stipulation of ny law changed in this case?
if not why not? Is the only way to do it to contest the will?
*** how does such a trust work? what kind of account is opened?
who decides how it is invested. What paper work/buracracy etc
is involved with withdrawals or other activities in the account?
thankyou for your time.

 

[advisor10]

SEPT. 7, 2001

DEAR ABROAD:

If you have a copy of your mother's will, you should examine it very carefully to see what would happen if you were to contest it. That may not be a wise thing to do, since you could stand to lose whatever amount was left for the trust if you did that.

Handling the trust from overseas will be much easier than you think. You would have to contact any bank in NY to ask them the questions you have about how the trust works and what kind of account is opened (it could be regular checking/savings, or money market or any other type of account if you want to invest it for interest received, etc.). Any bank that has a trust department has employees called a professional trustee whom you would work with to manage the account. All you have to do is open the account and let it sit there and let the money grow until you need to withdraw it (for whatever reason, at any time). You would make your withdrawals by wire transfer by contacting the professional trustee by e-mail, fax, phone or mail, whichever method you would prefer.

In any case, after you have had the account for a short period of time (maybe a few months to a year), it would be easier to have the entire trust account funds transferred to bank in the same city where you reside, where you could continue managing it from there.

Any customer service rep. in the trust department of any bank (preferably not the same bank where your sister has her trust account) can possibly answer your question about any aspects of a trust, but you really should also use this website (www.freeadvice.com) to find a New York attorney who could answer your question by contacting him directly.

SINCERELY,

[email protected]

 

[abroad]

Thankyou very much for replying and your advise. If I understand
you correctly after the money is released/deposited by the court
than I deal directly with the bank and the is no more legal forms/process involved?
As trustee I also would have full control of the account? or
are there limitations(i.e. in will -used for expences for my kids
and then totally theirs at reaching age 21) how is this enforced
or is my discrection as trustee trusted?
Thank you again
Abroad

 

[advisor10]

SEPT. 8, 2001

DEAR ABROAD:

As far as I understand, you would be dealing directly with the bank. However, I am not familiar with New York laws so I can't say for sure. After the estate is officially closed, the probate court is no longer involved and there would be no need for any more legal forms.

With you named as trustee, I'm assuming that full control of the account would be yours.

I think that your discretion as trustee would be trusted. You would probably be allowed to make a certain number of withdrawals periodically. If I were you, I would keep receipts of any trust monies that you use for your kids expenses, just so you will have backup documentation.

SINCERELY,

[email protected]