Tag Archives: probate court

Google – What happens to your Gmail account when you die?

Google is one of the few ISPs that actually have a published policy on what to do to access a Gmail account when someone dies. http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=14300

Whoever is the lawful representative of the deceased or his or her estate can notify Google about the death via fax or US mail. The following information must be provided to them:

1) The representative’s full name and contact information, including a verifiable email address

2) The Gmail address of the deceased

3) The full header of an email sent from the Gmail account in question and received by the representative at his or her verifiable email address

4) The entire contents of the message attached to that header

5) Proof of death

6) A copy of the document giving the representative the authority to settle the deceased’s estate

There’s a catch. The representative must have received an email sent from the Gmail account.

Obviously, if a family member knows the deceased’s log in information – user name and password – he or she can just log in and cancel the account. There’s no need to go through the above process.

If no one knows the log in information and access to the account is desired or the legal representative has no email from the deceased’s Gmail account, this is what should be done.

The legal representative should send a letter listing the same information as indicated above and, in that letter, should request access. It may be provided although Google doesn’t specify the criteria under which that will happen. The only other way to gain the information is via a court order or other appropriate legal process. Google says it will work with families and lawyers of the deceased to grant access once they’ve verified those people’s right to take over the account.

If no one logs in to a Gmail account for six months, it’s considered dormant. If another three months pass (a total of nine months) without a log in Google may delete it. If access to the account is not needed, here’s the easiest thing to do – nothing!

To find out more about how to handle digital assets after someone dies, check out our book “Grave Robbers…How to Prevent Identity Theft of the Deceased”.

Comcast – Can a deceased’s email account be accessed?

According to a Comcast representative, anyone who knows the last 4 digits of the deceased’s Social Security number, their account number or the amount of their most recent payment can cancel a deceased’s account.

However, accessing that account will be more difficult. If you want access but do not know the password that was used by the deceased, you must go in person to a Comcast payment center. The representative with whom I spoke thought it would have to be a Comcast office in the area where the deceased lived. I pointed out that this is a bit ridiculous; for example, my father lived on the other side of the country. Did this policy mean that I would have to fly from California to New Jersey in order to find out what his password had been? I was told that the answer was “yes”. I would suggest that you go to the nearest payment center and try to get them to provide the needed information.

If the account is not cancelled Comcast will continue to bill the account holder indefinitely.

To learn more about how to handle someone’s online accounts after they die, as well as to identify things you should do to protect the identity of that person, check out the book “Grave Robbers…How to prevent identity theft of the deceased.”

Probate Estate

WHAT IS A PROBATE ESTATE?

The word “Estate” is used to describe the net worth of the decedent when he or she dies. The value of the estate includes all of the assets and all of the liabilities of the decedent on the date of death.

The definition of the decedent’s estate is not the same as the definition of the decedent’s probate estate. The way property is titled will determine where the asset is included as part of the decedent’s probate estate.

Title is the manner in which both real and personal property is owned. Title may be proven by certificate, deed, bill of sale, contract, signature cards or other documents. The title document may also designate a beneficiary.

The title may state an individual owns the property, multiple people own the property, i.e., joint tenants with rights of survivorship, or a trust owns the property.

It turns out title is more than a piece of paper conveying ownership of a house, a car or a safe deposit box. Property title determines whether contract law governs the inheritance of the property or whether the wishes written in your will or trust govern the inheritance of the property.

When someone dies, the estate representative will review the way property is titled. Based upon the method of title, think of the decedent’s estate as going into three buckets: the probate bucket, the trust bucket and the automatic inheritance bucket. Which bucket the asset belongs in is determined by the way the property is titled.

Property placed in the probate bucket comprise the decedent’s probate estate. All of the property represents the decedent’s total estate.

What assets belong in the probate bucket?
What assets belong in the trust bucket?
What assets belong in the automatic inheritance bucket?
Why do the asset buckets matter?

Q. What method of title places property in the probate buck?

A. Probate assets include the following method of title:

Property owned by an individual
Property owned as joint tenants with rights of survivorship, no living joint tenant
Property where “estate” is the designated beneficiary
Property where “Estate” is the named beneficiary or becomes the default beneficiary because the designated beneficiary died before the owner
The decedent’s share of property owned as tenants in common
Community Property with right of survivorship, a living joint tenant.

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Q. What method of title places property in the trust bucket?

A. A trust asset is property where the trustee is named as the owner of the property, or the trust is named as a designated beneficiary.

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Q. What types of assets belong in the automatic inheritance bucket?
A. Certain types of property have automatic inheritance rights, whereby contract law determines who owns the property. Contract law overrides any instructions contained in a will, a trust, or state intestate succession laws.

Joint tenants with right of survivorship, a living joint tenant
Community property with right of survivorship, a living joint tenant
Property owned by an individual, or more than one person with a designated living beneficiary: life insurance policies, retirement account, pay on death bank accounts, transfer on death brokerage accounts, transfer on death real estate deeds and transfer on death vehicle registration forms.

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Q. Why do the buckets matter?

A. Once you know in what bucket the asset belongs , you can understand the size of the probate estate and the size of the total estate.

Probate assets will be managed by the executor named in a will or by a personal representative appointed by the court if there is no will.

Instructions in the will generally determine the beneficiary of your probate assets. If there is no authentic last will and testament, state intestate succession rules determine the beneficiary of probate property.
The executor or personal representative must determine the value of the probate estate and whether the probate estate include real estate. The estate representative will the know whether the estate can be settled using small estate procedures or if a normal probate case is required.

Trust assets will be managed by the successor trustee named in your trust. Instructions in your trust determine who are beneficiaries of assets owned by your trust. The trust gives the successor trustee the legal authority to manage trust assets

Assets with automatic inheritance rights will be managed by the beneficiaries who automatically inherit the property. The law automatically determines the beneficiaries and overrides any instructions contained in a will or trust. A beneficiary has the authority to immediately claim their property with a certified death certificate and an affidavit or other claim form.

Some examples:

A bank account or brokerage account titled only in the name of the decedent is a probate asset. But if the decedent completed a payable upon death form for a bank account or a transfer upon death form for a brokerage account, the bank account or brokerage account is not subject to probate.

A life insurance policy that names a beneficiary who is living at the time the decedent dies has automatic inheritance rights is not a probate asset. If the “estate” is the designated beneficiary, the life insurance policy is payable to the decedent’s estate and is a probate asset.

Property owned by a husband and wife as joint tenants with rights of survivorship has automatic inheritance rights and is not a probate asset when the first owner dies.

Real estate titled in the name of the decedent and another person as tenants in common is a probate asset.

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The Probate Court

WHEN IS THE PROBATE COURT INVOLVED IN OUR AFFAIRS?

The probate court has a responsibility to manage our affairs when we can’t.

This can happen in three different situations:

You die and own assets titled in your own name, or the estate is the beneficiary. Since you can no longer manages these assets, someone must be given the legal authority to manage these assets on your behalf. The probate court has the responsibility to appoint an estate representative and monitor the activities of the estate representative.
You become incapacitated. The law will consider you unable to manage your financial affairs or make your own health care choices. Someone must be given the legal authority to make choices for you. The probate court is obligated to appoint a conservator to manage your affairs, and then supervises the activities of the conservator.
A minor child is named as a beneficiary. Since minor children cannot legally “own” property, a guardian must be appointed to manage their affairs until the minor child is considered an adult. The probate court has the responsibility to appoint a guardian and to monitor the actions taken by the guardian.

"Working through a probate court without a plan was a nightmare."

When the probate court is involved, several things happen:

All of the information regarding you and your financial or health affairs are public records. In many courts, these records can be accessed online by anyone.

The cost of probate comes from your net worth. These costs can include court filing costs, legal fees, surety bond, and reporting fees.

The person appointed to be in charge of making choices for you or your minor children must follow choices set by state statutes, which may not be your choices.

The courts will appoint someone to act on your behalf, or on behalf of your minor children. This person may not be someone you would want making choices for you and your minor children.

You can find out more about the probate process and avoiding probate on these pages: