More specifically, if the will or trust disinherits one of the descendants, does the descendant have a right to see the will or trust?
Need answer fast.
After it’s executed, yes. It’s a public record at that point.
I know using AI quotes is iffy, but this answer comports with my understanding (just lost my MIL a couple weeks ago. We’re knee-deep in this stuff):
I would also add that these laws tend to vary by State and that IANAL.
I would imagine at the very least they would have to file a copy with the court to defend the will if someone files to contest it.
A will is a legal document defining the disposition of the estate under court superivision, and will be entered into the public record and may be requested by any member of the public. The court appoints an executor (which may or may not be identified in the will) to disposition the assets and dissolve the estate under the court’s supervision and possible direction if there are conflicts. Laws on inheritance may limit whether a close family member (spouse, children, or other dependents) can be disinherited or apportioned a smaller than traditional amount of the estate but these laws vary by state. In some cases, the will can satisfy laws by offering some token of minimal value, effectively disinheriting a potential heir from their ‘fair’ portion of the estate.
Trusts and their associated instructions, on the other hand, may or may not be entirely public depending on how they are executed; that is to say, upon death of the grantor (or settlor), the trust converts to an irrevocable trust and is disposition of the trust is assigned to a trustee (usually the same person who was a trustee of the living trust that preceded death). That assignment is a matter of record as are any immediate instructions for dispersement contained within a separate will or identified in the trust as beneficiaries, but the remaining assets and investments of the estate are then controlled or managed by the trustee who is not obliged to share any further instructions, or indeed, even required to strictly adhere to them unless the assets are specifically incorporated within the trust. If a potential heir is not named as a beneficiary the trustee is under no obligation to disperse any portion of the estate, and even if beneficiaries are identified the trustee has wide latitude on when and how much of the estate to disperse.
To the o.p., you haven’t asked and I don’t want to pry, but if you have been disinherited it can be a severe emotional blow, especially if it was unexpected. While pursuing legal recourse may seem appealing, unless there is a truly significant estate it is rarely worth the legal costs and hassle, and still doesn’t remove the cold knife of receiving the ultimate irrevocable rejection from a parent or close relative. This isn’t much talked about in terms of the standard processing of grief narrative because it is often in a scenario where there are long standing grievances or alienation but that just makes dealing the complex emotions that much more difficult. If that is the case, I’d really suggesting talking to someone (i.e. a therapist or trusted confidant) who will sympathize and not just criticize you for seeming ‘greedy’ about wanting the acknowledgement and tangible slice of the pie because it can be a source of delayed anger and severe betrayal, and also a trigger for long-buried trauma and resentment.
Good luck to you.
Stranger
Thanks for all the replies. A little more info:
Dad died over a year ago. The trust specifically disinherited one of his 3 children; my sister. I’m the executor. Some here might remember a thread I started here about the problems she caused.
A portion of Dad’s $ went thru probate. No problem. I distributed the funds and all were happy except Sis. Everything else seemed settled 14 months ago. But recently the probate court notified all 3 children that the probate case was considered closed. This lit a new fire under Sis and now she’s asking me to send her copies of the will, trust, and inventory. I’m not sure what she’s after, but I’m very annoyed. I thought I was done with this crap.
The will (and presumably the trust) are public documents she can request from the court. If she is not identified as a beneficiary she has no claim to an inventory or any other records other than what is listed in probate, and if she is considering making a post-probate challenge, much good it will do her unless she can demonstrate fraud or some other malfeasance.
Stranger
AI has its uses, but AI is also good at coming up with things that kinda sorta at least sound correct without actually being correct. Please do not use AI as a factual cite in FQ.
So you mean that basically unless some sort of “seal”" is put on any document by the court, any person can go to the court building or public records archive or whatever and request a copy of the papers filed with the court?
With a very few exceptions, nearly everything that is filed with a court is open to review by anyone. The few exceptions I can think of in a probate court are juvenile records and financial statements with social security numbers in them. Absent a very compelling reason, a will that has been probated would be available for anyone to see upon request from the Court where it was submitted.
If someone has a will & it states to A I leave $100 but to B I leave my brokerage acct can A find out what B really got; how much that acct was worth?
Generally yes. Both A and anyone so inclined, could look at the forms filed in the probate case. In the 3 states I am familiar with, an executor is required to file a statement of assets in the estate, income for the estate, distributions from the estate and balance on hand for each asset, if a final distribution has not happened.
This is only related to estates. Trusts have separate rules.
If you are interested, a Massachusetts blank probate accounting form is available here. All states have similar forms:
All 50 states have some form of an open public records act. Of course it being America, there are differences between states. In general everything done through the court is public record.
My question would be: if you are a next of kin do you have a right (YMMV depending on state) to see the will during the probate so the executor cannot play shenanigans and say after the fact “Too late now. The money/property has been distributed.”
My ex-stepmom #4 tried this to take all of my dad’s assets in Arizona but our attorney got a copy of the will so I assume in at least one state the answer is yes.
To be an executor, the probate court needs to first declare that person as executor. If there is a will, then it would have had to be submitted to the court in order for the decision to be made. So the heirs should be able to access the will anytime after the executor has been assigned.
That’s going to depend on exactly how the brokerage account was left to B. My brokerage account is “Transfer on Death” so it won’t be part of my estate and won’t be included in any paperwork regarding the estate.
One of my co-workers compalined (Many years ago, I hope either this was misinformation or changed) that the life insurace allowed for only one beneficiary, so she had to designate her elder daughter with instruction to split it with the younger one.
As I understand, a Canadian RRSP or TFSA (not unlike an IRA or 409K?) similarly, you designate the beneficiary and they get it, not part of the estate. Exception is IIRC that if the beneficiary for the tax-free RRSP is not a spouse, it becomes taxable income on transfer.
I wonder how insurance, retirement savings accounts, brokerage accounts, etc. figure into the mix if the estate is net in debt? I gather life insurance is completely separate.
In 2012, the quick probate (for small estates - Idaho) paperwork for Mom’s estate was available online.
If the person is married, then those are typically considered joint assets and would go to the spouse. I’m not sure what’s meant by “insurance”. If it’s life insurance, then it’s paid to the individual and is not considered part of the estate. Any debt of a deceased spouse would likely still be valid since it would typically be considered shared marital debt.
If the person is not married, then it depends if they have designated beneficiaries to those accounts. If the accounts have beneficiaries, then the accounts transfer to the beneficiary without going through the estate. If they don’t have beneficiaries, then the accounts are part of the estate and would be used to pay off any debts. To ensure the assets go to your heirs, be sure to specify beneficiaries to your financial accounts!
Those get transferred to the beneficiary outside of the estate if there are designated beneficiaries or TOD/POD. - they may be counted as part of the estate for estate taxes, but not for distribution. For example, if I die without a will in my state , my husband gets $50K plus half of the rest, with the other half being split between our children but that doesn’t include joint accounts with right of survivorship , POD, TOD etc which are not part of my estate. If I only have $10K in my own name without any TOD or POD , then that’s all he gets (plus of course anything where he is JTROS, or POD or TOD) . There are certain retirement accounts where I can’t name a beneficiary other than him without his permission but aside from that, I am free to set up an account to transfer to my children when I die. ( and I can name someone else with his permission) That may be different in community property states.
TOD and POD accounts are subject to claims by the creditors of the deceased - but how often they would bother is another story. Certainly the credit card company I owe $300 to won’t, and the mortgage lender will just foreclose on the house and the car will simply be repossessed by the finance company. On the other hand, if I owe $50K to a hospital , they might try to get it from those POD/TOD accounts.