How can I find out if my late father had a savings account?
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How can I find out if my late father had a savings account?
My siblings and I going through probate court with our stepmother, she can only find a copy of our father’s Will so the clerk and master will not except it. Our stepmother said our father only had a checking account, but in the Will it says he also had a savings account, how can I find this out? It seems as if she does not have to prove this and the clerk and master is taking her word for it when she is lying about mostly everything. The accounts are only in his name and in his will he wanted everything in both accounts to go to my sister.
Asked on March 7, 2019 under Estate Planning, Tennessee
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
Contact the banks he banked at and ask; if you provide them on request with a copy of the death certificate, they should respond. (You won't be able to access or due anything with the account without court authority, such as appointment as personal representative for the estate), but you can at least determine whether the account existed. If the banks will not even respond, you'd need raise a legal challenge to the probate and in the course of that challenge, issue a subpoena to each bank to compel them to respond.
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