My brother was mom's trustee but he passed 6 days prior to mom. Brother lived somewhere else. Lawyer is dragging his feet, mom passed march 29. Any help? Thank you.
I believe the Trust remains in the county where your late Mom had lived. Was this a Revocable Trust or an Irrevocable Trust? I was wondering if it was neither, or inpart, if your Mom's estate has to go through Probate, and that could take a year.
Rosalind, trusts are unlike probate in that they don't have to be admitted to a court and actions started. You will have to file federal returns.
Whether or not probate would become involved depends on whether assets were transferred (retitled) in the name of the trust. I.e., if property, mutual, stocks, IRAs and similar assets were retitled, then they're subject to disposition according to trust terms.
Did your mother execute a Bill of Sale when she signed the Trust? This generally transfers all her possessions into the Trust, to be subject to disposition under those terms.
There should also have been a Pour-Over Will, addressing disposition but also "pouring over" the Will terms into the Trust. In Michigan, a Pour-Over Will should be filed with Probate, but I never filed anything more b/c the assets were either directly held or retitled into the Trust.
Whether or not probate would become involved depends on whether assets were transferred (retitled) in the name of the trust. I.e., if property, mutual, stocks, IRAs and similar assets were retitled, then they're subject to disposition according to trust terms.
Did your mother execute a Bill of Sale when she signed the Trust? This generally transfers all her possessions into the Trust, to be subject to disposition under those terms.
There should also have been a Pour-Over Will, addressing disposition but also "pouring over" the Will terms into the Trust. In Michigan, a Pour-Over Will should be filed with Probate, but I never filed anything more b/c the assets were either directly held or retitled into the Trust.