I was POA for my mom's finances and she instructed me to close a savings account and transfer the funds to her primary bank account as it was low on funds to pay her bills and care. Mom passed a few months later and now I am the Trustee and owner of the primary bank account with a large balance. My mom never instructed me to split any left over funds verbally or in writing from the account. One sibling says for me to keep funds for the work I am doing on the Trust...other sibling want their share as they think the beneficiary split on the closed savings account should be carried over as part of the primary bank account. Has anyone ran into this kind of scenario? Can siblings take you to court?
Here was my thought on whether they can actually win, because that is the real question.
You as a POA for mom moved all of her savings into an account that you own jointly from an account that had designated beneficiaries.
It could be claimed that you did this knowing that the end was near and enriched yourself as the POA , which is illegal. NOT saying you did that, saying what a lowlife attorney could say to get this in front of a judge.
You have to decide if this is worth the fight that the siblings will bring if you choose to keep the money.
Personally, I would divide it as mom intended while in savings and any siblings that think you deserve more can give you their share. But, I don't know the dynamics and that could change depending on the realities of the situation.
You should check on your Trustee duties being compensated, I have never seen a Trust that did not have the compensation clearly defined, so hopefully, mom's does and this is a non issue.
I am sorry for your loss and I pray that The Lord gives you wisdom, guidance and strength to deal with this.
As RR says, anyone can sue anyone. I could pick a name out of the New York city directory and sue them. I wouldn't win, but could do so.
And there is an argument to be made--a solid one--that you may have known the end was near, and you transferred to much and to what purpose.
And why, really, would you want to go through all of that.
It serves as a good lesson to others. POA and TRUSTEE actions are PRIVATE. As private as though the person were themselves doing the work. They should not be discussed. A Trustee, an Executor, has duties under the law, of notification to beneficiaries, and etc. But nothing else. Keep things close to home, handle them privately.
Again, I can't know what amounts of money are at play here, but if decent amounts, it wouldn't look pretty in a court.
The POA does his work for the PRINCIPAL and not only doesn't have to, but SHOULD NOT discuss these private things.
You do not give us any idea of how much money is involved here.
But the facts are these:
1. If this account was not in your mother's name only, with you as the signee, but was in a co-owned account, this account now belongs to YOU and to you alone. In a court or out of it.
2. If you wish to, and are doing probate, you can assign to the estate, by check, this amount you speak of, but if you write out checks to the sibs yourself you will have tax repercussions for anything over the amount of I believe it is 18,000 for each person. Discuss with an attorney.
Sounds like you are doing all the work and always did.
To be honest I would never have discussed this. I would simply have settled the estate with the help of an attorney, and moved on. That was a big mistake. Now that you did, dependent on who these sibs are within themselves, you will have a world of woe in trying to keep relationships. Falls under "No good deed goes unpunished".
See an attorney. Tell the sibs you are going to have to do that now as an executor who is being questioned. WHOOPS, there goes some money. And the more money they wish to spend out of the estate with carrying on, then the more money they will waste.
When you come to LEGAL question, it is always best to see an attorney. Do that now. The Trust pays for this. And Trusts are much easier managed than estates. But still difficult. Sounds you have done it all--sounds you will pay for that. I am so sorry. You have both my condolences on the loss of your mom and my sympathy.
Something very similar to this happened when a dear friend died just over a year ago. She has a former neighbor and good friend who managed for her in the end, she left a mess of an estate having not even paid her taxes for 8 years, and she had recently moved a mess of money out of her retirement account and into her account out of which this woman, made a co-owner on said account so she could pay 24/7 care out of it, did all bill paying and other functions. So on the death of my friend, this account belonged to HER. And I say GOOD FOR HER. She was an angel doing miraculous stuff at the end, and had to take two years out of her life, almost, to try to do all the work on the mess left behind. She DESERVES every single penny. There were forms for beneficiaries to sign giving up claim on that account she was made co-owner on. And of course they WOULD NOT. But they never went the route of getting attorneys and nothing was "discussed with them" and it is all finally done.
Are you the executor of her estate in addition to being the trustee of her trust? Or is someone else the executor?
Is the bank account in question part of the trust, or outside the trust as part of her estate? If it's part of the trust, then the conditions of the trust will dictate how it is to be dealt with. If not, it's part of her estate.
Did she leave a will? If so the executor needs to follow the will regarding how to disperse the bank account. If not, then the law regarding how to proceed if there is no will needs to be followed.
Was the bank account a joint bank account owned by you and her, or was it her bank account and you had signing authority? If it was a joint account owned by both of you, under the law the money may become yours automatically -- but her will may designate it was part of her estate and instruct how it should be distributed.
A sibling can take you to court if the assets haven't been divided according to the trust, will, and/or intestate law. If it's not clear, you should check with a lawyer as getting the answers now will prevent possible legal action by a sibling later on, and possibly preserve the relationship between you.