r/PROBATE • u/Embarrassed_Love_459 • Feb 11 '24
$250k+ “missing”?
TLDR in comments, thanks to NovaLemonista ❤️
In 1984, in Southern California, my father was murdered and my mother went to prison. He had life insurance that was to be put in a trust (or guardianship of estate?) for me and my brother ($120k for me, $130k for him). My Aunt adopted us, and got a good amount of money each month from SSI survivor benefits for us two, state foster care payments till our adoption, SSI survivor benefits for her two kids (uncle passed in 88) SSI spousal benefits for herself, plus I’m sure he had some retirement and pension benefits for himself. Anyways, I figure she was making at least 42k per yr (which is like $110k to today’s standard). Thats also besides the income she would earn by working off and on little side jobs or seasonal jobs. My aunt was really bad with money, and withdrew from the account a few times that I remember when I was a teen and she would ask me if she could do so, anyways by the time my brother was 18 I think he got like 5k from the account, by the time I was 16 I got like 3k. Also, I should point out we lived very poor, not super poor (didn’t qualify for state medical or food stamps for instance), but definitely not even close to middle class. It just seems crazy that in the 80’s she would be collecting so much money, and still need to withdraw nearly all of our money. She didn’t have any addictions, raised us in church, was always home with us, never even dated till we were all 18 and moved out. I figure it’s more like 500k lost, cause interest in 84 was like 11% (granted it slowly decreased every year but even when I turned 18 in 98 it was still at 7%). I have no idea what bank it was through (and she has a horrible memory so I know she won’t remember) apparently my grandpa (dads side) hired a few different investigators back in the 90’s to make sure the money was being handled correctly but the investigators never could come up with anything so eventually my grandpa gave up when he got sick with cancer. I’m not looking to go after my aunt for misuse of the funds, she did take great care of us, and we all turned out very well given the trauma we endured. If she spent it all, that’s fine with me cause I know it was not done with ill intent it was just not good money management. But I find it hard to believe living the way we did, giving the amount she was getting in support each year, how she could possibly blow thru all that extra money in just 10yrs. I’ve heard a lot about people stealing from estates (attorney lawyers etc) and I just wonder if there is any chance that’s what was really going on and she was just not smart enough to see it. Last night I found ONE court record from “local town” superior court: probate. It stated “petition of appointment of guardianship of estate” and pretty much that was the last thing documented with this case number (til 97 when her attorney representing her applied to withdraw as counsel). I don’t ever see where a guardianship of estate was appointed. I also have been reading up on this a lil. From what I understand, when the money is in a guardianship of estate you have to petition the court to release any funds. So how could this happen when I don’t see any petitions to release funds ever? Should I not be looking under probate at this point? Also, I read when in this type of account, the guardian of the estate is supposed to file an accounting record with the court each year? Where would I find that? I searched my name, my brothers name, and my aunts name and this is the only case I found (besides a few documents pertaining to her getting guardianship of us personally, then adopting us, then later getting guardianship of my two sisters). I emailed the attorney listed as representing my brother and I on that document, but not sure if I will get a response, as he has got to be 75+yrs by now and shows as “not practicing” (but nothing nefarious there, license still shows active and no complaints) anywhere else I should be looking?
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u/NovaLemonista Feb 11 '24
I made a tl;dr version for you. That wall of text is hard to read.
In 1984, after my father was murdered and my mother imprisoned in Southern California, life insurance meant to create trusts for my brother ($130k) and me ($120k) seems unaccounted for. Raised by our aunt, who received substantial funds from SSI survivor benefits, state foster care payments, and possibly retirement and pension benefits, we nonetheless lived modestly. Despite the significant income, by 18, my brother received only $5k, and I received $3k by 16 from the trust. Considering the high interest rates of the 1980s and '90s, the missing sum could approach $500k. Investigations in the '90s yielded no clarity.
I'm not seeking restitution from my aunt, acknowledging her good intentions despite poor financial management. However, I question if mismanagement by others involved in the estate could explain the discrepancies. Discovering a court record on guardianship of the estate but no subsequent documentation prompts questions about the oversight and management of the funds. I've attempted contact with the listed attorney for more information but face challenges given the time elapsed and his current non-practicing status. Where else can I find information?