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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 26, 2006)
Spilyay Tymoo, Wgr-rn Springs, Oregon Page 3 October 26, 2 0 0 6 Trust office has answers B y L e slie M itts m Spilyay Tymoo I f you have questions about your trust fund money, it’s in evitable that the trust office has the answer. S ta ff m em bers from the trust office with Bureau o f In dian Affairs want to get the message out about what they can do for tribal members. Charles Jackson, the fidu ciary trust officer with the BIA in Warm Springs, said his office is responsible for things like the Individual Indian Money (IIM) accounts. “The focus o f the trust of fice is to represent beneficiaries, Indians who own trust assets,” Jackson said. “It might be land, it might be funds, it might be timber. Our primary focus is to represent their interests.” 8 ; According to Jackson, “Be fore the establishment o f trust offices there was never any po sition in the Department o f the Interior or the BIA whose pri mary responsibility was to rep resent the beneficiaries.” “ O ur prim ary role is to implement the trust reform ini tiative o f the Department o f the Interior in regards to the American Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act o f 1994,” jackson said. The Warm Springs BIA of fice employs three accounting techs who handle local accounts. One thing that communities need to know, he said, is that they can have the money from their trust funds directly depos ited into their bank account— something that reduces compli cations in the transfer o f funds. Some people may not even know they have funds available. According to Jackson, there can be money in accounts for Indi ans who can’t be located. To find out if you or some one you know is on the Whereabout Unknown List, you can check with the trust office or visit www.doi.gov/ost and click on “locating IIM account holders.” One thing that many people don’t take enough advantage of, according to staff, is the toll-free trust beneficiary call center. Recently the call center was developed to answer questions from American Indians specifi cally regarding trust funds. Since opening in 2004, the center has responded to more than 125,000 calls.The call center is available by calling (888) 678-6836. New law changes tribal probate Keeyana Yellowman (above) and Vivian Yazzie (left) focus as they color at the Community Center on Oct. 16. The “Color with a Color Party” celebrated Arts and Crafts Coordinator Carol Allison’s redecorated room-now complete with four play areas and a new butterfly mural. The event entertained kids with games and a coloring contest. Next the Community Center staff will prepare for Halloween activités, including a pumpkin carving contest, costume contests and a Halloween carnival. Leslie Mitts photos D Probate cases without a writ ten will are handled in a differ ent way after a policy change took effect June 20 with the Bu reau o f Indian Affairs. The American Indian Probate Re form Act o f 2004 replaces the Indian probate laws o f 2001. The act was originally signed into law on Oct. 27, 2004, and changes the way that Indian land and property is inherited. According to Charles Jack- son, fiduciary trust officer for the BIA in Warm Springs, the change involves a new set o f laws that apply to people who die without a written will. Before, he explained, their estate was handled according to state laws. With this new act, their es tates will be handled with the new set o f laws if they die after June 20, 2006. The act affects ownership rights in trust or restricted land (unless the land is located in Alaska) and changes the way trust estates are distributed to heirs after a person’s death. The new changes are nation wide and also provide opportu nities for tribal members or the tribe to purchase interest in trust or restricted land at probate. Probate is a legal process that determines the heirs and ben eficiaries o f the deceased per son. In general, the new law pro tects the rights o f property own ers by allowing them to transfer property through a will at the time o f their death. I f a will is not written, trust property will fall under the new probate code. The laws state that after a person’s death, and without the presence o f a written will, fed eral and approved tribal probate codes will determine who are the eligible heirs. Jackson said the B IA will conduct a series o f meetings to introduce the new policies to the community. 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