Beneficiary or Estate & bank Accounts

[bushmaster_tn]

What is the name of your state? Tennessee

My mother decided that she no longer wanted one of my sisters to be her executor and wished to change her will.

While preparing to make the changes she wanted to make sure that the money in her bank account went where she wanted it too. She set up a certificate of deposit for each of my sisters with the sister as beneficiary. She made me the beneficiary of her savings and checking account which mother was the sole account holder.

Mother passed away before getting back to the lawyers to sign the new will and my sister who is the executor of the will that mother was going to have changed claims that the savings and checking account belong to the estate and as executor are hers (my sisters) to do with as she chooses.

I thought that a bank account became the property of the beneficiary upon the passing of the account holder.

 

[lwpat]

I thought that a bank account became the property of the beneficiary upon the passing of the account holder.

Take a certified copy of the death certificate to the bank. If they give you the money, it is yours.

 

[peppylady]

I am not a lawyer and I am having a very similar problem. My brother claims that a checking acct of my father's that I was beneficiary for belongs to the estate for everyone to share. He just filed a civil suit with the court. I took my father's death certificate to the bank and they gave me the money. I even consulted an attorney before doing it. I have had 8 months of hell due to this bank account. Good luck, the money is legally yours.

 

[BelizeBreeze]

Go to the bank and ask how the accounts are held. If mom did have the accounts changed, then they do not pass through probate. Anything held in JTWROS (joint tenants with right of suvivorship) automatically passes to the beneficiary.