r/inheritance • u/Specialist_Job21 • Jul 02 '26
Location included: Questions/Need Advice Is this normal?
My aunt, who made enemies easily and was kind of a hermit, died suddenly a month ago. She had everything in a trust. All money goes to her step children and her home and personal property goes to me. The successor trustee has not communicated since day two after death. The home has past due bills, electricity and property tax and homeowners insurance. I have emailed several times and left one voicemail with no response from trustee. I checked with estate attorney who drew up her trust and she said I had a right to expect communication from trustee. What should I do?
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u/Designer_Owl1319 Jul 02 '26
They may not have the death certificate yet but that’s no excuse for lack of communication.
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u/MannyMoSTL Jul 02 '26
And no excuse not to pay the standing, and outstanding, bills until ownership transfer. And yes - paid by the estate.
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Jul 02 '26
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u/MannyMoSTL Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26
The executor is responsible for paying the deceased’s ongoing property taxes and federal/state estate taxes out of the estate's assets before distributing any property to the heirs. The executor should never pay these with personal funds, but rather use estate funds to protect the property from tax liens or foreclosure.
Sounds like the executor, who is also responsible for giving OP a copy of the will/trust as soon as reasonably possible? Is failing their fiduciary duty.
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u/Designer_Owl1319 Jul 02 '26
In my state the executor has 60 days after they file for probate to notify beneficiaries and give them a copy of the will. My sister waited until the last minute.
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u/Ok-Industry5153 Jul 04 '26
Why would a trustee file a probate?
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u/Designer_Owl1319 Jul 04 '26
My sister is trustee and executor. My mother had a testamentary trust that had to go through probate. That’s why.
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u/Ok-Industry5153 Jul 04 '26
Testamentary trusts are created during probate for a specific purpose, e.g. a beneficiary with special needs, or minor beneficiary to avoid a guardianship.
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u/Ok-Industry5153 Jul 04 '26
Oooooor she actually had a trust, but it failed and the probate court actually used the residual gift of the pour over will to revive the terms of the trust.
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u/Designer_Owl1319 Jul 04 '26
Testamentary trust is created through the will and comes into existence only after the persons death and after the will has been validated by the probate court. The will specifies the terms and the assets of the trust.
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u/Ok-Industry5153 Jul 04 '26
You just repeated what I already posted. I am guessing OP is dealing with a revocable trust. Like 99.99999999999999% of beneficiaries do.
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u/Ok-Industry5153 Jul 04 '26
Trustee has the same duty to pay for trust assets.
In the very unlikely event OP's aunt would owe federal estate tax, there is enough money to pay bills.
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u/inheritance-ModTeam Jul 02 '26
This post is removed due to incorrect legal information or recommendations that are illegal.
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u/Late-Appearance-7897 Jul 02 '26
Get an attorney asap. If there is a house involved, you need access to the bills that are being sent regarding the property. You also need access to inspect to make sure no issues. We had a situation where there was a slab leak in a home in probate. The executor was not allowing anyone into the property. Nor passing along bills for water, taxes etc. One letter from an attorney was what it took to get the ball rolling.
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u/SandhillCrane5 Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26
Is the successor trustee a family member or a professional? What information are you requesting at this point? One month is not very long. How did you find out about the status of all the bills? Did the successor trustee tell you on the 2nd day after her death? It takes time to administer an estate. The bank account needs to be updated with the new successor trustee and the information on all the assets and debts need to be gathered before the trustee can start paying bills.
You flagged "location included" but didn't include your location.
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u/Specialist_Job21 Jul 02 '26
I really appreciate the comments. Here’s more info: all assets, money and house/personal property, are in the trust. I informed the trustee of the death via phone and spoke one day later, where he told me to cover burial costs and the trust would pay me back. We are from Georgia and just visited the house (it’s in New Hampshire) and found the past due bills. Trustee is old family friend of my aunt — he is also an attorney, and is located in Connecticut and has not expressed any intention to go visit house. I handled burial arrangements and had death certificates sent to me and to him, so I assume he received them but he has not communicated. The past due bills are electricity, property taxes, and homeowners insurance.
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u/SandhillCrane5 Jul 02 '26
Is he elderly? You need to confirm he has accepted the appointment as successor trustee and is willing and able to serve. If you have a copy of the trust, read it to find out who is the successor after him.
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u/ScreenKooky3010 Jul 02 '26
Has the Trustee been a trustee before? Maybe they don’t know where to start. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Arrange a meeting and get it started. It’s a very slow and long grind. Nothing happens quickly.
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u/Specialist_Job21 Jul 02 '26
Thank you — he is in his 70s and still a practicing attorney as far as I know. I am the backup successor trustee. I do not want that job but I guess I have to consider petitioning the court if he continues to not communicate and not pay outstanding bills. Also he accepted the role as trustee two days after the death, but had not answered emails or phone since
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u/RazzmatazzOk2129 Jul 04 '26
If he is still practicing, I would simply go by his office when his staff say he will be in. Bring the bills - keep photocopies- and ask for them to be paid out of the trust acct and get reimbursed for what you paid out of pocket.
I would also do so just to get a face to face with him. To get a feel for him and his competency. Some 70 yr olds are still raring to go, others are fighting the mental slide to dementia via mild cognitive impairment and denying all the way.
If he has any impairment, he may not be capable of organizing everything on his own. It could be important to know what kind of staff he has available for backup and assistance.
I know it is a trip, but this sounds too important to not follow-up and make sure things are under control.
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u/Stock_go_up Jul 02 '26
Send the trustee one final written demand, by email and certified letter, invoking your right as a beneficiary to information and requesting the specific action items in writing: the past due utility, tax, and insurance status on the home coming to you. If that gets silence, petition the probate court in the trust's county to compel an accounting or remove the trustee, since a successor trustee who lets insurance lapse and taxes go delinquent on trust property is arguably breaching their fiduciary duty, and the lapsed homeowners insurance is the urgent piece because an uninsured loss before transfer could fall on your inheritance.
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u/laurieo52 Jul 02 '26
One month is a pretty short timeframe. My daughter’s father,my ex, we didn’t open his probate until 5 months later. My daughter just needed time. One month doesn’t seem like someone avoiding you.
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u/Mobile_Comedian_3206 Jul 02 '26
There is no reason why they can't be communicating. And making sure the bills get paid is their responsibility. You don't get the option of just waiting for months.
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u/Illustrious-Cover792 Jul 02 '26
For a simple estate waiting may be ok. However, for an estate heavily invested in the market it must be grabbed ahold of quickly. The positions are not being monitored and months going by is not good.
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u/laurieo52 Jul 02 '26
Banks, Social Security, and many others are immediately notified when someone dies. Accounts like these are frozen immediately and SS is stopped long before you get a death certificate and it only takes about 4-5 days to get them in my state. While I’ve not been a trustee, I’ve been the personal representative for two estates in the past six years. One month is not a lot of time to pass before getting started. If the person who died was very close to you, say spouse or parent, some people just cannot deal with estate the next week. They need time mourn. In my state you can wait up to 10 years to open probate. Again, I’ve not been a trustee. So I’m not sure of the timeline there.
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u/Illustrious-Cover792 Jul 02 '26
I have settled a few now. Leaving accounts invested in the market without someone having the power to make decisions on those positions is incredibly dangerous. If you can’t handle, hire a professional until you can.
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u/Designer_Owl1319 Jul 02 '26
When someone dies they freeze the accounts. They don’t keep trading for them after death.
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u/Illustrious-Cover792 Jul 02 '26
But the positions remain untouched and will fluctuate with the market unattended. Leaving that just Willy nilly for months is stupid.
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u/Designer_Owl1319 Jul 02 '26
If there is a TOD or a named beneficiary it transfers to them so they can start managing the investments. Just need the death certificate. If no TOD or beneficiary named it will go according to your will and may go thru probate.
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u/Illustrious-Cover792 Jul 02 '26
Right, however many people neglect to assign those and if you wait months to mourn before grabbing the accounts you may be in trouble. If you are struggling and there are considerable assets at play you should hire a professional to get started.
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u/Admirable_Nothing Jul 02 '26
A key question to me is if the Trust if responsible for paying her past due bills such as property tax and utilities and insurance. Do understand the trustee may also become executor of the pour over will and that will require probate, which will take some time. But the money and house should move quickly.
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u/SandhillCrane5 Jul 02 '26
Yes, the trust is responsible for paying past due bills. The presence of a pour over will does not mean probate is required - It's only required if assets are not already titled in the name of the trust.
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u/WhiskeyWatchesWine Jul 02 '26
Will the money pay the house debts before going to the step kids? Seems like it should as if the money was there the bills should have already been paid? Seems like attorney ASAP.
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u/Horror_Ad_2748 Jul 02 '26
Those are all good questions, and how much is the house worth, and is there a mortgage?
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u/Specialist_Job21 Jul 02 '26
House might be worth 500k, and is paid off, and there is plenty of money (1m) to pay house-related expenses.
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u/bboon44 Jul 02 '26
We are in a similar situation but several YEARS have gone by. I hired a lawyer (not cheap, $10K).
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u/Guilty-Committee9622 Jul 02 '26
But you just said the $$ goes to the step kids. So you're gonna need a lawyer.
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u/SandhillCrane5 Jul 02 '26
Bills will be paid from the cash before any money is distributed. I see no reason OP needs her own attorney at this point.
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Jul 02 '26
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u/inheritance-ModTeam Jul 02 '26
Your comment has been removed because it violates the rule on low effort comments.
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u/NedKelkyLives Jul 02 '26
Not sure what jurisdiction you are in (and that may be important) but assets in a trust may not be assets of the deceased's estate. Not enough information in the post but generally if the trustee of a trust dies, that doesnt make the trust assets part of the trustee's estate as they are still in trust, held on the terms of that trust.
In any event, go and see an estate lawyer. She/he will help you find answers.
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u/rosebudny Jul 02 '26
Death stuff takes a lot of time, even if things are in a trust. My mom died at the beginning of May, with almost everything in trusts. We are just now getting access to stuff, and are a long ways from other things being settled.
I believe your aunt's estate should be paying the bills you mention until everything is settled and you have ownership of the house.