What to do about annuity?

[toolie]

What is the name of your state? Oklahoma

brother died july 16, 2003, twenty-one months ago. other brothers and sisters fighting over brother's estate ... attorney ... probate. As of this date, the only paper in the probate file at the district court is the paper appointing the attorney in April 2004. No records of any assets or anything.

Last week my wife was told by a sister that deceased brother left an insurance policy with myself and deceased mother as beneficiaries with each of us to get half the proceeds. This sister apparently displayed righteous shock that this probate attorney or no one else had notified me of the existence of this policy in these almost two years.

Knowing this sister though, it did not take long for me to figure that this sister and the others were looking to get a share via an inheritance through deceased mother's estate. Doing a little further thinking I deduced that they must have been waiting for me to die so they could get the full amount. Maybe they have been entertaining the thought of knocking me off.

I contact issuing life insurance company who sends me claim papers and tax withholding forms to sign and return in the enclosed stamped and self-addressed return envelope. No policy. No details. No amount. No nothing.

Yesterday I called the issuing insurance agent to see what I would be signing and was told the policy was not insurance but an annuity and they cannot furnish me any papers. The deceased brother must have the papers or policy or whatever. So I don't know whether I am entitled to the full amount or only half as this hostile sister has stated.

I called the probate attorney's office numerous times back in January of this year wondering about my share of the rumored substantial amount of cash involved in the brother's estate. At that time I had to come up with money to pay for one son's welding school. The attorney never returned my calls and I had to borrow the funds for the welding school.

Now, I have one daughter whom I worry about because she did not marry well and she has no trade. If I ever get my hands on this annuity or whatever it is, can I skip my generation and pass it on to my daughter without tax taking a big bite? Better yet could I roll it over into an IRA for my daughter?

 

[Dandy Don]

You can discuss the tax consequences of this with a CPA or tax accountant AFTER you get your check. How kind of you to be concerned about the future needs/welfare of your daughter. Amd please stop being paranoid about someone in your family wanting to kill you to get access to your money.

Did your mother leave a will and was her will probated? Do you know how to reach her executor?

If I were you I would be contacting the insurance company directly to get specific details from them about how much you will be receiving, approximately when do they estimate you will be receiving it, and informing them that you can put them in touch with your mother's executor if that is needed, and the insurance company should be willing to give you any and all details about the annuity since you are beneficiary. And you need to be getting some idea of whether they are going to be issuing a check to the executor of your mother's estate so that the executor can then distribute it to the official heirs.

As it stands now you are in the dark because you don't have complete information about this asset. Further communication with the attorney will probably be useless, which is truly a shame, although you must understand that he is bogged down with managing the complicated estate affairs, there is no excuse for not responding to your inquiries.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[toolie]

Thanks for the reply. I see you dont appreciate dry humor. You know humor is mainly an exaggeration of the truth. But then sometimes a little exaggeration of the truth does reveal some insights.

So far as I know my mother left no will and these brothers and sisters sold her house for half price (actually gave it to a neighbor-methinks now for some monetary consideration on the side). I was told all money from sale of the house went to the state to pay for the nursing home before she died. One sister got mad and tried to get me to file suit on the others because she said one five thousand dollar sum went into the bank account of a son-in-law and he gave the five thousand dollars to his daughter from a previous marriage. I dont have time to get involved in lawsuits such as this. This sister is the one who filed as executor of this brother's estate and hired this attorney who wouldn't return my calls since January.

I did contact the insurance company directly and they gave me only an amount and nothing else. Sign these papers and return them. See first post where insurance company said dead brother must have the papers. The comment that I was half beneficiary and my mother's was half came from another sister. This is why I would like to see the policy or whatever to see if this is actually true.

There is a hearing in about a month on another sister who is incapacitated. This is how we found out about the annuity when another sister brought a form by for me to notarize and sign stating I had no objections to the sales price of that sister's house. After we got that back, here came all these packages of papers from guess who? Yes. that same poor little bogged down attorney who has been hiding the annuity and won't return my calls since January.

You have hit the nail on the head with your comments...

"""As it stands now you are in the dark because you don't have complete information about this asset. Further communication with the attorney will probably be useless, which is truly a shame, although you must understand that he is bogged down with managing the complicated estate affairs, there is no excuse for not responding to your inquiries."""

Although I don't see how the attorney can be bogged down unless he never learned to count. The brother never married and had no children. His car was towed away years ago and someone stole the bicycle he had been riding to work. As I was told, all the other brothers and sisters ran off with all his furniture and personal effects, so the estate would consist of cash and cash accounts.

I dont want to touch the money at all. Since it has apparently been hidden from me for 21 months, I don't see why another 21 months would hurt anything.

I've got a fishing tournament tommorrow and a prefish the next day for tournaments next weekend and I don't know if I will make it back to the internet next week.

I do appreciate any advice you can give me.

 

[ALawyer]

You'll want to ask the insurance company what it takes to collect the proceeds. As there are several types of annuities, if the annuity was being used to fund an IRA or what often is termed a teacher's plan -- a 403(b) -- the full amount of the money you receive will likely be subjected to Federal and State income tax, unles the circumstances permit you to maintain the product or proceeds in a tax qualified account. (Ask an accountant or the insurance company.)

Also ask the insurance company if it is possible to "disclaim" and have the money go to your daughter if you want, as the tax will be lower in her bracket, but the proceeds may wind up making her ineligible for any welfare type benefits to which she may be entitled, in which case hold the money yourself.