Living Trust and Pour-over Will

[Freelancer223]

Pennsylvania

My father died in 2004 in Delaware County PA. When I called to get a copy of his will and was told that no will had been filed, however, an account was opened to pay taxes in the amount of 4860.00.

I contacted my brother, who handle the legal affairs to ask why no will had been filed. His response was:

"On 7/5/2000, Dad executed a Revocable Living Trust as part of an Estate Planning Portfolio which contained both a Living Will and a Last Will & Testament or "Pour-over Will." These documents were filed at the Media Courthouse. The provisions specified in the Trust were executed upon his death in accordance with his wishes and probate is not necessary in the case of a RLT."

My question is whether, as an heir though probably not a beneficiary, am I entitled to a copy of the trust and will, since information I am reading says that a trust is not public record. And should this have been provided to me and the other children by our brother upon our father's death?

Thanks for any insight you can provide.

 

[Dandy Don]

A pour-over will is not similar in any way to a last will and testment. It is simple language put inside a trust that means any assets that were not put into the trust's name before the death can be put into the trust's name after the death, retroactively. If in fact all of the assets were put into the trust, then probate is not necessary. But his statement is confusing because it mentions specifically a "last will and testament" and if there were any assets in the will that were not in the trust, then the will should have been probated.

If the documents were filed at the "Media Courthouse" (whatever that is), you need to be finding out how to contact the Media Courthouse to get that information. Can the courthouse tell you where that is?

Exactly what type of taxes were shown as "$4,860"? Were these estate taxes or inheritance taxes?

If you were a beneficiary of the trust you should have been notified soon after the death in 2004. You need to be consulting with a local trust attorney (or post your question on another free legal advice website called www.lawguru.com) to find out your rights as a potential trust beneficiary--if you and the other children had been named as a beneficiaries, you normally would have been notified by now. Your attorney can advise you if you have the right to send a certified letter to the trustee (assuming that your brother probably is the trustee) asking for a copy of the trust along with an annual accounting statement, IF you are named as beneficiaries. If you are not named as beneficiaries, then you have no right to request it. Some states allow beneficiaries to request such information and other states do not allow it--your attorney can check your state law to see what it says about this.

Something seems very shady here. The fact that he is not very forthcoming in providing information makes it seem like he was named the only beneficiary in the trust and got everything. We don't know whether that was his father's true intentions or whether he fraudulently induced father to sign a trust naming him as beneficiary.

Your attorney can help you get to the bottom of this and help you decide whether you have grounds to contest the trust or not. And whether the last will and testament needs to be filed or not.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])