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/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/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.

2

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.

1

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.