I'm not sure where to begin this blog, so I'll start with a topic that's been on my mind because it's come up in yet another case. There are a few maxims we've learned from years of practice here at Russakow Ryan Johnson, one of them being "Do not marry a stripper." You can laugh, but the guys who do it, thinking they've found the one with a heart of gold, who truly understands them, are always disappointed. They usually show up at our office after they wake up with their car, cash, bank account and even a few collectibles gone. If they're lucky, they're not also facing a false spousal battery charge.
Another maxim taking shape here is "Your money's not safe in a safe." For whatever reason, people find comfort in keeping cash away from the bank. It may be up on a high closet shelf, behind the old linens, in a Kleenex box, under the mattress, under the floorboards, or more likely in a very strong-looking safe in the garage, built like Fort Knox and looking like something from a Bonanza episode. Or, perhaps they go one step further and put it in the bank, but in a safe deposit box. Ordinary people keep tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, like this. When they do, they tend to let "trusted" family members know. The problem is that at their death, or incapacity, one or more of those trusted family members helps themselves to what's in the safe/safe deposit box. When the executor/trustee finally gets the safe open, they're completely surprised to find it empty and ask "How could this happen?"
The executor's next question is "How can I get it back?" The answer, unfortunately, is not a good one. Even if they're fairly certain regarding who took the money, the burden of proof is on the executor not only to prove who took it, but also how much that person took. With cash (or even jewelry, coins, baseball cards, Star Wars action figures), it's almost impossible. At least with a safe deposit box, there's a record showing who went to the box, and when. Still, cash doesn't leave a trail.
Thus, I highly recommend keeping your cash in bank/savings/money market accounts. There's still some risk, of course, but I'm sure more people have lost money from their safes than they have from bank failures. Once it's in the bank account, or some other form of ownership that has your name on title and leaves a paper trail, make sure your trust, will, powers of attorney and conservatorship nominations are up to date so that the right people can get their hands on your money when the time comes.
I realize that even with some safeguards, the "right people" can still take your money, so I'll deal with that in a later post, along with the rise of professional trustees.
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