Estate Litigation Legal Questions

If it was sold before death it is not part of the estate and the proceeds should have gone to dad. If there are still proceeds in dad's bank accounts, that money falls into the estate residuary and in your case goes to sister. You should really let an attorney look at all of these documents to answer with certainty. ... Read More

The Executor of the estate does have the right to sell the property and then equally divide the proceeds among the three beneficiaries.   If you can negotiate a sale, you could buy out your siblings, but they do not have to accept less than they could have gotten if the property was sold on the open market.  If the mortgage and the sale you tried to negotiate was not finalized, then the property can be sold.  What you can do is challenge what the executor of the estate did by asking for an accounting and an appraisal of the property.  If the executor agreed to sell, and sold the property for less than what you were offering, or less than fair market value, then you would be able to challenge the sale.... Read More

No - there is o legal responsibility to make that payment from any of the other family members.  If the person who died owed money, and there are no assets in the estate, or not enough to pay all of the debts, then the estate is insolvent, and none of the other family members can be held responsible. ... Read More

It depends on the reason why you are petitioning the court.  If you want an accounting you might be able to ask for this on your own.  If you are challenging the will, or want to have the executor removed, you will most likely need an attorney to help you with this because there are certain legal standards that need to be met.  If you are in Monmouth or Ocean County call my office and I will discuss this matter with you.  ... Read More

No - usually a life estate is for a period of years defined by the person's life, and if they move out or fail to occupy the house for more than a year, the life estate oculd be deemed to be extinguished.  This is a general answer, and the document that created the life estate may be more specific. ... Read More

The issue of whether or not you would have needed to sign a renunciation begins with your relationship to the decedent.   Let me explain by way of an imaginary family.  Lets say your aunt was one of four sisters: two of her sisters had children, but the decedent and another sister did not have children. either your deceased aunt's parents, or if they had died, her sisters, could serve as administrators of the estate.  Next step, lets say that one of the decedent's sisters had died before (predeceased) her.  that sister's children, if any, would then also be eligible to serve, and will be recipients under the intestate estate.  So in your case, if your aunt's sisters are all surviving, then the other sisters are the only ones that have to sign renunciations.  for example, if your mom is still alive, and she was one of your deceased aunt's sisters, then your mom would have to renounce her right to serve as administrator, but you would not have to because you would only have a right to serve if your mom has already passed.  I don't know if this answers your question.  the other possibility is that the assets your aunt owned all pass by operation of law, meaning there were Payable on Death (POD) designations, joint ownership, etc.  Essentially you are correct, if there were people who had to renounce, and they did not, then your aunt is most likely not the legally appointed administrator of the estate.... Read More

dying with a will is called intestate, dying without a will is called intestate. every state has an intestate statute that determines to whom property goes to when there is no will. this law is called the intestate succession statute in my state. he would probably inherit at least a percentage of her estate under the intestate statute, but you really need to ask a local SC lawyer. ... Read More

There is a very specific statute that governs the distribution of an estate if someone dies with out a will.  the administrator of the estate doe not have any discretion with regard to the distribution.  The assets of the decedent would be distributed to the siblings of the decedent, and if any of those siblings predeceased the decedent, then it goes to the deceased siblings heirs.  However, the deceased siblings heirs get only the percentage that would have gone to the sibling.  You have the option of challenging the distribution of the estate in court, if you disagree with the distribution that is proposed. ... Read More

This answer does not create an attorney/client relationship.  Assuming what you say is true, the lawyer is in contempt of court (disobeyed a court order).  I am a S.C. lawyer and board certified internist in S.C.  My suggestion would be have your aunt hire a lawyer to protect her interests. Regards, I am Michael G. Sribnick, M.D., J.D. Attorney at Law Owner of Michael G. Sribnick, M.D., J.D., LLC www.michaelsribnicklaw.com... Read More

just tell him your not comfortable with it and for him to get an amount certain. I never did that in an estate. the chances are that he is not going to ruin his career and commit a crime. however, if you are not comfortable with it, thats enough of a reason. I think i would be a bit uncoomfortable with it. ... Read More

This is a very complicated issue.  Your brother, as the trustee is supposed to do what is in mom's best interest.  If that is living with him, then that's fine, but he should be preserving her assets.  If he is going to use mom's money to buy a bigger house, then he should be a joint owner with the trust, to keep mom's money segregated from his. However, the difficulties will arise when mom dies, and then you become a beneficiary of the trust, and therefore own a portion of his house.  EVeryone in this situation should proceed with caution as he is going down a path that could lead to the parties that are involved being treated inequitably. ... Read More

I practice in pa but in most states, the mortgage follows the property. Howevr, this is interesting in that it was done without your consent and the bank didnt make you sign. I am not totally sure about this but i would see a local real estate lawyer and ask you have a suit or defense against the bank as they did not seek your signature when you were a record property owne. I think you may have something. There are attrorneys who are really great with this stuff.   ... Read More

The estate must be settled within 9 months of the date of death.  There really isn't any "normal" time and  is very dependent on the state of the decedent's financial affairs.  I have settled estates of several million dollars within the 9 month period because the decedent was very organized, but yet its taken me 2 years to settle and estate with nothing in it because the decedent was a hoarder and it took forever to track things down.  The 9 month range is a good start because that is the tax filing requirement.  ... Read More