What is a Pass-Through Trust in Inheritance Law?

by **iden** » Wed May 30, 2012 1:05 pm

A family member died, leaving me with half of their estate. I didn't receive any inheritance, and the attorney said it was put into a pass-through trust. What does that mean?

by **chason58** » Wed May 30, 2012 1:26 pm

Geez. Why didn't you ask the lawyer??

by **rushford79** » Wed May 30, 2012 1:34 pm

It means you need to get your own attorney and start asking some hard questions.
A pass-through trust is supposed to disburse (pay) periodic sums to the beneficiary (you). For example, if a trust is the beneficiary of an IRA, the money (minus taxes, of course) is paid in a series of "required minimum distributions" to the trust. The trustee is supposed to "pass through" those payments to you. If that's not happening, you need to find out why.

Tips:
>don't jump to conclusions. There can be legitimate reasons why funds have been withheld, although it would be unusual.
>don't agree to anything and for heaven's sake don't sign ANYTHING until you know what is going on.

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