My grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2017, it progressed and she eventually was moved into a facility. My mother became in control of everything and when my grandmother passed, my mother told me there was no money except for her burial funds. How can I find out if my grandmother had a will? My grandmother told me in 2012 that she had started a savings account when I was born for me to receive money when she passed to help me and my children.
It may show up even years later.
Anyways, Lakeside Mall in Metairie was a check distribution site. It was done over a couple of weekends. The line was amazing…. like snaked through the mall (it’s big, like Macys, Apple, H&M, lululemon, Dillards) and out into the parking lots. If you had documents that made sense to establish you were the heir, you got a check cut to you right there and then.
I’m going to guess that what happened is that your gran did a bank account with you named as it’s Pay on Death / POD beneficary. She did not do an UTMA / Uniform Transfer to Minor Account established by her at a bank for you with her as the custodian.
You should ask your mom - as she was her mother’s POA - as to exactly how this account was done by your grandmother. As it may give you a way to resolve your feeling and concerns.
The sticky issue for inheritance with a POD beneficiary account is it is all viewed as the grandmothers $ as it is tied to her SS#. And she can spend it all however she needs to as it is entirely hers. It only is if there is $ left in this account after death does the balance transfer over to you. Its Pay on Death or Transfer on Death. If she filed for LTC Medicaid to pay for her NH, for most States she is limited to a maximum of 2K in assets. So all the $ in bank accounts has to do a “spend down” to get to 2K. Realistically there is no $ left to POD.
An UTMA is different as it’s irrevocable tied to the Social Security # of the minor the UTMA was established for with the SS# of the custodian on the account as a signatory. They - the custodian- retain control of the account BUT DO NOT “OWN” the account. All spends out of the UTMA are supposed to only be done for the benefit of the minor. Upon the date the minor named in the UTMA becomes legal majority in their State, that UTMA can 100% be moved over from the UTMA to an in their now-no-longer a minors account under their SS# alone. Grandma’s involvement in that UTMA stops as of majority age; it’s all ownership of now at full adult age individual. Even if LTC Medicaid is filed for, its ownership is the minors SS#.
HOWEVER….
What often happens with an UTMA is the grandparent (or their POA) draws from the UTMA for their own use. They don’t understand UTMA ownership structure. They don’t realize that UTMAs are kinda like a Trust so it's protected from any LTC Medicaid asset requirements (if done 5 years prior to filing for LTC Medicaid). And they spend the $ so the UTMA defunds and closes. If this is what happened to you, well I’d be kinda peeved that gran or the POA didn’t realize what they did was incorrect or they failed spectacularly to let you know you had the ability to move the account to you solo once you attained majority.
It happens. The elder or their POA didn’t understand what an UTMA was and spent down the $ for the elders benefit and not setting it aside and explaining with documentation and perhaps tax filings to show Medicaid that it wasn’t an asset of the grandparent.
- if grandma actually did have her bank account as POD to you and she did keep her bank account open once she went onto LTC Medicaid, that probably meant that her SSA income continued to go into this old bank account and she or your mom as POA wrote a check from this account to the NH each and every month as the required Share of Cost to be paid to the NH. The only $ g’ma could keep would be a small amount that would have been her State set Personal Needs Allowance and then whatever assets she is allowed to retain under her States LTC Medicaid. If she did this and there was $ in this account as of the day she died, then that $ would be yours if she POD it to you. If it was used by your mom to pay on after death costs (like she used it to pay for her funeral flowers) that was wrong, as you were the named POD. But trying to get her to give the $ to you now will be filled with difficulty. But it gives you an idea as to how your mom rolls.
But what tends to happen for those on LTC Medicaid is they close their bank accounts completely, use the $ as a spend down and then let the NH become the representative payee for the residents SS and other paid monthly income. The NH then puts the Personal Needs Allowance $ into an at the NH personal trust account the POA or the NH can draw from to pay for things that the LTC Medicaid program does not pay for. Like LTC Medicaid does not pay for beauty shoppe, cable or in room phone, so the PNA $ can be used to cover these costs. If your grandma did this approach, there are no bank accounts anymore. The $ left in that at the NH personal trust account after they die will be sent to the POA or a named beneficiary once all the billing is completed. It could be weeks or months for a NH to finalize an account.
For example, Grandma Sarah in TX has a bank account with $4,500 in it and gets $2500 income every month in SS income. Her State LTC Medicaid has an income maximum of $2,901 and asset max of 2K. She has a spend down of $2500 and then her POA buys her a preneed funeral for $2K; so she is at zero assets. Her bank account gets closed as she has made the NH her rep payee for her SSA$ income. So every month the NH is paid her SSA$ directly and takes $2,425 to pay her required Share of Cost and then places the $75 left into an at the NH personal trust account. Each month she goes twice to the on-site NH at $25 per visit so it leaves only $25 in the personal needs trust account every month. Occasionally her POA draws from it for clothing replacement. When she dies that NH personal needs account has a mere $180 left. NH sends a check for $180 to whomever in file as the POD for this account. This kinda is the reality for those widows or widowers on LTC Medicaid in a NH. They are basically impoverished to be eligible for LTC Medicaid. They let the NH become their rep payee as it’s just simpler and more efficient for the POA to deal with.
If your Grandmother was on Medicaid, she had no assets. Any assets she did have prior to living in a facility, had to be spent down to get Medicaid. Even if this savings account was set up with you as beneficiary, if it was under Grandmom's name, it was considered her money and had to be used for her care.
Even if there was a Will and a savings account was mentioned in it, the account was probably used for Gmoms care. It does not matter what a Will says when there is no money or property left.
If GM on Medicaid, any known savings account would have to be used before Medicaid would pay for her care.
I am sorry for the loss of your GM. It was a lovely intention she had for you and your children.
Now, as to any mention in a will, you can look to see if your mom did have a will that had to be filed in probate. If your grandmother died basically without an estate probate needn't be filed.
If you think that there is some sizable chunk of money out there you can get your own attorney who would go to your mom as executor, and would likely find the stipulations of any will with ease, and also find out if grandmother died holding any appreciable estate.
Chances are there is no money. Unless the bank account your grandmother supposedly set up for you when you were born was in someone else's name or put into a protected Trust for you, it's not a protected asset. The nursing home takes that money because it is a liquid asset.
Your grandmother died almost a year ago. Most states allow one year after a person passes for their Will to be filed. Most likely your grandmother left nothing. A trip to the probate court would be worth it because you can find out.
We have an acquaintance who had a secret love child in between his marital children. No one but he, his mother, and the child's mother ever even knew about it until he passed away. He did NOT include this child in his will. However, when he passed, his mother decided to try to influence his legally documented children (he was not on the love child's birth certificate) to split their inheritance with this other sibling they knew nothing about (they were all young adults). Naturally, the siblings were not so inclined. And legally there was nothing anyone could do because he did not change his will to reflect that he wanted the other child included. Everyone only had his mother's word that he wanted it.
My point, unless something is legally documented - either in the will or by virtue of being named on a the bank account - there is little likelihood of being able to collect on it, if there was anything to collect on to begin with.
She was diagnosed with ALZ in 2017. You mention that she eventually had to go into facility care after it progressed, I'm assuming memory care. Memory care is NOT cheap. The AVERAGE cost of Memory care in the US is like $84,000 a year. That's AVERAGE. If she wasn't in regular memory care she may have been in a SNF with memory care which is even more expensive, averaging between $111,000 to $128,000 depending on room type per year. Many seniors don't have that kind of money to last for very long before they need Medicaid. And if she ended up on Medicaid, there was no money left. No Savings account in her name that had any value.
Sadly, this may have been her making promises that may not have been within her power to keep.
You mention that she was in facility care. If she was there for any amount of time and didn’t have a lot of assets, it is very likely that her stay was paid for by Medicaid. You could spend a LOT of time reading all of the material about Medicaid on this website, but the important thing to know is that people are required to use their savings to pay for their own care before Medicaid will pay after they run out of money. So if she had savings intended for you in her name, she likely had to use it to pay for her care.
There may be a chance that she set aside money in your name. If her records were disorganized, it is also possible that the person handling her affairs is not aware of this. So it wouldn’t hurt to check her states unclaimed property department to see if there’s a saving account in your name. I believe there is a similar process to check for lost savings bonds.
Try to forgive her for not being able to follow through on her good intentions.
Your Grandmother had ALZ for a long time. It is totally possible (very possible) that her care depleted all her funds if she wasn't a wealthy woman. If she started a savings account for you, but you were never added jointly at the bank (which you would have known since this has to be done by you in person) then the govt and law considers that money hers and only hers, not yours, no matter what she said verbally to anyone.
Even if she had a Will, if she died on Medicaid (which many elders do) then there is likely nothing to inherit. That being said, Will or no Will, it can take several months for her estate to go through the probate process. I have been in this process with my Aunt's estate. She passed mid January this year and probate is about to close on her humble estate in May. That's 5 months of not many assets. She has named inheritors in her Will but she lived to 105 and nearly ran out of assets. I have learned through working with the elder law attorney as the Executor of my Aunt's estate that there is a hierarchy to who gets paid from her remaining funds: the government first and foremost (Medicaid, the IRS), then the funeral home or crematorium. then the lawyers, then other debt like medical, credit card, loans, etc. Inheritors get what is left over, if anything.
If you are an inheritor and there's any money left, you will be notified by the Personal Representative by mail. Probate takes time but please don't have any expectations about that savings account.
May you receive peace in your heart as you grieve this loss.