How long does it take to get inheritance money? This often is the burning question on the minds of beneficiaries after learning a decedent left them an inheritance. Although timelines can vary, getting an inheritance typically takes anywhere from several months to several years.
Suppose a decedent’s estate is simple, consisting only of cash. You may receive your inheritance in as little as a few months.
Suppose a decedent’s trust is complex, consisting primarily of real properties and calling for distributions of trust assets to beneficiaries to be made on a staggered basis over time. It may take years for you to receive your full inheritance.
All that to say, definitively determining how long it takes to receive an inheritance after death can be difficult without considering the factors that may be affecting your inheritance, which we discuss in the next section.
Factors That Can Affect When You Receive Your Inheritance
Waiting to receive an inheritance can be frustrating, particularly if the inheritance could help you cover urgent expenses or cure your financial woes. While waits are normal, prolonged waits are not.
By understanding the factors that can influence inheritance timelines, you’ll be able to detect if your inheritance is being wrongfully withheld from you. If it is, you can take the appropriate legal steps to enforce your right to a timely inheritance
The Origin of Your Inheritance
An inheritance usually originates from an estate or trust. However, in some cases, it also could originate from an asset with a beneficiary designation, such as a bank account, life insurance policy or IRA.
If the origin of your inheritance is an estate, it generally will need to pass through the probate process, which can take anywhere from six months to a year, or longer. It typically isn’t possible for the personal representative (i.e., the executor/administrator) to distribute any portion of your inheritance until probate is complete, although in some cases, preliminary distributions may be allowed if it appears administration will take a long time. Small estates (those worth less than $184,500) may be able to bypass a formal probate, potentially reducing your inheritance timeline.
If the origin of your inheritance is a trust, how long it takes to receive your inheritance generally will depend on the provisions of the trust. For example, a trust instrument could call for your inheritance to be provided to you all at once, which would enable you to receive your inheritance rather quickly. On the other hand, a trust also could call for you to graduate college to receive your inheritance, which could put your inheritance on hold until the condition is met. Because trusts are not subject to probate, there may be more flexibility with inheritance timelines.
When the origin of your inheritance is an asset with a beneficiary designation, you do not need to wait to be provided your inheritance. You generally can claim the inheritance with a valid ID and certified copy of the decedent’s death certificate upon the asset owner’s death.
Asset Type
Certain asset types are quicker and easier to transfer to beneficiaries than others. For example, money can generally be transferred seamlessly via check, whereas real property assets generally require title to be transferred to the new owners’ names. This typically necessitates a trip to the county recorder’s office.
In some cases, the trustee or personal representative may opt to sell a real property asset instead of providing you the asset. Because selling a real property may involve, among other things, obtaining an appraisal, listing the property and finding a buyer, it has the potential to extend your inheritance timeline.
Financial Liabilities
If an estate or trust has considerable financial liabilities, it’s possible beneficiaries’ inheritances will be delayed until the deadline to file a creditor claim, which is one year from the decedent’s death, has elapsed.
Personal representatives and trustees generally are required to settle an estate’s or trust’s financial liabilities (e.g., debts and taxes) prior to providing beneficiaries their inheritances to ensure the estate or trust has sufficient funds to pay them.
That said, if a trust has ample assets, it may be able to provide beneficiaries with a portion of their inheritances before satisfying all its debts.
The Size and Complexity of an Estate or Trust
Because it is necessary for estate and trust assets to be properly inventoried and accounted for prior to their being distributed, a complex estate or trust with substantial assets generally will take longer to distribute than a simple estate with minimal assets.
Complex estates and trusts also are more likely to hold real properties, which, as discussed previously, tend to take longer to transfer. They also may have more debts.
Trust and Will Disputes
Trust and will disputes can cause the inheritance timeline to be paused until a resolution can be reached — particularly if you are supposed to receive any of the assets at issue in the dispute as your inheritance.
For example, when someone contests a will or trust, they are seeking to have the entire document, or portions of the document, invalidated. While contests will invariably extend the inheritance timeline, how much they extend it by will depend on the nature of the contest and whether it is settled outside of court or resolved at trial.
Remember, while a trust or will dispute can delay your inheritance, it also can reduce or eliminate it. Therefore, if there is a dispute over a trust or will, it’s crucial to consult with a probate attorney about whether it’s necessary to involve yourself in it.
Property Disputes
Property disputes can halt the inheritance timeline until a resolution can be reached surrounding who has ownership rights over the property at issue.
For example, suppose a decedent’s estate has claimed a real property because title to property was in the decedent’s name. However, the decedent’s trust disposes of the same property, suggesting that the decedent may have failed to transfer the property to their trust. As a trust beneficiary, you may benefit if the trustee were to successfully file an 850 petition to have the property transferred to the trust, but it may delay your inheritance.
That said, property disputes can also reduce or eliminate your inheritance, so it is essential to work with a probate attorney to enforce your rights if such disputes have been brought.
Personal Representative or Trustee’s Efficiency
It should go without saying that the time a trustee or personal representative is able to dedicate to trust and estate administration, as well as how effectively they are able to use that time, can influence the inheritance timeline.
Typically, private professional fiduciaries or seasoned trustees and executors may be able to move through the administration process more efficiently and provide beneficiaries with their inheritances faster than newbie trustees and executors.
That said, a lack of administration experience is not a valid excuse for an inheritance being unreasonably delayed. Most trusts and estates allow for trustees and personal representatives to hire third-party professionals to help fulfill the obligations of their role. If the administration process has become inefficient, they may be able to streamline it.
5 Steps to Take if Your Inheritance Is Delayed
If you believe you have waited an inordinate amount of time for your inheritance, it may be necessary for you to take action to find out the cause of the delay. While a delayed inheritance could be nothing to worry about, it also could indicate your inheritance is at risk.
Follow the steps below to determine why your inheritance is delayed, and if the delay is something to be concerned about.
1. Understand your Inheritance Rights
If you haven’t done so already, carefully review the will or trust instrument to determine what your inheritance comprises. Does the instrument specify which assets you should receive? Does it specify a timeline or the manner in which you should receive them?
Because of how heavily they rely on legalese, wills and trusts aren’t always straightforward to decipher. If you’re having trouble, consider having a probate attorney interpret them on your behalf.
Keep in mind that when someone dies without a will (i.e., they die intestate), their assets generally will be distributed according to intestate succession laws.
2. Play an Active Role in Administration
If you’ve been notified that you are a beneficiary of an estate or trust, it’s crucial you actively involve yourself in administration to protect your inheritance. You can involve yourself in administration by doing things like regularly communicating with the fiduciary in charge and inspecting the required accountings and financial records they provide you.
Being actively involved in administration means you’re plugged into the goings on of an estate or trust. This will allow you to stay on top of how close you are to receiving your inheritance and any factors that could be affecting your inheritance timeline.
3. Request an Update from the Personal Representative or Trustee on the Status of Your Inheritance
If understanding your inheritance and involving yourself in administration haven’t brought you the clarity you need about how long it will take to receive your inheritance, it may be necessary for you to ask the fiduciary in charge about the status of your inheritance.
It is ideal to submit information requests to personal representatives and trustees in writing to maintain a log of correspondence you could use as evidence should a fiduciary misconduct claim arise.
Is a trustee or executor not communicating with beneficiaries? If so, they may be breaching their fiduciary duties. A probate attorney should be consulted about how to best handle the issue.
4. Find Out Whether a Preliminary Distribution is Possible
If you urgently require a portion of your inheritance, it may be possible for you to request a preliminary distribution from the trustee or personal representative. In most instances, preliminary distributions will only consist of a portion of your inheritance, not the whole thing.
Keep in mind that preliminary distributions are generally only possible if an estate or trust is so sizable that it has more than enough money to fulfill its financial liabilities and provide beneficiaries with a portion of their inheritance. They also may be possible if an estate or trust has already fulfilled all its financial liabilities.
That said, whether or not to provide a preliminary distribution will be left up to the discretion of the fiduciary in charge, or, in some cases, the court, so it’s rarely guaranteed that one will be provided to you.
5. Discuss What To Do About Your Delayed Inheritance With Legal Counsel
If it’s unclear to you whether your inheritance is delayed for a valid reason, it’s important you work with a probate attorney to investigate the matter further. Though not always, a delayed inheritance could suggest trustee or executor misconduct.
A probate attorney has many tools in their toolbox for making the trustee or personal representative provide you with your due and payable distribution. For example, your attorney could file a petition compelling the trustee or personal representative to make the distribution. In more extreme scenarios, they could file a petition seeking removal of the trustee or personal representative.
FAQs: How Long Does It Take to Receive an Inheritance After Death?
Still have questions surrounding how long it takes to receive inherited money or property? Explore the frequently asked questions below to see if you can find the answers you’re looking for there.
If you can’t, don’t hesitate to request a free consultation with our firm.
How do I find out if someone left me money?
If someone left you money, you generally will be notified about how much money you were left by the personal representative or trustee.
With estates, the party responsible for notifying beneficiaries is generally the person who files the petition for probate (usually the executor). On the other hand, with trusts, the party responsible for notifying beneficiaries is the trustee.
If you believe you are the designated beneficiary on a payable-on-death or transfer-on-death asset, you may have to do a little detective work to track down the asset and claim it, supposing no instructions for finding it are mentioned in the will or trust instrument.
Can a person who’s receiving an inheritance transfer money to someone else?
It depends on whether or not the beneficiary has already received the inheritance money. If they have, the money is theirs, and they can do with it what they please, including transferring it to someone else.
On the contrary, a beneficiary who stands to receive an inheritance, but has not yet received it, cannot transfer their money to someone else. They can, however, refuse their inheritance if they wish for it to go to the next beneficiary in line (called a contingent beneficiary).
Who issues an inheritance check?
The inheritance check is typically issued by the trustee or personal representative.
That said, keep in mind that your inheritance can take many forms. It does not have to come in the form of a check.
How are inheritance checks mailed?
Inheritance checks usually are mailed using certified mail delivery. This way, there will be a paper trail if checks are lost or stolen and need to be traced.
How long does a beneficiary have to claim their inheritance?
There is no strict time limitation on how long a beneficiary has to claim their inheritance. With that being said, if beneficiaries wait too long, it’s possible their beneficial interest in an estate or trust could be transferred to the state. The state generally will hold this unclaimed property until someone comes forth to claim it.
While reclaiming property from the unclaimed property division can be difficult, it still is possible. Nevertheless, it is best to take steps to secure your inheritance as soon as possible to avoid complications.
What happens when a beneficiary dies before receiving an inheritance?
When a beneficiary dies before receiving an inheritance, their inheritance generally will go to the contingent beneficiary. If there is no contingent beneficiary listed in the will or trust, it could be transferred to the decedent’s estate, where it will be distributed to their heirs in accordance with intestate succession laws.
Sometimes, trusts and wills contain terms surrounding how assets not designated to a specific beneficiary should be distributed. These terms also could determine what happens to a beneficiary’s inheritance if they die before receiving it.
Curious when you’ll receive your inheritance money? Our lawyers can help you find out.
If you’re concerned about a delayed inheritance, Keystone’s experienced probate attorneys can help. We can investigate the cause of the delay and take legal action to ensure you receive the inheritance you’re entitled to.
Whether you’re seeking to enforce your right to a timely distribution or protect your inheritance rights more broadly, our skilled legal team is ready to advocate for you.
