Question:
My mother passed away earlier this year leaving a living trust that says that everything should be split between with my brother and myself 50/50. Now my question: How long should an investment business take to divide them and put them in our names?
We started the process three months ago. From what I understand the stocks had my brother and I are listed as the beneficiaries rather than being listed in the trust. This is why they tell us its taking so long. We gave them the death certificate and signed and notarized some kind of affidavit. But we’re still having trouble pushing it through. Is this normal?
Response:
It sounds like your mother did everything she could to avoid probate, in fact duplicating her efforts. She created a revocable trust but also named you and your brother as beneficiaries of her investment account to be paid upon her death. This could be what’s complicating things. If the investment account was in the name of the trust, then it should not have named beneficiaries. Beneficiary designations say who will receive property when the owner dies, but is not a person and cannot die. Someone may have given your mother bad advice since a trust should not own a payable upon death account.
If that’s the situation, the investment company may not know what to do. Big investment houses are notoriously bureaucratic with lots of red tape and no one wants to make a mistake. Something that seems like should take a week or two to accomplish can take months.
But in your situation, it seems quite clear what your mother wanted — that the investment holdings pass to you and your brother, whether through the trust or through the beneficiary designations. If you continue to run into roadblocks, see if you can talk to a supervisor or troubleshooter. We’ve found success in doing so. These people often have more autonomy and knowledge than the representatives you normally deal with. Also, take really good notes of all your interactions so you can demonstrate all the hoops they’ve made you jump through.
