Government Bonds expert needed....

starkiller

Need some easy to understand info on Gov. Bonds. My dad passed away in 2009 and left a sizable amount of bonds to me and my brother. My brother is the executor so has been taking care of the estate. This is fine but he is a control freak and has been for most of his 55 years of life Anyway, he has been cashing out the bonds as they become due which is twice a year and sends us my portion. I had asked him why not just physical split the bonds where we each get half of them and do with them what we want instead of this twice a year thing. He says that its too difficult to do.

I went to the bond site but can't find an answer to all this and after some months I have not gotten a reply from them about the issue.

So, is he still being a control freak or...??

thanks!

nooshinjohn

knowing the type of bond is important, as thy each have different maturation schedules and requirements for redemption. Beyond that, I am useless on this. I am sure Tonyb will chime in...he knows everything

nooshinjohn

nbrowser wrote: »

Sure, inflate his overblown ego some more will ya...

When Chuck Norris wants to know if it's safe to get out of bed... He calls Tonyb.

oldmodman

Should not be any problem at all to just hand you the bonds.
All the bonds I have I just bought through the bank since the price is fixed by the Government. As is the rate.
I just paid the teller, filled out the one page of paperwork, and three weeks later I got an envelope in the mail with my bonds inside.

The only reason for him wanting to handle the sale is if the bonds have your father's name on them. Then he would have to include a notarized death certificate and a copy of the court decree naming him executor. It would not be possible for you to personally cash in the bonds without a court order naming you as the beneficiary. All my paperwork intensive stuff is marked assume ownership on death. Prevents needing a lot of the court BS after I croak.

cnh

I assume you've given your brother Power of Attorney so he can discharge your part of the estate, which would include half the bonds. And that there is a WILL that defines the inheritance and who gets what?

The only reason I can think of your brother managing everything is that it is more convenient for one person to do so, but that also assumes that you don't want to deal with these matters yourself?

As an example, my sister has my POA to represent my share in our parents' house, to rent it and to place rents in accounts on my behalf. Because I live 500 miles away and she is much closer and in the same state, that makes sense as I cannot really deal with problems at this distance. This all assumes that "everyone" has each others "complete" trust which is USUALLY NOT the case in most families where, well you know?

cnh

starkiller

Its not a matter of trust its a matter of my brother saying "I know whats best for you and your wife". We want to be able to do what we want with the bonds..either turn them in at maturity or wait or whatever. Couldn't we just split up the remaining bonds and be done with it?

tonyb

Eh, doesn't really matter. If your bro wants to be a control freak, let him. Depending on what kind of bonds they are, which we don't know, keeping them past maturity isn't paying you gobbs of interest anyway. Take the cash your brother sends you and put it into another investment vehicle, you'll realize more gains anyway over just keeping the bonds past maturity.

cfrizz

starkiller wrote: »

Its not a matter of trust its a matter of my brother saying "I know whats best for you and your wife". We want to be able to do what we want with the bonds..either turn them in at maturity or wait or whatever. Couldn't we just split up the remaining bonds and be done with it?

No you really can't just do that. Being the executor of an estate is a LOT of work, expense, paperwork, time, accounting, etc. He has to show the court everything that happens, how it happens, when it happens. He is not just being a control freak he is abiding by theterms of the will, and what the court mandates.

My late uncle purchased bonds for me and my brothers, sometime after he died, his wife sent me my bond along with a copy of his death certificate. Which I will have to bring with me when I finally get around to going into downtown Boston to only one bank in orderto cash it in.

Getting copies of death certificates is expensive, Whatever expenses your brother has to make gets taken out of the estate. Let him do his job, and be grateful you weren't the one stuck with this time consuming task!