Savings Bonds

[joseph17]

My grandmother died a year ago, and while she was living she told me that she had savings bonds for me. I later learned from a relative that some of them were in her name and my name (co-owners?), and some were in her name and my name/payable upon her death. It is my understanding that she could at all times use/cash in the bonds if she needed them (although she had plenty of savings to cover any needs several times over).
My questions:
1. What are the possible ways in which a savings bond could read/be issued, with my name on it, and who can cash them?

2. A family member(and now co-executor) had power of attorney before my grandmother died, and it is my understanding that she could cash in the above bonds, even though my name is listed on them. Is this true?

3. Do I have a right to ask for an accounting of my grandmother's estate from the co-executors, and an accounting of the bonds which had my name on them, when they were cashed and by whom?

4. If there were some bonds which were not cashed by the power of attorney, can they legally cash them once my grandmother had passed on? Or, depending on what was on the face of the bonds, can only I cash them?

5. Do I have any recourse if I believe that the bonds were cashed in while she was living, even though she had plenty of other money, so that the power of attorney could benefit from the funds (either cashed in or from the estate)?

6. What legal action can be taken if I believe there may have been some potentially illegal activities involving the disposition of the bonds, both before and after death?

Thanks.
I live in NJ, but Grandmother lived in PA.

 

[advisor10]

YOUR GRANDMOTHER'S SAVINGS BONDS ARE YOURS TOO!

11-13-2000

DEAR JOSEPH:

If you know the serial numbers for these bonds, it will help you in getting information from the Savings Bonds Dept. on tracking them down--but I'm assuming you don't have that information. That's okay--they can do the search on your name and your grandmother's name.

You will need to write a letter to the following address, asking them to check on the status of your bonds:

BUREAU OF PUBLIC DEBT
P. O. BOX 1328
PARKERSBURG, WV 26106-1328

Your letter will also need to show (if known) your and her SSN, date of birth, and date of death. The information is confidential and can only be released to the owner or co-owner of the bonds, so you will also need to provide a copy of her death certificate.

The family member/co-executor technically CAN NOT cash in the bonds (the bank is not supposed to do it, but may have done so by mistake or oversight).

You DO have a right to an accounting, but sometimes where money is involved, family relatives and estate executors are not voluntarily cooperative because they don't want other people to know about how they are handling the estate. Since only a year has passed, the executor may not be finished with handling all of the estate matters and may need a year or two more to finish up with everything.

Whenever the executor is finished, the will is kept on file at the county courthouse of the city where the person died. So you can inquire regularly at the probate records section of the county courthouse to ask if the will has been filed yet, or if you are on good terms with the estate executor, call them to ask when they think the will is going to be put on file (called "probated"). But don't bother the executor with too many phone calls or they might get annoyed and not be willing to give you any information.

Your position is that as a beneficiary, you are entitled to any information about the estate that has to do with your financial interests, and any professional executor will want to be helpful and cooperative in keeping you informed about what is going on. AFTER the will is probated, there will be lots of paperwork in the file that shows accounting-related information about how each asset was handled, so it should be very revealing even though it is public record thay anyone can look at at any time.

You do have the right to consult with an estate/probate or business law attorney to sue the executor if eventually you do find out that something doesn't look right or may not have been handled correctly.

I'm not an attorney but I'm just an accountant who has come across similar situations in the past.

If you have any more questions about savings bonds, visit the government website http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov

Good luck with redeeming the bonds--I think you are going to get the money without any further hassles down the line!

[email protected]

 

[joseph17]

savings bonds

Dear [email protected],
My gosh, you don't know how much I appreciate hearing from someone knowledgeable about my problem! Many thanks!.