Bank will not release account info to Beneficiary

Submitted by AUREA MACIEL on Tue, 2023-06-27 00:18

Background: My dad passed Nov-22 and I am named beneficiary in 2 IRA accounts along with my siblings. It turns out the current beneficiaries are the same since 2014. I found the account balance low and there were some large withdrawals just prior to my dad´s passing, and some assets seemed to be missing.
I do not have a good relationship with my stepmom who is the Executor of my dad´s Estate, so I don´t know what his health was like. She cut my access to my dad.
I requested the Bank to send me the account transactions since 2014 and all distribution forms my dad signed. The Bank gave me some statements from 2020 in one account only, but as I started questioning some transactions they decided that no more statements would be provided prior to my dad´s passing (Nov-22).
The Bank says that the information cannot be released to me, the Beneficiary since I am not the Account Owner.
They keep saying that the Executor of my dad´s Estate has to authorize the release of such information.

My questions (if anyone can help, please):
1 – how do I become an owner of the account? why is the Bank saying I am not an Owner of the account?
2 – why is the Bank involving the Executor if I am named Beneficiary?
3 – Can the Bank deny me access to account history since inception?

I am very suspicious of the behavior of Bank representatives. They are actively finding reasons not to release historical account information. The last communication says that because of their privacy regulation, I cannot have access to information on the account prior to my dad´s passing, since I am not an Owner but a Beneficiary.

I have given instructions to convert the account to cash and took a partial distribution. I thought this would be enough to take Ownership of the Account. And, I just found out that the Bank did not open separate Beneficiary IRA accounts for each sibling, as appears to be the norm. Actually, the partial distribution I received does not show as coming from an IRA account but from the Bank.

I appreciate the help. I can´t find proper answers anywhere.
“



Submitted by David Mertz on Tue, 2023-06-27 01:42

  1. You are beneficial owner of your share of the account as of the date of your father’s death.  Prior to that, your father was the owner of the account.  The bank should provide you with a date-of-death value of the account and the percentage in which you share with your siblings so that you can check the bank’s calculation of the value of your share.  You did not acquire any rights to the funds in the IRA until your father’s death.
  2. Any transactions involving the account before you became beneficial owner are now the purview of your father’s estate.
  3. It seems entirely proper that the bank would deny you access to information about transactions that occurred prior to you becoming a beneficial owner.  Providing you with any unauthorized details could open the bank up to litigation.  The bank’s only obligation is to provide you with your share of the date-of-death value, either transferred to an inherited IRA for your benefit or distributed directly to you in some combination.
  4. If the distribution to you occurred in 2023, you’ll receive a 2023 Form 1099-R that you must report on your 2023 tax return.  It’s not clear what you mean by “convert the account to cash.”  If this was meant to create an inherited IRA account for your benefit and distribute only a portion of that in 2023, you would have needed to sign an IRA agreement to establish the inherited IRA account to receive the transfer of funds.  If instead your entire share was moved to a non-IRA account, your share has been fully distributed from the IRA and is entirely taxable on your 2023 tax return.  If you feel that the banks did not properly implement your intentions with regard to establishing an inherited IRA for your benefit for your share, that would be your only concern with the bank.  The SECURE 2.0 Act provides for the possibility of getting funds into an inherited IRA for your benefit if the funds were distributed to you in error.
  5. If you have concerns about how your father’s finances were managed prior to your father’s death, that’s an issue between you and the estate or you and whoever was managing the finances prior to his death, not between you and the bank.  If you have any concerns that someone improperly managed your father’s finances prior to his death, you should contact an attorney.

Submitted by AUREA MACIEL on Tue, 2023-06-27 13:57

Thank you for your comments. This information that you state above where can I find it? I actually found a lot of information that is opposite to what you stated. Is this information in black and white somewhere? Thanks

Submitted by David Carrell on Wed, 2023-06-28 21:58

  • DMx  captured the reality well. If you wish to rebut or see more on something he shared, you need to be more specific. Where did it come from? Well all over the place over (likey, as I don’t know DMx) many years. So precisely which info do you want sources for?
  • Again, which info did you find which contradicts? W/o seeing or having a reference what can anyone here say?
  • Simple fact is that up to the time your father died, you had zero rights to the funds or any data associated with them. Your father could have removed you as a beneficiary up to time of death. So why do you believe you have any “rights” to access the transaction history before his death? Who is telling you otherwise?
  • If you had concerns about how your father’s finances were being managed before he died, the time to address that was then. You could have taken actions then. The success or faily of those no one here can say. If you believe there were fraudulent actions taken then, you can potentially ask the courts to look into and possibly get an independent accounting. But good chance you will have to pay at least part of this.
  • Once your father passed, the executor was put in charge. You can think of the executor and de facto being your dad now for estate matters. If there are post death issues, you take those up with the executor. If there is no satisfactory resolution, then again you can ask the court to get involved.
  • But again, until your father passed, it wasn’t your money and legally you have no real right to have access any of that infomation simply because you were a benficiary. It was his funds to spend as he wished. If he spent all but $1, then you would get $1.

Submitted by David Carrell on Wed, 2023-06-28 21:58

  • DMx  captured the reality well. If you wish to rebut or see more on something he shared, you need to be more specific. Where did it come from? Well all over the place over (likey, as I don’t know DMx) many years. So precisely which info do you want sources for?
  • Again, which info did you find which contradicts? W/o seeing or having a reference what can anyone here say?
  • Simple fact is that up to the time your father died, you had zero rights to the funds or any data associated with them. Your father could have removed you as a beneficiary up to time of death. So why do you believe you have any “rights” to access the transaction history before his death? Who is telling you otherwise?
  • If you had concerns about how your father’s finances were being managed before he died, the time to address that was then. You could have taken actions then. The success or faily of those no one here can say. If you believe there were fraudulent actions taken then, you can potentially ask the courts to look into and possibly get an independent accounting. But good chance you will have to pay at least part of this.
  • Once your father passed, the executor was put in charge. You can think of the executor and de facto being your dad now for estate matters. If there are post death issues, you take those up with the executor. If there is no satisfactory resolution, then again you can ask the court to get involved.
  • But again, until your father passed, it wasn’t your money and legally you have no real right to have access any of that infomation simply because you were a benficiary. It was his funds to spend as he wished. If he spent all but $1, then you would get $1.

Submitted by David Mertz on Tue, 2023-06-27 18:01

I suggest that you and your attorney review the IRA agreement entered into by the bank and your father.

Add new comment

Log in or register to post comments