Anybody have exp in Trusts and Estates?

[dingdong]

I know this is a long shot posting here in the BK forum, but thought , you never know?

Specifially looking for info on ademption by extinction in regards to the sale of stocks required by a bank merger before the testators death. California law would be best, but other case law in another circuit may help, rational wise.

I need case law that supports the position that ademption did not occur and supporting testator intent in a irrevocable trust.

I know this is a long shot and not the proper forum, but grasping at straws.

To be specific, stocks were gifted in a revocable trust, which became irrevecocable upon death. One bank bought out another smaller community bank, shareholders were paid cash and community bank is no longer in existence. Trustee's attorney is stating ademption by extinction, since stocks were sold, however testator cleary intended to gift the value of the stocks to the beneficiaries. Attorney for the trustee has made a very small offer (13% of the value at time of stock sale) to the beneficiaries.


Position held by ben., is that ademption did not occur as an accounting should show that value of stocks is still in estate. Trustee will not provide accounting. The gift in question is only a very small portion of the estate. The value of the gift at the time of sale of stocks is 220,000.00

Thanks for any help!

[Minnymouth]

You are correct, this not the proper forum hunting information like the above. We do not offer legal advice in our forum, we are a support forum only.

You might go online with one of the colleges that teaches about economics/stocks/bonds/etc and see if they can point you in the right direction to get info that you might need.

Good luck

[dingdong]

Yeah, I know this is not the proper forum, which is why I stated that.

And by the way, I do offer a lot of support for this forum, and spend a lot of time researching issues for members that could easily find the info themselves if they knew where to look.

So, I posted in hopes maybe someone could point me in the right direction and in a non BK part of the forum.

Maybe you should read my posts, and see that I am a very supportive part of this forum.

This is an issue that my aunt is having, and I have posed the question in other legal forums to no avail.

So, in the hopes that maybe my help on this forum may be reciprocated by another member willing to help me by pointing me in the direction of a case that may apply, I posted the question asking for a case that might apply.

Many times members of this forum point readers to case law that applies and are not chastised by a mod. How is this different?

[AngelinaCatHub]

Yeah, I know this is not the proper forum, which is why I stated that.

And by the way, I do offer a lot of support for this forum, and spend a lot of time researching issues for members that could easily find the info themselves if they knew where to look.

So, I posted in hopes maybe someone could point me in the right direction and in a non BK part of the forum.

Maybe you should read my posts, and see that I am a very supportive part of this forum.

This is an issue that my aunt is having, and I have posed the question in other legal forums to no avail.

So, in the hopes that maybe my help on this forum may be reciprocated by another member willing to help me by pointing me in the direction of a case that may apply, I posted the question asking for a case that might apply.

Many times members of this forum point readers to case law that applies and are not chastised by a mod. How is this different?

[dingdong]

Thanks Hub!

I appreciate your response.



We are trying to get an accounting as California law allows it, but the attorney for the trust is being a weenie of course.


My aunts share is only 37,000.00 but there are 6 named beneficiarys,(all former employees of the decedant) and she is elderly and not familiar with the law at all and is about to give up.



She can't really afford an attorney and is on SS and all the attorneys around here want up front fees ( no contingency at 350.00/hr), so I am trying to do the best I can for her with my limited legal knowledge.

I have gotton them to the point of at least makng an offer, which before I was involved, they were not going to give the Ben. anything.

What is sad is the decedant ( her friend and former employer) clearly wanted these people to have this money and talked about it up until his death, but the bank merge happened while he was in long term care and quite ill and he never changed the trust to allow for the sale price to be transferred as cash and probably didn't even know the merger happened.

So, I will keep pluggin away at this until we get some good results.

I am a fighter and she could really use the money in her Golden years. She still works to make ends meet.

[Flamingo]

Thanks Hub!
I appreciate your response.
We are trying to get an accounting as California law allows it, but the attorney for the trust is being a weenie of course.
My aunts share is only 37,000.00 but there are 6 named beneficiarys,(all former employees of the decedant) and she is elderly and not familiar with the law at all and is about to give up.
She can't really afford an attorney and is on SS and all the attorneys around here want up front fees ( no contingency at 350.00/hr), so I am trying to do the best I can for her with my limited legal knowledge.
I have gotton them to the point of at least makng an offer, which before I was involved, they were not going to give the Ben. anything.
What is sad is the decedant ( her friend and former employer) clearly wanted these people to have this money and talked about it up until his death, but the bank merge happened while he was in long term care and quite ill and he never changed the trust to allow for the sale price to be transferred as cash and probably didn't even know the merger happened.
So, I will keep pluggin away at this until we get some good results.
I am a fighter and she could really use the money in her Golden years. She still works to make ends meet.

Get a consultation about this situation with a CA Estate attorney who can advise you what can be done - will probably be the best $150 give or take that you could spend and will save you a lot of footwork. I wouldn't count on guesswork as to any outside advice as to something like this.

[dingdong]

I have tried to encourage her ( my aunt) to do so. I had an appt lined up on a referral of an attorney friend of mine, but she contacted a local lawyer who is an old HS friend of hers. He doesn't even use a PC and types everything on a typewriter ( bless his heart) and honestly ( and I am in no way tooting my own horn) I had more knowledge on the subject than he did as far as the probate code that applied to the issue ( and only because I spent quite a lot of time reading the code. ) He hasn't really suceeded at anything except having my aunt put off finding a competent attorney, but she is still very fearful of the fees.

I may just pay for a consult myself as I have a copy of the trust and then if the consult is promising, she can decide.

I was on the phone with her today and she was crying because the decedent passed in JUly/08 and she had counted on the money to help her catch up on her property taxes and some other bills.

That old saying of never count your chickens before they hatch is a very wise saying!

I told her she needs an Estate/Trust attorney and that is probably the only way she is going to get anywhere. I thought if I could find some case law that supprted her position , than an attorney may consider going forward on a contingency knowing they had a solid case.
One can dream anyway!

Thanks for all your replies! Appreciate them!