[WSBAPT] GET accounts - original owner deceased.

[Heather deVrieze]

Friday Brain Teaser

Trying to find a simple common-sense solution to issues that have come up related to WA GET accounts. (If any of you are on both the solo group and the WSBA probate and trust group, sorry for the double post.)

Back story is that Grandmother (G) set up accounts for each of her triplet granddaughters (A B & C) in 2003. G was the owner, A B & C were the beneficiaries. The account has one year of credits each. G died in 2014. A B & C were 13 at the time. There was no probate because G was survived by her husband, A B & C's grandfather and they had a Community Property and Survivorship Agreement. Sometime after G's death, at the instruction of the GET program, A B & C's mother (G's daughter) facilitated having the account owners changed to A B & C, though they were only 14 years old.
NOW -  GET is offering a rollover into a new 529 account, and, as incentive to encourage rollovers, will increase the unit price by 38%. G's daughter would like to take advantage of this option, but it is only open for 90 days. Because the owners (A B & C) will not be 18 until December, GET is telling the mother they cannot take advantage of the rollover because she can't authorize it for her daughters, and they are not yet of legal age to authorize it for themselves. They want a court order changing the owner to mom or granddad AND authorizing the rollover. Each of these accounts is worth about $11,000 as is, $14,000 rolled into the 529.

Any reason I can't probate G's estate, ask the Court to enter an order that the Grandfather (PR) should have been, and shall be the rightful legal owner of the account, Mom the successor owner, with no change to beneficiaries, and authorizing the rollover of the account? And get it done quick? Think the Court will require a GAL?

Any one have ideas for other ways to resolve to accomplish this rollover quickly?

Heather

Heather S. de Vrieze
Attorney-at-Law
[cid:image001.jpg at 01D013C2.30F35160]
3909 California Avenue SW
Seattle, WA 98116-3705
(206)938-5500
heatherd at westseattlelaw.com<mailto:heatherd at westseattlelaw.com>
www.westseattlelaw.com<http://www.westseattlelaw.com/>
Click here to connect with de Vrieze | Carney on Facebook:   [FB Logo] <https://www.facebook.com/DeVriezeCarney>

CONFIDENTIAL & PRIVILEGED. This e-mail message may contain legally privileged and/or confidential information.  If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete all copies of this e-mail message and any attachment.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20180622/96dfe29b/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 7141 bytes
Desc: image002.jpg
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20180622/96dfe29b/image002.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image004.png
Type: image/png
Size: 5137 bytes
Desc: image004.png
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20180622/96dfe29b/image004.png>