My grand aunt passed away and no more will. All her savings account is joint with my mother which is her niece. My grand aunt had adopted daughter but she is not the beneficiary of my grand aunt savings account. Does she have rights for the savings account?

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Originally Posted by hanshane

My grand aunt passed away and no more will.

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I assume she never had a will

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Originally Posted by hanshane

All her savings account is joint with my mother which is her niece. My grand aunt had adopted daughter but she is not the beneficiary of my grand aunt savings account. Does she have rights for the savings account?

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Is there a beneficiary?
If the bank account did not name a beneficiary it would be a part of the probate estate and therefore pass to the heirs accordingly.

Depends on how the "joint" account is set up, if both are equal and joint owners with right of survival then it does not go into probate. Example when my mom died I was joint on several accounts, they just went to me, outside of probate.

So they need to go to bank and see how the accounts are set up

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Originally Posted by GV70

I assume she never had a will



Is there a beneficiary?
If the bank account did not name a beneficiary it would be a part of the probate estate and therefore pass to the heirs accordingly.

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No more will but bank account is under my grand aunt and my mom's name. No name for the adopted daughter.

The adopted daughter is entitled to a share of the estate. However, it appears that there is little or nothing to go into the estate since all cash assets were held jointly. This is assuming they were held jointly with right of survivorship. The adopted daughter is not entitled to anything held jointly with right of survivorship or with a named beneficiary (like an insurance policy) unless she is specifically named.

Joint account with my mom. It says my grand aunt name and/or my mom's name.

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Originally Posted by GV70

I assume she never had a will



Is there a beneficiary?
If the bank account did not name a beneficiary it would be a part of the probate estate and therefore pass to the heirs accordingly.

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Yes, it says grand aunt name and/or my mom's name. Adopted daughter wants to take all the money.

It sounds like the joint account now belongs to your mother only. This account would then not be part of any inheritance. Check at the bank for their definition of "joint."

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Originally Posted by hanshane

Yes, it says grand aunt name and/or my mom's name. Adopted daughter wants to take all the money.

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As WHAT?? Does iot say anything about joint tenants with right of survivorship or just right of survivorship? If it does not you have to ask the bank if that's how the accounts are held.

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Originally Posted by ScottGem

As WHAT??? Does iot say anything about joint tenants with right of survivorship or just right of survivorship? If it does not you have to ask the bank if that's how the accounts are held.

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By stating and/or then the money use is entitled to both parties. So if one party passes the other party has the rights to the money.

And seriously--what's the point of stressing that the daughter is adopted?

Once adopted, a person is LEGALLY the child of the adopter.

Therefore, she's your grand-aunt's daughter.