Mrs. Granger returned twenty minutes later with the bank’s estate specialist on speakerphone. The bonds were legitimate, and because my full maiden name appeared as co-owner on every one, they were not simply property my cousins could divide through Grandpa’s estate sale. Several had stopped earning interest years earlier. Together, their current redemption value was a little over $41,000.
Then Mrs. Granger showed me something stranger. Grandpa had visited that same branch eight months before he died and asked how jointly registered bonds would be handled after his death. The employee had made a note in his customer file: “Customer wants Diane Marie Collins protected as surviving owner.” Grandpa had known exactly what he was doing. Gary’s warning suddenly made sense.
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