Susan and Bart Hoffman were happily married for 40 years when Bart passed away. Together, they had two children, Hillary and Kyle. The Hoffmans were considered a close-knit family and got along well with one another. Grief and heartache aside, the family had many unanswered questions surrounding their family estate and finances, as Bart always kept track of it and safeguarded their important documents.
Before his passing, Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman discussed their during-life wishes, funded their retirement plans, paid off their home, and accumulated a sizable amount in savings. In addition to their joint accounts, together they owned their home, a ski house, cars, a boat, and held joint accounts, or so they thought.
Bart had a retirement account with no named beneficiary from his first job after graduating from College. He had likely forgotten all about it.
The family ski house was titled jointly between only Bart (not Bart and Susan jointly) and his brother, Larry.
Susan failed to update her Will after Bart passed and he remained the Executor of her Estate.
Neither of the cars was titled jointly; one car named Susan on the title and the other named Bart.
Bart and his brother Joe purchased a boat together. When Bart died 7 years ago, Joe inherited the boat but never knew he had to pay an inheritance tax.
Creditors contacted Hillary demanding payments for debts that were already charged off and past the statute of limitations be paid, and Hillary complied.
Our expert Estate Concierge seamlessly walked Mrs. Hoffman through gathering and uploading necessary documents to our secure online portal so she could e-sign documents.
During the initial process, Trustate verified the documents provided such as the insurance policy, retirement accounts, and any jointly named accounts.
Trustate obtained several death certificates, canceled Bart's Social Security Number, and contacted the credit bureaus to make sure no one could open a credit card in his name.
The Value of Trustate
Our trained Estate Concierge walked Susan through rolling and retitling all bank accounts into her name only and told her exactly how to transfer the car title to herself, saving her a trip to the DMV.
Unlcaimed Property
Trustate located old bank accounts, uncashed checks, and even uncovered an unknown retirement account belonging to Bart dating back to 1970. While locating missing money has its pros, the old retirement account had no named beneficiary and would need to go through probate.
Our Estate Concierge walked Susan and Hillary through the probate process, quickly opened up Bart’s Estate, and distributed the recently discovered assets to Susan.
FYI: Collectively, state and federal agencies and other organizations hold over $58 billion in unclaimed cash and benefits. The collection of properties include; stock holdings, unclaimed life insurance, pension benefits, and abandoned bank accounts.
Banks
Trustate interacted with banks on behalf of Susan to find a spousal beneficiary rollover as the best way to transfer funds from Bart into Susan’s name, to avoid a long-drawn-out process. By tracking finances and monitoring expenses surrounding Bart’s funeral and Shiva, Trustate guided Susan to reimburse herself for the expenses and take it out of the Estate.
In talking with Susan, it was clear she was feeling and anxious. All she could think about was cleaning out and donating Bart’s belongings and thanking friends and family who have been by her side during this process. To Susan’s relief, Trustate helped by selling and donating his belongings, and composed thank-you notes on behalf of the Hoffman Family.
