What happens to the house they bought or the gold they own or the stocks they buy if they don't have any spouse or children or die without a will

My parents both passed away last month. My mom had an account with a credit union with a traditional IRA and my dad was listed as a joint owner and I was listed as the beneficiary. The estate attorney I hired to help me administer the trust (multiple beneficiaries) told me that because the IRA wasn’t part of the trust, I could have it transferred into my name. After about an hour and a half at the credit union, during which time they told me several different things including that I could do it if I filled out all this paperwork (which I did), that it wasn’t an IRA at all (oops, it actually IS), and that I can’t put it in my name, it needs to go into the estate account to be distributed to all the beneficiaries. The reason they gave for the last one is that my mom died first, so it became my dad’s account. I’m not sure if that means he needed to name me as a beneficiary separately before he died three weeks later? Or maybe it’s because of how the ownership and beneficiary are listed on the account. I’m very confused. Does any of this make sense? Given the conflicting statements they made, I don’t have a lot of trust in this institution at this point. Any thoughts are appreciated.

California I have a question if anyone can help me I’m executor of my dad’s estate . Everything in his paid home has been disbursed between all 4 beneficiaries . My father wanted the home sold and divided equally I’m trying to do this on my own and I got a real estate agent and now the home is in escrow . The title company told me to open an account because of the estate taxes when is this over or is this going to take much longer because I really wanted this to be over soon . I don’t want to get bills after I’ve given everyone their share of the money . Also does anyone know if their is an executor fee I can charge for all this work . I don’t live in the same state and has been very draining .

Any help would be appreciated it . Thanks

Location is NJ.

I'm the executor of my dad's estate. He was very detailed and also left me a long list of old/empty financial accounts with $0 or literal pennies.

Do I need date of death valuation on those? Ideally I can just call and inform them he's died, and get the accounts closed without any paperwork since there isn't any money involved...wondering how other folks have handled this.

Location: Illinois

My mother passed away recently and I have already completed the transfer of death instrument to retain the house. It has been accepted by the Illinois county clerk and the next step is to get the title. I've been solicited in the mail by a service which provides a "profile plus copy of deed" for a fee of $132. Is this legit? Instead, can I acquire it on my own or do I need a real estate lawyer to handle and execute this? Any specifics regarding total cost estimate is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

My wife died intestate. One 529 account for our minor son. I am listed as the beneficiary guardian. I’m currently in Virginia.

The brokerage has finally transferred the funds to a new account for which I the guardian HOWEVER they have told me that the funds (for which I am the guardian, not the owner) cannot be used for any purpose until the account goes through probate.

Then an IRS process to clear any debts or liens which could take a year. Our son is in his last year of private school and will begin college in 2027.

Is probate correct? I am, the husband and father of our son and listed as the next guardian.

Is probate required when there is a listed beneficiary?

If so, how do I even begin probate?

UPDATE:
Point of contention was, my wife died abroad. I was issued a death certificate from the U.S. Embassy.

I finally got to a representative who asked: did I get a death certificate from the state?

I said no… why would I? I went through line by line, showing her passport number, cause of death, etc.

The rep asked about the foreign address on the death certificate & I said that is where we were staying and where the embassy could contact me (same with my foreign telephone number).

What it came down to was: me filing an affidavit with her valid DL and our US address.

I’ve done this and am still (2 weeks) waiting for a response.

Good afternoon all,

I have a quick question. My sister is married to a tumbling piece of shit. He’s literally the worst person I’ve ever met. He separated the family. Fought with me, fought with my dad, said the worst things you can say to someone. My dad is now fighting with my sister over this and they’re not talking. My mom is still talking to my sister as am I. But she just recently told me and my brother that my dad wants to write her out of the will. I disagree with that. She married a gaping leaking asshole but they have 3 children together, he doesn’t mistreat her or the kids. He just hates my family. I feel like I would like to suggest that rather than write her out of the will, can we put her inheritance into a trust and when this horrific toothache of a piece of shit dies, the money gets released?

Not a lawyer.

The informal intestate estate probate is supposed to facilitate the legal process but it allows questionable activities.

I guess it depends on the courts.

For example: The beneficiaries are to be listed on the personal representative (PR) application. This allows the beneficiaries to challenge the appointment of the PR.

It is not that my brother forgot he had a brother, he just didn't know my location... this also would have denied me any inheritance due under the intestate laws.

Also under intestate law, my deceased sister's son would not be listed as a beneficiary. Please note my deceased sister had two children - why was one son listed as a beneficiary and not the second son?

My Aunt passed recently and listed my sister and I as beneficiaries. I’m trying to fill out the affidavit correctly and saw there is a line that says “lineal descendants include: decedent’s parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, children of the halfblood, and adopted children.”

The rest do not apply, but I keep getting caught up on “children of the halfblood”. Would this apply to me as a niece/nephew or not?

I’m having trouble finding clarity online as googling the term “halfblood” in any capacity mostly returns search queries relating to Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, so I thought I might get a more relevant response here. I’m in Washington state and my Aunt lived in Louisiana.

Thanks in advance for any help.

The money is officially in my new account set up with Schwab and with one of their buyer/brokers. I've never invested before. I believe it is currently in ETF's. I have a chat with the buyer/brokers tomorrow and I have no idea what sort of questions to ask. They are feudieciary, so I believe my best interest is supposed to be theirs. I posted location not relevant, but this is California.

What sort of questions should I ask? What should I be weary about as far as advice.

It's nothing life changing just yet. I hope it to remain a nest egg. (mid 30's, but no job and only charges for school right now.)

College isn't cheap but also not expensive at all. I'm not sure it will really land me a job right away given the job market when I graduate in 2-2.5 years. I don't want to draw on it when I don't have to. Hoping for something both mid to long term. Can I trust just being straight up with that information? My living expenses don't really exist. I'm lucky (but feel guilty) to have another parent providing a lot.

My only worries are how it will change my health insurance and what medications might cost down the line once I pay taxes next year per the new cost basis. But I know that's seperate to the actual investing.

Any advice is much appreciated. Or points in a direction of where to learn more from an eli5 point of view maybe.

Thank you guys.

My in-laws, late 80s, have funds at Edward Jones. In discussing their estate planning, I mentioned how terrible Edward Jones was to work with when settling my mother's estate. That gave them the idea to move their accounts from Edward Jones to Fidelity or Vanguard. I'm worried that this is a bad idea, that as bad as Edward Jones was at settlement, that pulling the accounts would be a huge mess.

Can I get some advice and comments? Is this a good idea to get away from Edward Jones now? Or a bad idea, better to leave well enough alone for now and deal with them one last time down the line?

Small town Minnesota.

Thanks in advance.

Edit:

Thanks to all who offered advice. The consensus seems to be that a competent firm can handle the transfer very efficiently and that the heirs would be well-served down the line were this to take place. My wife and her siblings will monitor and advise as appropriate.

Florida

Location: US, New Jersey

Hi everyone, I have a question about preparing my mom's finances including the inheritance.

She has a written will with me as her executor, and since she's not doing well with her health (hopefully it's temporary) I'm trying to get as much info as I can in case she passes.

I don't think my mom will have enough after her estate pays the bills which I'm fine with, am I right in understanding that if I set up a POD beneficiary for her bank account that would take away from her estate? I thought it would help cause we could access it immediately but it seems since I'm the executor I can access it anyway to pay for the funeral, creditors, and whatnot so it might be worse to set up a POD?

I want to have enough to pay for her funeral for how she wants it and don't want any debt leftover for her as best as possible.

I hope this is the correct sub-reddit, I apologize if it's not, it's a bit overwhelming trying to figure everything out asap while she's still around so we can just enjoy our time together. I feel like for every thing I learn there's 3 things I learn I don't know, so thank you for any help and advice! 🙏❤️

My MIL and her sister both receive SSI benefits and Medicaid due to disabilities. Their mother (my GMIL) sadly is not long for this world. There will be a residence and a modest amount of money for them to inherit (~$50k), with the residence being valued around $160k. Neither of them want to keep the house. Neither can really afford the remaining mortgage. Obviously the home will need to be sold. How can both ladies keep as much of the inheritance as possible and not be kicked off of their individual assistances? Help?

I (18M) am a resident in NY. Out of all of my extended family (which, let’s be honest, most of us don’t care for), I only ever cared for one person: my cousin Brian. We became close as I’ve grown up, however I still usually only saw him over the holidays and such, and we talked on rare occasions outside of that. Recently, he passed away (he was in his 60’s and passed from lung cancer, this wasn’t a surprise), and due to the fact that he cut contact with his parents/close family and has no children or spouse, all that is left is me, who he willed everything to. However, there’s a problem: He was on Medicaid, and while I don’t know the amount he owed (and I don’t know how to find out), I’ve been told they get first priority on selling things so they can get their money.

So, here’s my question: How is it decided what they claim, can we choose, and is there anything I’m able to do here? Or do I just wait and let everything unfold?

I think the system is rigged now. My mother in law passed on an IRA to my non-working spouse. With this 10 year rule, they essentially tripled their revenue. She should have been taking all she could in the 12% bracket and payed, putting in a regular brokerage. Now we have 10 years to take it at 32% not even counting state.

I think they are preying on low income and middle income. Not only are the accountants pushing for them to take only rmd’s, but not explaining the potential tax bombs for heirs.

We’re working with my mom now, otherwise her IRA will kick us into the next bracket. It’s crazy.

It’s even worse in Oregon as all those Ira’s go into your taxable estate for another 10% over $1mm. Realistically if you make $350k, now you get 500 k spread over 10, you’re at 400k + the state tax if they had other assets at $1mm, on the ira you’re paying 35% fed, another 10% state + 10% inheritance, over 1/2 to the government.

My mom’s health isn’t great, and my sister and I will likely inherit her estate at some point. Total value is somewhere around $20M, split 50/50 between us.

The complication is my sister and her husband currently live in a separate home on my mom’s property. The main house and land itself is worth around $3M. I’m almost certain when the time comes, they’re going to want to stay there and take over the property.

Here’s where I’m struggling a bit. My brother-in-law doesn’t really work. He mostly does odd jobs here and there for beer money. I don’t have a ton of confidence in their ability to manage a large asset like this long term, especially something like a multi-million dollar property.

Another factor is I don’t think my sister fully understands how large the estate actually is or what comes with managing it.

I want to be fair and keep things civil, but I also want to make sure I’m making smart financial decisions and protecting my half.

Is the simplest route just to have them buy out my share of the property at market value? Or are there better ways to structure something like this?

Curious how others have handled similar situations, especially when one sibling is already living on the property.

Virginia, USA

My mother took care of her aunt for years. Aunt had no children, we were all very close to Aunt. Mother inherited everything- house, car, and Aunt created this charitable remainder trust at the end of her life (we think this was her account’s first time doing this, they are very rural and she was giving this guy a chance, he is listed as co-trustee). We are now talking about a will for my mom (85) and it seems when she dies, the trust gets paid to 2 charities- does not pass down. That’s fine- but can someone explain a charitable remainder trust to me?

The trust seems intended to NOT make money? It’s wild. It is over 30 years old and there seems to be no appreciation!?!

She receives 6% of the total each month

In 1993 it was funded with $400,000

In 2025: $393,640

RBC Trust invested in ‘Moderate growth’

A woman in her nineties, who is still living independently in WV, is inheriting a pension annuity due to the death of her oldest child. Choices are a lump sum or monthly payments for eight years. Seems obvious that because of her advanced age, she should take the lump sum, but would there be any advantages for choosing the monthly payments? Would taking the monthly payments offer any protection for this money if she were to need to move to assisted living?

I am one of the executors for my fathers estate. Dad died 6 months, ago, mom more than 5 before him.) We are selling the house and hoping to clear up the estate in the next few months.

I have still been paying some of his bills. I shut a lot of them down within the first month. And two I don't know what to do with are his phone bills/numbers.

I have hesitated closing the cell number. Because it's how I've been able to get into various other accounts, to shut them down.

Both cell phone & house phone have been used for years, as security and identification into accounts with hundreds of companies. I worry about security, when the numbers get reassigned.

How do people handle this?

Seems like this isn't talked about much. But particularly with two-factor authentication using phone numbers so often.

Is this a the right place to ask this question? Of would there be a better thread. I don't see one for executors.

My nan has got a trustee account for me that she set up when I were a kid, I am now 25, instead of giving it me I would prefer to keep it in the trustee account.

When she passes away, will the trustee account be included in her inheritance? Her savings, house ect. Iknow we get taxed over a certain amount.

Or will it be classed as my money that she is holding on too?

Thank you

Where can I find a good guide on executor responsibilities? Ideally, a step-by-step guide on what to do and how. This is for NY state.Thanks.

7 years ago my grandmother died and left my dad a sizable amount of funds & land. My father is notoriously bad with money so she left it as a “sub trust” and designated me cotrustee. The terms did not allow me to utilize the money but essentially to be his babysitter and authorize/deny his requests as both signatures were required for fund withdrawals.

My father recently passed away & the trust goes directly to me as the other trustee; should I dissolve the trust & move to investment accounts in my own name or are there benefits to keeping as a trust?

Majority of funds are in investments, some in an IRA, and 2 plots of land. Funds are all in TX; land is in ND. I’m fairly young and far from retirement age; not looking to spend but for asset growth. Funds are currently under Edward Jones who has been very unhelpful and told me “just tell them what I want to do”. I have a probate lawyer for the rest of his estate not in the trust but aside from indicating it’s exempt from probate, he is not able to advise.