1-17-2002
DEAR MR. BRAUNSTEIN:
Who is the person that gave your wife that information? It sounds like someone in an official capacity who thought it was important enough for her to know the information.
She really needs to consult with a top-notch local probate attorney who is familiar with a federal law called the Uniform Probate Code. Each individual state can decide whether or not they want to adopt all or portions of this law to be applicable in their state. Florida DOES subscribe to portions of that law, and there is a section in there that mentions that a beneficiary of a trust DOES have the right to request a copy of the original trust document and a financial yearly accounting statement by sending the trustee a CERTIFIED LETTER requesting those items. She would need to consult with the attorney to find out definitely whether that section of the law applies in Florida. She needs to decide if she wants to send that letter to him herself, or whether she would have her attorney do it (under the assumption that an attorney's letterhead might have more weight and therefore he would be more likely to respond, rather than ignore it if it came directly from her).
Do your wife and her brother generally have a good relationship before now, or have things gone sour because the brother might possibly resent the fact that she is eligible to receive money?
In fairness to him, he is busy with the paperwork and everything involved in managing the trust affairs right now, and so he may be reluctant to tell her exactly how much she would be eligible to receive (since there are still estate expenses and taxes and other deductions to be computed first), but if he was really honest and trustworthy, he could give her some indication or approximation of what she will be getting.
She may also want to find out if there is a will AND a trust, or just a trust alone. Most people put all assets into the trust so that ownership can pass directly to the beneficiaries without having to go through probate, but if there are still items to be distributed from a will, then that has to go through probate court.
SINCERELY,
advisor
