Can my sister legally give me her inheritance?
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Can my sister legally give me her inheritance?
My mother recently passed and she did have a Will naming me and my sister
beneficiaries. My mother has 2 life insurance policies, a money market account
and a home which we are planning to sell. For personal and financial reasons, my sister does not have her own bank account and will not be getting one – she was supported by our mother and I will be essentially taking over that role. We will be getting the life insurance payouts soon. Can she sign the checks over to me and I deposit them into my bank account without issue? Is that considered
Asked on August 29, 2018 under Estate Planning, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
Yes, she can endorse or sign the checks over to you, but if you put them into your own account, that will be considered gifting and will have tax consequences. You may wish to consider having her open up an account over which you will have signing, etc. authority, so you can have some authority or control the money but it will not go into your own personal account; or you can set up a trust for her, open a trust bank account, and she can put the checks into that. If you are the trustee, you will again control the money.
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