Uncle Paul’s Estate

Hello all! I owe you an update on Uncle Paul’s estate. Nearly everything transferred outside the estate. I received a lot of questions about how that worked, so here are the answers to those questions. There were no issues as far as I can tell

When Uncle Paul was ill, Uncle Jimmy told me to let Uncle Paul know that he would take care of any medical costs. I passed that along to Uncle Paul. He told me that wouldn’t be necessary as he had about $1.4 million. That’s a top 10% estate, so I asked him if he had a will. He didn’t have one yet and asked for help finding a good attorney in Avon. I did that, below is who I sent him to. She has really good reviews

This was in June, and Uncle Paul could drive so I thought everything was OK. I contacted her after Uncle Paul passed away, but he had not visited her office

The estate process is how you check for a will, so I opened an estate as the will would have been filed with the county clerk, and you get access to the will by opening an estate. Nothing was filed there, so there is no evidence of a will. Almost everything passed outside the estate so a will is not really needed

What passed to heirs outside of the estate

Brokerage account – Transfer on death to Joe

401k – Transfer on death – Joe managed all of this, so it was not part of the estate 

House – Transfer on death to Joe & Marty

Bank accounts – Transfer on death to Joe

The bank account transfer on death is below. The accounts totaled just under $200k. Joe covered all expenses with these accounts and sent contributions to the VFW, Cannelton High School, Cannelton High School student scholarships and St. Michaels Catholic Church. A summary from Joe showing how this was spent is below. Joe sent a check for $18,083 to the estate as that is what was left after making the donations that Uncle Paul wanted

What is left in the estate

There is a 401k for $17,344 that was supposed to go to Uncle Earl, but he has passed away

There is also one remaining $17,500 share from the 401k that Joe managed. It was meant for Diane, but she has also passed away. This will probably go to Diane’s estate as she passed away after Uncle Paul. My understanding is, it goes to the estate of the last survivor, but I need to ask about that 

Sixty two $50 savings bonds that would have gone to Uncle Earl. Also one $50 savings bond that would have gone to Phyllis. If the bonds have doubled in value on average, this would be $6,300. I have to mail to the US Treasury and they deposit what they are worth

Uncle Paul’s 2007 Accord, purchased by the McCullums for $2,500. There were also two motorcycles that have not run for a while given to the McCullums for $0 as they would haul them away for free. There was also an old RV and a trailer given to the new house owner for free. Pictures of all of this below