After finally getting my Letters Testamentary a few months ago, I set about trying to claim all my parents' probate-able assets. I quickly inquired as to the two banks with accounts outside of the trust how to go about claiming the money. Both sent me forms to submit. I did that promptly, including everything they said they required. One bank told me to expect a check within 10 business days. The other told me it would probably take about 21 days.
About a month after I first submitted the forms, on the exact same day, I got two overstuffed envelopes from each of the banks. In both envelopes were the original copies of Letters Testamentary that I'd included as well as copies of the death certificates and my letters of instruction. Only one of the envelopes contained a check. The other envelope contained more forms - and information about how to claim trust assets from their bank.
Trust assets? No way! We'd checked several times earlier in the process to verify what assets were in the trust and what assets were out of the trust. Of course, when you call the bank, they won't speak to you unless you're the administrator. Without Letters Testamentary, you're nothing! But they did confirm ownership of the accounts. And there was no mention of "trust" at all.
After ranting a few minutes upon opening an envelope with
more forms and
no check, I noticed that their customer support phone line was available 24-hours a day. It was after 6pm when I'd gone to check the mail that day and I thought I'd have to wait until the following business day to figure out what was going on. Naturally, there was a long wait due to "unusually high call volume," and once I was connected with a rep who took all my pertinent information, I was transferred to another rep - i the trust department. Hey, what's going on here?!
I was told that the beneficiary to the account was the trust. "So does this mean that I didn't need to put this account through probate?" "I'm not sure, but probably." "Why couldn't someone tell me that before I probated the account?" "Due to privacy, we're not able to talk to anyone who doesn't have administration papers." "I couldn't get those papers until after everything had gone through probate." The rep got my frustration over the fact that I had wasted time putting an account through the probate system that didn't need it, but I don't think he realized that I'd also lost money since you have to pay for every dollar that goes through probate.
Today, while looking through old emails for something else, I came across an email with the subject line "Possible Probate Accounts." In this email, the first trust guy - who turned out to know next to nothing - stated that this account most definitely needed to go through probate. I haven't been able to find the answer I'm really looking for online... but AAACK! This whole thing frustrates me to death.
Because of the whole "splitting the trust" issue we're having, I still don't have the proper trust documentation to claim the funds from this account yet.
I want this done - yesterday. Or the day before.
Here's the biggest thing I learned this week. Homestead exemption in Florida is not just about getting a break on one's real estate taxes each year. The Homestead exemption provides protection from creditors in all sorts of situations. Like... if I go into the hospital, an assisted living or into a skilled nursing facility, no one can come after my house. My heirs will still be able to inherit the house if it's been my primary residence and I have the Homestead exemption.
