Estate Litigation Legal Questions

Assuming there is property that passes through the probate estate, you will need to open the estate of the person whose name is on the asset. For example, if your parents own a house jointly, and their wills leave everything to each other and then the children, you will need to file the wills of your parents with the probate court. You will need to open the estate of the last of your parents to die first.  Once that estate is open, you will need to open the estate of the first of your parents to die.  Once both estates are open, you will prepare a deed for the first to die transferring the property to the second to die.  You will then prepare a deed transferring the property from the second to die to the beneficiaries under the will.  Of course, rather than transferring it from the second to die to the beneficiaries, you could sell the home and distribute the cash as directed by the will.... Read More

By using the word Trustee, I assume your mother set up a trust and nmaed your sister as the trustee.  You can ask for an accounting from the Trustee.  If it is not forthcoming, you will need to file a lawsuit in superior court in the county where your sister lives and ask the court to order her to produce an accounting.... Read More

It depends on many factors.  I assume the person died without a will.  The suriviving spouse is entitled to all community property, or a portion of the separate property.  If there were children, or grandchildren of a deceased child, then they would be entitled to a portion of the separate property.  If there were no children, then the parent(s) would take a portion of the separate property.... Read More

There is a statute of limitations on bills and debts of an estate.  Usually, any claim against an estate must be made within 9 months of the date of death.  You are obviously beyond that time frame.  This debt from the doctor is probably just one of many that he is trying to process and turned everything over to a debt collection attorney who did not carefully review everything before filing all of the small claims complaints.  You will have to go to court and answer this claim.  Bring a copy of the death certificate indicating the date of death.  They will have to prove they notified you of the debt iwthin the time frame, and if they can't the case will be dismissed. ... Read More

You can't serach it online, but you can call the Probate division - Surrogate's office, and they will tell you whether or not letters of admininstration were issued.  You need to call The Bergen County Court and ask about probate.  You may be able to get any documents available mailed to you, but I do't think any of it is online.   ... Read More

The act of your cousin depositing the sale proceeds into a joint account could be a problem.  If the cousin was power of attorney for your aunt via a written POA document, you'd need to review that document to see what powers your aunt gave to your cousin.  She mght've given your cousin the right to do what she did.  However, your cousin would have had a fiduciary duty to act in your aunt's best interest.  That's a suspcious action taken by your cousin that bears some investigation. ... Read More

You need to hire a lawyer to look into this right away to fIle a petition for letters of administration. Your can still be appointed administrator of your fathers estate even though you lIve out of state. Every day that goes by will make it more difficult to prove what your father had, what the girlfriend took, and to get it back.... Read More

She doesn't have to agree to sign and I'm not aware of any legal process that you can employ to force her to comply.  Are the two of you living together or separated?  If separated, a divorce proceeding would give you the abiltiy to obtain a court order to move these matters forward. ... Read More

It sounds as though you had your property stored at your Mom's house and it was either distributed to others or trashed after your Mother's death.  If so, you have four years to file a lawsuit for destruction of property.  The two hardest things to accept in situations like this is that you cannot prove you owned the items destroyed and the items destroyed have very little economic value.  That said, it sounds like the personal representative did not give all family members notice of his intent to distribute or destroy the personal property found in your mother's home.  He is not required to give notice, but he opens himself up to claims like yours if he does not give notice.  Your only course of action is to file a police repot for your missing items and to file suit against the personal representative in magistrate court or superior court in the county where he lives. ... Read More

You are entitled to a bill.  If you do not receive a bill, you don't have to pay for services.   If the lawyer quoted a flat fee, and did not exceed that fee, then the lawyer might not have kept track.  It will all depend on what the retainer requires the lawyer to do.    ... Read More

There are certain assets that are claimed and the funds sent direclty to a bank acocunt.  I'm not sure if living in the UK is complicating your situation.  It is possible that there have been more than one claim to the same asset and therefore the State is sorting that out, but they usually tell you if that has occurred.  Its going to depend on how you are claiming the asset:  was it your money?  was it an inheritence?  is it supposed to be split with other parties?  are there taxes due?  you need to get the State to tell you what else needs to be done - they will very often not volunteer information - you have to keep asking "what can I do to get this released".  Good Luck. ... Read More