OT: does anyone know anything about estate law?

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heres the scoop. my father died in august and left about 9k in his personal bank account as well as around a million in the life insurance policy and stocks combined. I was named executor of the estate and I opened an estate account with its own tax id with the 9k that was in his personal account. I have taken out a lil money here and there for groceries and whatnot as i havent been able to work since ive had to meet with lawyers and accountants and whatnot. Today my lawyer informed me that I should not be touching any of that money and that it is for his remaining bills and whatnot. She even said I may have to pay some of it back. My question is, if im the executor, why can i not touch it? the beneficiaries in the trust are me and my brothers and the money ive taken out was to help all of us. why would i have to pay back to the trust money that is supposed to go to me in the trust anyways? thanks in advance
 

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Don't know Texas law but I was the executor of my parents estate and I know that the executor can take an allowance out to cover expenses. Don't know why you have a lawyer, they tend to just complicate things. Maybe you should get a second opinion of your lawyers advice. Good Luck and sorry for your loss.
 

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heres the scoop. my father died in august and left about 9k in his personal bank account as well as around a million in the life insurance policy and stocks combined. I was named executor of the estate and I opened an estate account with its own tax id with the 9k that was in his personal account. I have taken out a lil money here and there for groceries and whatnot as i havent been able to work since ive had to meet with lawyers and accountants and whatnot. Today my lawyer informed me that I should not be touching any of that money and that it is for his remaining bills and whatnot. She even said I may have to pay some of it back. My question is, if im the executor, why can i not touch it? the beneficiaries in the trust are me and my brothers and the money ive taken out was to help all of us. why would i have to pay back to the trust money that is supposed to go to me in the trust anyways? thanks in advance

Depending on the situation you might be able to make some interim distributions to all of the beneficiaries, but you cannot just dip into the estate for your own personal stuff. You are going to have to account for every penny. You should be entitled to some sort of executor's fee for your work. Ask the attorney if you can receive some of your executor fee and/or if you can make interim distributions to beneficiaries. In any case, follow the advice of your attorney and don't think of the money in the estate as your own personal piggy bank. An executor "borrowing" from the estate is a big no-no. It's not your money, it belongs to the estate.
 

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Depending on the situation you might be able to make some interim distributions to all of the beneficiaries, but you cannot just dip into the estate for your own personal stuff. You are going to have to account for every penny. You should be entitled to some sort of executor's fee for your work. Ask the attorney if you can receive some of your executor fee and/or if you can make interim distributions to beneficiaries. In any case, follow the advice of your attorney and don't think of the money in the estate as your own personal piggy bank. An executor "borrowing" from the estate is a big no-no. It's not your money, it belongs to the estate.

i hear you, my question is, if only my brothers and I are the beneficiaries of the estate and I divide the money up and only give them a lil bit out of their own portion to help them out, why would I have to pay this money back. Its like having to pay myself back for a loan i took out for myself out of money that is left to us. I just dont get it.
 

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also, we are not supposed to receive the money until we are 35 yrs old apiece. can i as the executor break that rule or will i have to stick to it? my brothers are screw ups and id like to help them out from time to time. my dad originally listed a few banks to be the executor of the will but they all turned it down, thus making me the executor. am i able to change some of the rules from the will?
 

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also, we are not supposed to receive the money until we are 35 yrs old apiece. can i as the executor break that rule or will i have to stick to it? my brothers are screw ups and id like to help them out from time to time. my dad originally listed a few banks to be the executor of the will but they all turned it down, thus making me the executor. am i able to change some of the rules from the will?

What do you think? It's not your money. It belongs to the will/trust and you are just the fiduciary. It's your duty to act as a fiduciary and follow the terms of the trust. Your dad set it up a certain way and it's your duty to follow it. Work with your attorney and do what he/she says if you want to stay out of trouble. Sometimes there are provisions that may allow for some distributions before the specified age for certain reasons (education, etc.). Read the terms and then follow them. I don't know how well you get along with your siblings, but imagine if you give them a bunch of their share and then they blow it....they're going to turn 35, complain that their inheritance was wasted and then hire an attorney to sue you for breaching the terms of the will. If you don't think you can follow the terms then resign as executor before you get yourself into trouble.
 

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do yourself a favor and get an attorney to handle this for you or you're going to end up being sued by your deadbeat siblings. You obviously are not fit to be an executor and have not been properly informed (or do not care) on how to maintain an estate.

Also, do you have to probate your father's estate or did he set up a trust?

(i am an attorney)

we have an attorney and she informed me on how his bills are to be paid off first, which we have done. there is about 7k left over and ive gone broke since his death as ive had to quit my job and pay fax fees, gas, notarys, etc. she didnt tell me we could not touch this money until after i wrote a check to my brother for his child support. (they were gonna throw him in jail). my brothers are cool with me and are on the same level. my question is, if we are all on the same page and have agreed to take a lil out to help us get by as long as it doesnt go into the others shares, are we still in trouble. the lawyer said we may have to pay it back to the trust but i dont understand why as my brothers and i are the only beneficiaries. I would have to pay back money to myself that was taken out to help ourselves? thanks in advance
 

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Also, do you have to probate your father's estate or did he set up a trust?

(i am an attorney)[/quote]

sorry i didnt answer your question. he set up a trust which stated that we dont get our shares until we reach 35. what happened though was all the banks we took it too to act as trustee turned it down as he set some crazy stipulations in the will such as, my brothers could not live within 100 miles of their mothers and that private investigators had to verify that they werent. my lawyer suggested that i become trustee as no bank wanted anything to do with these provisions. my other concern is, if we dont have to follow the rules of the investigator stuff, do we still have to follow the provision that we wait until 35? it seems weird that the trust can cherry pick what gets followed and what doesnt. help? thanks again
 

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Also, do you have to probate your father's estate or did he set up a trust?

(i am an attorney)

sorry i didnt answer your question. he set up a trust which stated that we dont get our shares until we reach 35. what happened though was all the banks we took it too to act as trustee turned it down as he set some crazy stipulations in the will such as, my brothers could not live within 100 miles of their mothers and that private investigators had to verify that they werent. my lawyer suggested that i become trustee as no bank wanted anything to do with these provisions. my other concern is, if we dont have to follow the rules of the investigator stuff, do we still have to follow the provision that we wait until 35? it seems weird that the trust can cherry pick what gets followed and what doesnt. help? thanks again[/quote]

Wow, what a mess. These are the kinds of things you should be discussing with your attorney. You are entitled to hire the attorney of your choice to represent you as trustee and to have them paid from the trust. If you are not comfortable with your current representation then find someone that will help you through all this. Seems to me your costs for faxes, notaries, etc - costs related to estate work - should be paid for out of trust funds. Fiduciary litigation is very hot and if you don't do things right you are rolling the dice on getting sued at some point. Bottom line, find an attorney you are comfortable with and follow their advice.
 

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You have to follow the terms of the trust unless they are against public policy.

The provision about not living near your mother, etc. is likely against public policy and is not enforceable.

But the age restriction is reasonable and enforceable. You can't just disregard the trust terms and cash it out. If you do, you can be sued by your brothers or your brothers' kids, etc.

Don't mix the estate/trust money with your own, and don't use it to fund your gambling accounts:lol:. You will have to account to your brothers, possibly their children and also possibly the court so your records should be in good order or ~~:<<
 

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If you cannot touch the money until you're 35 you better hope there are no other creditors out there that have an interest in your fathers estate. Does he have a home? Mortgage? Any other debts?

Also, why are you asking deadbeat losers on therx for advice on how to skirt the laws that are in place and govern your deceased fathers irrevocable trust as well as ignoring the advice of your Texas licensed attorney?

well the lawyer wants to move it from the estate to the trust as soon as possible as she states trusts cannot be sued by medical bills, as he owed 40k at time of death. Im asking peeps on here because its too late to call lawyer now and im wondering what kind of trouble am i in by touching these funds for personal reasons. (which i havent taken a dime out for myself, just to help my brother), but i will need money eventually as im tapped out with all the costs
 

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You have to follow the terms of the trust unless they are against public policy.

The provision about not living near your mother, etc. is likely against public policy and is not enforceable.

But the age restriction is reasonable and enforceable. You can't just disregard the trust terms and cash it out. If you do, you can be sued by your brothers or your brothers' kids, etc.

Don't mix the estate/trust money with your own, and don't use it to fund your gambling accounts:lol:. You will have to account to your brothers, possibly their children and also possibly the court so your records should be in good order or ~~:<<

my brothers would never sue. they are completely on board as they need my help. our father was way too strict on us
 

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If you cannot touch the money until you're 35 you better hope there are no other creditors out there that have an interest in your fathers estate. Does he have a home? Mortgage? Any other debts?

he does have a home with a mortgage on it. no debts other than medical, but our lawyer says trusts cannot be sued for medical bills. the mortgage is stated in the will to be paid for by the trust, so i think we're ok there.
 

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