Q: Include Humane Society in Affidavit of Small Estate post-probate?
We received notice from a life insurance company after the probate was closed, asking us to file an Affidavit of Small Estate and provide a copy of the living trust that names us and The Humane Society as 50/50 beneficiaries. The Humane Society already received its share before probate closure. Should we include The Humane Society in the Affidavit of Small Estate? The insurance policy was not mentioned in the will or trust, and this notice came after probate was closed. We are unsure if the life insurance company contacted The Humane Society directly.
A:
Something doesn’t ’add up’ here. If there was a trust there wouldn’t have been probate absent someone doing something wrong.
If the probate is closed you may need to reopen it but life insurance doesn’t usually go through probate at all unless there is a failure to name a beneficiary so that too seems ‘off’.
Further, trusts don’t normally name beneficiaries of life insurance — a beneficiary designation does. It all seems just a bit ‘off’ like someone is trying to make things sound ‘technical’ but us just a bit confused.
Your best bet here is to hire a licensed local probate attorney who can review all the facts and get to the bottom of things.
Good luck.
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