This case was based upon an Administrator’s long standing unlawful policy to by-pass estate administration when the deceased account owner had a trust. The law requires that assets that belong to a person that were not placed into the trust prior to the death of the trust creator can only pass to the trust through a last will and testament (will) that had been validated by the court and properly probated. Ms. Groning had jewelry in her safe deposit box when she died. The safe deposit box was in her name. No one claimed the safe deposit box. The bank turned the jewelry over to the Administrator according to unclaimed property law. The Administrator sold the jewelry for $119,836.
