Ask Me Help Desk - Mother & Son have a CD together

Hi my husband & his mother had a CD together. My husband went and put the CD in his name only, because his mom is in hospice and does not have but possibly a few days before she passes. My husbands brother found out about the CD and is telling us that it needs to be split 3 ways between my husband, his brother and his wife's husband.

Is my husband legally bound in any way to have to split this CD.

My hubbys brother is also telling us that he is going to split the funeral expenses ways also and want us to send him a $3500 check for out share.

Isn't the husband responsible for the funeral expenses.

Thanks - Anne

I think he is trying to get whatever you will fall for giving.
Is there a will?
Does he share any of the moms assets?

If he was entitled to any of the CD which I doubt then it would only be a partcial share of the mother's half I would think.
But if dad is still alive he has more say than your brother in law.
Can your husband discuss it all with his dad?

That does not sound right. I would suggest maybe going to a lawyer to get some accurate help. But to me it sounds like he is just trying to suck money out of you and your husband.

There are too many questionable things here. And even while it does come off sounding like hubby's brother is being a jerk, that may not even be the case.

There's different types of CDs and it depends on the circumstances of the CD what's going on with that. If hubby already put it in his name, apparently it was the type where he could do that. And if that's the case, legally it probably just belongs to him. But there's legal, and there's right and wrong.

I think some things that are important are why do mother & son have a CD together to begin with? Seems like there must have been some reason behind doing that and also seems to me the intent of having done that needs to be taken into consideration. (And I mean that from the right and wrong point of view.)

As for the funeral, in the U.S. at least, the estate is responsible for it. Since estate money is not always quick in coming, many times relatives have to pay for it and then get reimbursed by the estate. And from that point of view, I don't see anything wrong with brother wanting some of that from you & hubby. Of course, I don't know him or whether he would be up to no good. As long as you have record of everything, that should be paid back by the estate when the time comes.

I'm also wondering if MIL still has a hubby herself. I don't know who "his wife's husband" is referring to, cause the two "his" involved are your hubby and his brother. And their wives' husbands are themselves! Don't know who you meant. But the last sentence about "the husband" makes me wonder if you're referring to MIL's husband. If he's alive, that's the logical person to be taking care of this stuff. But the appropriate person is whoever is named in the will if there is one.

In the long-run, too many unanswered things here, and I personally would not even draw the conclusion that brother is up to anything. For all I know, it's hubby who is up to something. (Like why did he move the CD to his name? I can see both good and bad reasons to do that.)

And then there's the fact that the woman isn't even gone yet. I can understand that it can be a good idea to plan ahead, and in fact, people should. Arguments can ensue cause people want to handle things in different ways, and emotions are high. We had some problems in my family surrounding a death. But it seems sad to see that when the woman isn't even gone yet.

Oh yeah, and I agree with Twink. Get a lawyer.

The fact that the brother is jumping the gun wanting money for this and that makes me question things. Whatever you do you want to wait until the time comes to deal with whatever rather than forking over money because he says so and then deal with it directly rather than just handing the brother over the money.
Like it comes time to pay the funeral director
Whether it comes from your husband or the estate when it comes time to pay you pay the funeral directly and get your receipt.
Don't hand it over and leave it up to the brother.
I say get the lawyer and check for a will.
Also your father in law should have the most say in this.

The important issue here is: how was the CD titled? For example - if your husband and his mother were both named as "joint tenants with rights of survivorship" then this means that upon either owner's death full ownership of the CD passes to the other, regardess of what the person's will says. This is often how financial instruments like CDs are titled if they are owned by two people. If this is how the CD was titled then your husband owns the CD free and clear. So please post back with details on just how the original CD was titled.

As for funeral expenses - if your MIL has any assets of her own then the executor of her estate would be responsibe for paying those expenses from her assets, as well as any outstanding bills she may have had. Only after these final expenses are paid off are any remaining assets split among the heirs. Don't forget that there may be a social security payment that will help with funeral expenses, and if she has any life insurance policies that name her estate as the benficiary then that can be used as well. If your MIL has no assets, so there is nothing in her estate to pay for her funeral, then it's really a family decision as to how much to pay and how to split her funeral expenses. Your husband and his brother really ought to talk this out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ebaines

This is often how financial instruments like CDs are titled if they are owned by two people. If this is how teh CD was titledm then your nusband owns the CD free and clear. So please post back with details on just how the original CD was titled.

Hello 1:

Not only would I want to know how it was titled, but I'd want to know how he got it into his name alone?? It IS illegal for him to have signed his mothers name...

Plus, I want to know why the son thinks he's entitled to the mothers share, assuming the CD was JOINTLY owned... Seems to me, the mothers share should be split evenly between ALL her heirs... But what do I know?

excon

Quote:

Originally Posted by excon

Hello 1:

Not only would I wanna know how it was titled, but I'd wanna know how he got it into his name alone??? It IS illegal for him to have signed his mothers name...

Good question - I was wondering that too... perhaps the mother had granted the OP's husband Power of Attorney? This is just conjecture - the OP would have to verify whether this is the case.

Quote:

Originally Posted by excon

Plus, I wanna know why the son thinks he's entitled to the mothers share, assuming the CD was JOINTLY owned.... Seems to me, the mothers share should be split evenly between ALL her heirs... But what do I know?

If the CD was jointly owned, then it is clear (at least from a legal perspective) that the mother's wishes are that the CD goes to the one son with whom it is jointly titled, and that it NOT be split. Your suggestion that the CD be split among both brothers goes against what were apparently the mother's wishes.

Of course no one here knows what the mother's "true" wishes are, so we have to go by the actions she took in titling her assets. This highlights one of the pitfalls of titling assets - a consequence is that upon your death the assets may not get split the way you would really like. That's why it's so important to review these things - especially the beneficiaries as established for your life insurance, IRAs, and 401(k)'s - to avoid cutting out people by mistake.