Short story: I am the executor of an estate. I am obliged to tender $10K to a young man (probably somewhere between 10-15 years old, but I’m not sure) whose mother and mother’s parents want nothing to do with our side of the family (the father is my nephew, legally forbidden from seeing his son, I think). I have never talked to them before, but I will consider myself lucky if they don’t hang up on me and let me talk long enough to explain the bequest and get some kind of mailing address (they live about 1000 miles away from me, I think).
As you can tell, I don’t know anything about that side of the family. I don’t think I am allowed to do anything except tender the money, but I would like to make sure he at least gets it (even if his mother puts it in trust or something) and that he knows where it came from.
I’d rather not spend the estate’s money on a lawyer for this, if I can avoid it. I don’t want to offend them, or invade their privacy by hiring a private detective.
Hire a lawyer, probably a minimal 1 hour fee. Give him a certified check for the amount, the kids address, tell him to give it to the kid. Give him a retainer for the amount he is charging for the service.
By law the lawyer HAS to give it to the kid. If he has the kids contact info, generally a phone number and address, he makes the appointment to see the kid and hand over the cash. There will be a document for the kid to sign stating he has in fact received the money. Lawyer takes it, stuffs it in a stamped self addressed envelope and drops it into the mail.
What aruvqan said. I think you need to see a lawyer, not just to be sure the kid gets the money but to be sure that you do everything correctly so that nobody will come out of the woodwork later and question how you handled the estate.
I’m not the OP, but I think the question is interesting. How do you give the money to a minor child? I mean, you could just walk up to him, and hand him a check, but can he sign a document that he received it?
I would definitely get a consult with a lawyer. I don’t know what jurisdiction you’re in, but most places have very definite rules with respect to bequests to minors. You don’t just cut a cheque to a kid. If there’s a will in place which was drafted by a lawyer, I would be very surprised if there weren’t provisions which dealt with trusts for minors. If there isn’t such a provision, there’s usually legislation which deals with the issue.
As executor, you could personally be on the hook if you screw it up. Again, talk to a lawyer. The consult fee is generally paid out of estate funds, and you have covered yourself. This is a somewhat unusual situation in dealing with an estate, and it would be extremely unwise to proceed without legal advice.
In my state, if there were not satisfactory arrangements in the will, the Court would likely require that a formal guardianship be established over the minor, and that the money be paid into a trust account only accessible with the approval of the court, until the minor becomes an adult.
Emphasis added on what I feel is the most important part. You don’t just cut a cheque to a minor–from what I’ve seen, funds directed by a testator to a minor most often end up in a trust fund of some sort. Even if the will does not specifically say, legislation may dictate this anyway. Needless to say, mine is another vote for a lawyer who knows about wills and estates in the OP’s jurisdiction.
Missed the edit window. Anyway, my final sentence above should be amended to say, “in the applicable jurisdiction.” A distance of about 1000 miles, as the OP says, might put the matter outside the OP’s jurisdiction.
I may not have been perfectly clear. The only phone number is to the grandparents (the mother’s parents). They may or may not be willing to give me the actual address or other contact information of the kid. Also, I don’t actually have the phone number yet. I wanted to have some idea of what I was going to say and do before I actually call them. It’s going to be another few weeks before I can legally disburse the money anyway.
Also, there are two jurisdictions, one the deceased person, and one the kid. Unfortunately, I live in a third, so it looks like I have to go back to the deceased person’s jurisdiction and find a lawyer to handle this.
I, too, am interested if any of our legal folks want to step in and answer (in general terms) astro’s question - how are bequests to minor children normally handled?
Oh, yes, does it make any difference if the disbursement is coming from a living trust (of which I am the trustee) rather than from an estate via a will?
Roddy
You need at the very least to follow up any conversation with a letter.
Most states have a Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA) or a Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) which allows for an sccount to be opened in trust for the minor until he comes of age. You could be the trustee if you want; or his mother or anybody else. For small amounts (under about 20K usually) this can usually be done without involving the Probate Court in the jurisdiction where the child lives.
If the law does not allow for this then a guardianship or conservatorship must be established in the State where the child is by the Probate Court there. You do this by downloading the forms and filling them out and mailing them.
Either the clerk of Probate Court where you live or the clerk of Probate Court where the minor lives will usually be helpful in this kind of matter – they are generally used to dealing with non-lawyers and (IME anyway) will ask you several probing questions and send you a pile of paper explaining how to do it. Or at least start by looking at the website of the Probate Court where the child lives if they have one; you may be able to solve you quandary with a few seconds of Googling.
The child’s adult relatives do not have the authority to refuse a bequest on his behalf, nor at this point does the child, really. In the worst case scenario it will sit in a trust until he comes of age whereupon he can give it to a home for stray cats or whatever he likes.
Per Marienee’s note it would worth the pure entertainment value to send a registered letter to the grand parents telling them of the intent to set up this trust for the kid. If your phone lines weren’t very shortly burning up with his parents demanding info, access etc. I’d be very surprised.