My grandma died in 2008 in southern California. My mother was the executor of the will and each of us grandkids were to receive 200,000 when we turn 24. But my mother said the ecomony was bad and the accounts were losing money so she gave it to us early in which she gave my brother the full 200,000 but only gave my sister and I 150,000 (my sister less) saying she needed to take out 50,000 thousand for inheritance tax. If this was true then why did my brother not have to pay taxes but my sister and I did? And also something doesn't seem right since I never received anything for paying my taxes on it. Did my mom rip us off?

For one thing you wouldn't receive anything for paying "your" taxes on it. The "estate" is what paid the taxes. Now as far as the split of money goes. Its hard to say what someone else was thinking. There may have been some prorated amounts going on. Have you spoken to your mom and asked for a possible accounting of the money?

Yes and she said that we each got 200,000 but 50 thousand WE had to pay inheritance taxes on for our half of it. Why did my brother not have to pay any inheritance taxes when the will stated we each get 200,000, and if my sister and I had to pay taces in our names why would we get proof of it considering the taxes were said to be paid in our names? From my understanding California doesn't even have inheritance taxes, only estate with my grandmothers estate already paid for.

Also my mom claims that the taxes were paid under My and my sisters names. Why wouldn't we beable to get proof of that if that was the case. My main point is nothing my mother says adds up and when I confronted her with this she get defensive and said its all her money anyway. I am not greedy its not fair that me and my sister only got 150 and my brother 200 when the reasoning for that was inheritance tax. It doesn't make sense.

If there was one chunk of money like $600,000. And it was said to be split between the three siblings and the money was in stocks or whatever. Then the cash value that was returned is whatever it is. Lets say 620k and then estate taxes were applied of 50k. That would leave 570k. The split should have been from there. Has your mom stated why it wasn't split that way? It sounds like equal portions were intended by the wills instructions.

She won't say and that's why I am suspicious. Either she played favorites or wanted more for herself. Considering she emptied the rest of my grandmas accounts for her expenses, and told my sister and I she needed to borrow money from us to pay off the rest of the "taxes". Im just really upset cause the will clearly states we each get 200,000 thousand and despite receiving the inheritance early due to the economy, the amount did not changed but we were forced to pay these "taxes" that California doesn't even have.

As a beneficiary under the will, you are entitled to an accounting of the estate.

There are no inheritance taxes for CA. If the estate owed taxes, then those taxes are paid from the estate BEFORE any distributions were made.

You also need to know what the will said. If the will specified that the estate should be divided equally, then that's what should have happened. If the will made specific $200K bequests, and the estate was losing money making it impossible to fund those bequests, then they should have been prorated.

My grandma had a trust fund account for money our inheritance was in she had more then enough to pay us out what she wanted to give us which was 200,000. So the amount was secure if that makes sense.

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Originally Posted by sydneyfantastic

My grandma had a trust fund account for money our inheritance was in she had more then enough to pay us out what she wanted to give us which was 200,000. so the amount was secure if that makes sense.

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As Scott has said you have a legal right to answers and a full accounting of what went on. Have you ever received a copy of the will ?

Nothing ever lost money besides my moms retirement fund she just wanted to liquidate my grandmas accounts, so basically she emptied the accounts before they would "lose money" which I think she did for her own benefit.

I have seen it and have been read it. But now my mom refuses to give me any documentation or information now. Her and her husband have blown through THOUSANDS of dollars since then right in front of my eyes. So it just appears to me this is foul play and they won't give me any info because of it. But yet I supposedly paid taxes that don't even exist? I'm just curious on what to do its not right that my sister and I got cheated.

The taxes are on a "federal" level. Maybe you have been missing on that part.

Estate Tax / Inheritance Tax & Gift Taxes

Federal Estate and Gift Taxes

Btw. How old are you?

And if your wondering I still have all my inheritance from 2 years ago so its not about greed and me trying to get more money, I have just spent 2 years watching my mother DETROY my grandmothers estate she built through hard work and saving. And my brother blew his all on drugs. This is just not right I got lied to and cheated out my the money my grandma wanted me to have

I was 19 at the time, and I am 21 now. If that's the case then why would my mom say inheritance tax and only tax me and my sister if it was federal tax.

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Originally Posted by sydneyfantastic

I was 19 at the time, and i am 21 now. if thats the case then why would my mom say inheritance tax and only tax me and my sister if it was federal tax.

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No one knows the answer to this except your mother - ask her. If that fails, retain an Attorney and have someone get copies of all of the estate papers.

It is possible that the estate did not have sufficient funds to give each of you the promised amount. If that is the case what WAS there should have been divided equally.

What your brother did with the money is really none of your business.

Why would your mother say or do anything? Ask her.

If this is not about greed then you won't be able to sue because you can only sue for money.

My main point is we were all set for the 200,000 thousand but I was told that we had to pay 50,000 for inheritance taxes that don't even exist in California and my brother would have been required to pay that to but he wasn't. No federal or estate taxes mentioned, my mom said I could use it as a tax write off which is why I'm wondering about proof of paying it but clearly no taxes were ever paid.

I get your main point. Did you get mine?

Ask your mother - no one here knows why anybody does anything "they" do. Maybe she said that to shut you up. I don't know.

Consult with an Attorney, review the estate documents.

Um actually both him and my mom have substance abuse problems so that is why I brought up a possible reason for him getting more money. Do not tell me its none of my business. I just wanted an answer to my question but you guys want these details so I'm giving it to you. I just wanted some advice on what to do. No need to be rude I can say what I want about my brother since he was trying to get into MY inheritance.

Im new to this OK. I live in Washington state now so its not like I can just go down there to the probate court. I didn't ask for tax advise I'm asking for a opinion of a executer acting unfair basically since there was no inheritance tax. This is not

Judykaytee this is just a website not a courtroom no one committed purgery here. Leave my friend alone. Report her if your so concerned about us trying to get simple answers for our questions. Just back off oviously she has enough on her plate alread