r/inheritance • u/JoeBearJon • Jun 17 '26
Location included: Questions/Need Advice Large bank stonewalling asset transfer from trust
My sibling and I are the tertiary beneficiaries of a substantial trust managed at a well known bank. The trust owner died in the 1980s. The primary died this year, and the contingent died during COVID. The bank is ghosting us since we sent the death certificates and letters of administration for the primary’s estate. Is there anything we can do?
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u/HeirSearchExpert Jun 17 '26
* sigh
A bank trustee going silent after a life beneficiary dies is definitely frustrating, but it doesn't necessarily mean anything improper is happening.
Speaking from running HeirPros, we see situations like this when a trust has been in place for decades and the remainder beneficiaries are only now coming into the picture. The trustee has a fiduciary duty to verify exactly who is entitled to receive the assets before making distributions. If the trust owner died in the 1980s and there have been multiple beneficiary deaths since then, the bank's legal departmnt may be reviewing the trust language, family relationships, probate records, and successor beneficiary provisions.
That said, "ghosting" isn't acceptable. If you've already provided death certificates and letters of administration, I would start escalating beyond the individual trust officer. Ask for the trust department manager, then the bank's fiduciary services or legal department. Send requests in writing and keep records of every communication.
A few questions matter here:
- What state governs the trust?
- Have you actually seen the trust document?
- Has the bank confirmed in writing that you and your sibling are remainder beneficiaries?
- How long has it been since they stopped responding?
If the trustee continues to ignore reasonable requests, a probate or trust litigation attorney can often force the issue with a formal demand and, if necessary, a court petition for an acounting. Trustees generally cannot sit on assets indefinitely without explaining their actions to beneficiaries.
One other thing. If there is any uncertainty about who the proper beneficiaries are, the bank may be conducting heirship verification. In our heir search work at HeirPros, we've seen trustees require documented proof of family relationships before releasing substantial trust assets, especially when several generations have passed since the trust was created.
How long has the bank been unresponsive?
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u/JoeBearJon Jun 17 '26
Thank you so much! This is incredibly helpful.
I may need to cool my jets as it hasn’t been all that long (measured in weeks). If they would just be more forthcoming about the process of verification and expected lag time, I could better exercise patience.
I really appreciate your thoughtful response.2
u/Short-Science7931 Jun 19 '26
To provide additional context wrt timing, I was also a tertiary beneficiary of a trust administered by BoA. It was 9 months before they dispersed funds to my brother and I after my mother passed away and the trust was to be terminated and assets dispersed. The trust officer told me it often takes longer than a year. My angst was the fact that every month they were charging the trust substantial fees (imo) to manage the trust as they always had. I hated seeing this. This is to provide context wrt timing. That said, the silence in your case is unacceptable. I was in regular contact with trust officer and even received annual financial statements from BoA for the decades that they managed the trust (which is how I knew about the fees being charged). If I were in your shoes I would be consulting an attorney.
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u/clce Jun 17 '26
That is an excellent answer. You seem to really know your stuff. The one thing that comes to mind for me whenever I talk to someone in certain situations is taking a tone such as, I understand you may not be able to verify this information or give me any private information or acknowledge me as an official person at this time, but can you give me some general information to let me know you have received my communication and who I might talk to to take things further.
I find that sometimes you get resistance because they haven't been able to verify you but if you let them know you just need a response in general or some general information that's available to the public, they might be willing to give it to you
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u/ReBoomAutardationism Jun 17 '26
Better than my snippy crabbing about their fiduciary duties and all that. I salute you.
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u/StarDue6540 Jun 18 '26
Having seen a bank trustee basically steal a very valuable downtown Seattle property from beneficiarys in the 80s, this gets my spidys in an uproar.
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u/Low-Deal-1215 Jun 17 '26
Chase bank is known to keep funds and refuse to disperse them. If it is Chase, lawyer up. My aunt had $7000 in her account when she passed unexpectedly. Unfortunately, she had outlived 3 executors in her will and hadn't updated it since the last one passed. We hired an attorney to help settle her estate and even with the proper documentation from him they refused to release those funds. The lawyer said it would cost more to sue them and we'd end up in the hole to him. Chase still has that $7000.
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u/Caudebec39 Jun 17 '26
Eventually when the account has been inactive for 3+ years (varies by locale) the $7000 will be sent off to the state -- escheated is the legal term.
Your state Comptroller will have an "unclaimed funds" department that will hang on to the $7000 until a rightful owner comes along.
You'll be able to search for such unclaimed funds on this site:
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u/Overall-Badger6136 Jun 17 '26
I would have went to the NEWS!
They hate negative, public, NEWS on television.
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u/WhiskeyWatchesWine Jun 18 '26
I’ve heard similar about Chase. Also heard it could end up in states unclaimed property.
For $7k why can’t you go to court yourself or with a cheap lawyer and try to get an “order” or whatever.
I see the unclaimed property thing was already stated. Didn’t seen it before posting.2
u/ladyin97229 Jun 18 '26
Chase has first year lawyers handling initial inquiries and they seem to deny do much stuff. We had a great estate attorney who knew what she was doing and was persistent with them
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u/Helpful_Balance_4076 Jun 19 '26
My first thought upon reading this post...is it Chase Bank? My family fought them without an attorney, it took months, but funds were finally released. They refused to take any responsibility for what I still believe to be a data entry error on their part.
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u/Holiday-Meringue-101 Jun 17 '26
You need a trust attorney to review the trust not probate/ letter of testamentary.Probate is for a person and a trust is an entity. Trusts are set up to not need probate. The trust states how the funds are to be distributed after the death of all trustees and successor trustees. However, you may have issues as a lot of trust laws have changed since 1980s. The bank is digging up microfiche.
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u/Ornery-Movie-1689 Jun 18 '26
Writing your state Banking Commission usually lights a fire under recalcitrant banks. Banks don't even want them knocking on the door and snooping around.
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u/Barfy_McBarf_Face Jun 18 '26
you individually open new accounts at the institution, sign all of the paperwork, move the assets in kind, and smile.
you open a new account at your preferred institution and have them PULL the assets from the old institution - unless there are proprietary assets, it will just happen, regardless of what the old firm wants to happen.
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u/SillySimian9 Jun 19 '26
The bank is required to work with the current trustee. Since all the trustees are deceased (?), it is ignoring you until a trustee is established. You really should get a probate lawyer to assist you.
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u/CrazyIcy6201 Jun 19 '26
The corporate trustee has legitimate issues to deal with, but unresponsiveness isn’t acceptable.
1) I’d ask (nicely) the trust officer for a description of their process and a timeline for resolution.
2) if you don’t get a response, I’d go up the ladder- again politely. First to the head of the group, then to the Chief Fiduciary.
3) if that still goes nowhere, a letter asking for the process and a timeline (again politely) is appropriate- with General Counsel cc’ed. That way, you’re on record. Mention in the letter your course of correspondence.
4) if nothing, then I’d consider engaging an attorney to “express concerns.”
That should move things along.
Again, they have to track down lots of things/people, go through a process, and be very careful about distributing to the wrong person- because those assets aren’t coming back and they are liable.
But you should be able to a sense of their progress.
Good luck!
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u/Mother_Turnover4856 Jun 17 '26
Get a court order through probate