Estate Planning

Executors administer wills. Trustees administer trusts and hold legal title to assets that are titled in the name of the trust. Beneficiaries hold beneficial title and have rights to the benefits conferred upon them by the trust instrument (the trust). The trust may still be relevant if your Grandmother had a Pour-over Will that directs that any asset that is not titled to the trust at the time of her death, be treated as if it is part of the trust and administered accordingly. Otherwise, the Washington law may allow for a showing of clear intent by your Grandmother as to whether or not such a move is allowable. That you will have to check with a Washington attorney. Alternatively, the beneficiaries of the annuity contract may be able to agree to transfer the annuity assets into the trust. If you are an adult and you are in need of your share of the annuity benefits, then it may not make much sense to have your share put into a trust unless a specific law requires that. Usually, the trust itself will provide for the distribution of beneficial interests in the trust once the trustor/settlor (in this case your Grandmother) has passed. Sometimes the trust will provide for a "sprinkling" of the distributions among the beneficiaries, e.g. 1/3 at age 18, 13 at age 21 and 1/3 at age 25. You need to get a copy of the trust if you don't have one and get with an attorney to evaluate whether it is in your best interest to take your share, if possible, now, versus allowing it to be placed in a trust. If your aunt is trustee, remember she has legal title. So, she might be able to do things you do not entirely agree with and she may be entitled to trustee fees if the trust provides for them (which is most likely does since the initial trustees were to be banks, who do not do it for free). Get a good estate planning attorney my friend to help you evaluate your choices.

Questions about trusts are difficult to answer because they will be governed not only by state law, but also by the terms of the trust. The real question here is, what kind of power did the trust give to your grandmother? Did the trust allow your grandmother to take all of the trust assets and place them in her own name? If so, the transfer of the annuity account to yourself, your sister and your aunt may be a valid transfer from your grandmother of her personal assets. If the trust did not allow your grandmother to place all of the trust's assets into her own name, then the trust's beneficiaries may have rights to the funds in the annuity. You should consult an estate planning attorney in your area for more specific answers. You may want to look for a firm which also has a developed practice in probate litigation and will contests.