When I was 18, my great Aunt passed away. She had a will, and everything was divided out, but I was away during this time. When I came back, my Aunt said that my great Aunt had left me a trust fund that I could not touch until I was 25. I turn 25 in January, and I know these things can take some time, so I would really like to get a jump-start on things. Only problem is that the only family member that I knew in my small family that had any paper work or information on this was my other Aunt, who passed away a couple of years back as well. So now I have no paperwork or proof stating that I have anything coming my way, but I feel very confident that the money is somewhere safe and waiting for me. I know I need to find the bank in which she did everything, and hire a probate lawyer... but I really don't want to waste all of my inheritance on a lawyer. It's only for $5,000... so I know a lot of lawyers don't even want to waste their time with me. What sort of advice could you give a lost young man? Anything helps!

BUMP for hope :(

Didn't the aunt mention to you anything about it as far as where it might be like Bank X. Did your aunt have any children herself that may have information?

Go to the probate court in the county where your great aunt lived. See if you can find any records of her will being probated. If the bequest was made from the will then the details of the trust should be in the probate records.

If not, you may be able to find the executor of the will who may have this information. It should also be up to the trustee to track you down under the terms of the trust.

If the executor is who I believe it is, then she is in another state and has cut all contact with my side of the family. No information was left, only information I have is that she lived and died in Redondo Beach. So my best bet would be to try and locate a probate court in redondo? Thanks for the help!

Does not matter if she "cut contact" where and what happened to everything is a matter of court record and will be in the court.

In fact they were to give you the information on where the money was when the trust was created.

And of course if it is listed and the person will not tell you, you can take them back to probate court to force them to give you the accounting of the money

I hope I don't sound dumb for asking, but is a probate court going to be within a superior court? Thank you for all the help! I was really afraid that not having my documents would make me ineligible to receive my inheritance, but now I feel a little more entitled and confident to search for this. For such a low amount, do I need to hire a lawyer?

Not dumb at all, but actually that depends on locality. Probate courts fall within different court sections in different areas. No, you don't need to hire a lawyer. Probate court records are public records. All you need is your great aunt's name to search.

If a trust was established for you, then all you will need to claim it is proof that you are you. When the trust was setup, it should have been given particulars about you, name, DOB, place of birth, etc. with which to identify you.

Excellent. That was the response I was looking for, thank you so much. I am going to just start searching to see where there is a Probate court in Redondo, and start making some phone calls. Thanks a lot guys!

Good luck and keep us posted