Probate Legal Questions

Let's get the terminology strait so you understand what you are dealing with.  An Enhanced Life Estate is normally associated with something called a Lady Bird Deed.  If your parents executed a Lady Bird Deed, then this is how it should have looked.  They deeded the entire property to you but reserved to themselves an Enhanced Life Estate, meaning they could live there and take care of the property, etc, until the survivor of them died.  When the survivor died, there was no more life estate and all ownership interests passed to you.  I would suggest you check with the county taxing authority to see if the deed was filed prior to their death.  If it was, then you now own the property.  You might have to show the death certificates to clear that up. If the deed was not filed before their death then it is too late to use it and you will have to go through a probate proceeding to clear title.  IF you are not their only heir, you may have issues.... Read Answer

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your daughter. As for your question, if your daughter truly had no assets, only debts, then you likely do not need to open an estate for her. Just abandon any assets that she did have, tell any creditors that you know of that she has passed on but that no estate will be opened because there are no assets and so there will be no administrator or executor, and that's it. If she did have a Will, you need to file the original Will for informational purposes only with the appropriate probate court, as required by Georgia law, if you have the original Will. If she did not have a Will, then there may be no need to do anything. Essentially, you need to open an estate for someone if they have assets that need to be dealt with. "Assets" includes the usual items like real estate, a car, personal possession, and bank or brokerage accounts. It could also include a right to receive money, such as money from a lawsuit, a tax refund, or an asset sale. If someone truly has no assets, or if the assets they have are worth less than the debts they owe, then can be the best course of action for the family members who survive them NOT to do anything with the estate. Please note, however: If you really want to know what you may need to do, you should consult an attorney. This forum is not a substitute for an actual consultation with an attorney, because no one in this forum can actually ask you the questions and get the information needed to be sure that they are giving you the right advice. But it is possible that you may not need to open your daughter's estate. Best wishes to you.... Read Answer

Yes, you must publish the Notice to Debtors and Creditors. That should have been done before you paid the expenses, debts, etc, and you MUST publish it before you make any final distributions, without regard to what your accountant told you. The notice is required by Georgia law. You will publish the Notice in the legal newspaper for Fayette County Georgia. Ask the probate court if you don't know what newspaper that is. The Notice runs once a week for 4 consecutive weeks. After the 4th publication date, there is a 3 month period where creditors who you may not have known about have to make themselves known. Please note, however: If an unknown creditor shows up later, then you still have to make sure they get paid before beneficiaries get paid- the creditor loses its place in line with regard to other creditors if it notifies you of its existence after the claims period is over, but it does not lose its place in line before beneficiaries of the estate.... Read Answer

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your parents.   As for your question, yes, you could potentiall sue your brother as executor for failing to carry out his fiduciary duties. Based on your post, I can't actually tell you whether or not he HAS failed to carry out his fiduciary duties, but I certainly can tell you that you are entitled to hire an attorney to represent your interests in the estate and to ask for information. If it appears at that point that your brother is not doing his job correctly, then you and your attorney can petition the probate court to get him to provide an accounting or even possibly to have him removed and a new executor appointed. Hire an attorney who works with contested estates- generally you will want someone who can handle fiduciary litigation if needed, not just probate work.   A couple of side notes on your post: Your brother's attorney is not supposed to communicate with you, in general, so please don't take a lack of communication from your brother's attorney as a bad sign. Your brother's attorney represents him as Executor, not you as an heir or beneficiary, and he is not allowed to give you legal advice. That means in most cases the executor for the attorney will not do a lot of communicating with the beneficiaries. If you want legal advice, you are supposed to hire your own attorney. Also: an executor would not normally be in charge of distributing IRAs if the IRAs have designated beneficiaries. The IRA custodians generally communicate directly with the beneficiaries. The only time an executor would get involved with an IRA is if the estate was the beneficiary (not a good result, but it does happen). If the estate is the beneficiary of an IRA, then there's a lot of income tax consequences that have to be dealt with, and that can actually slow down the administration of the estate. And finally, 1 year and 3 months is not actually an overly long time for an estate administration, especially in the past 2 years.   So- go ahead and find an attorney who works with probate matters and fiduciary litigation. Have the attorney find out more about what's going on and advise you whether there is anything that it appears you should be concerned about, and then, if so, have the attorney advise you as to what steps you should consider taking next. Best wishes to you; I hope your family is able to get the estate settled in the relatively near future and without litigation.      ... Read Answer

If the children are all children of your marriage to your children, here is what happens   spouse inherits all community property, plus 1/3 of  separate personal property and the right to use  real estate (home) for life children inherit everything else So it depends if the property is community or separate... Read Answer

There are two different transactions here.  The TODD if properly done, transferred title to you upon the death of your brother.  HOWEVER, that deed has absolutely nothing to do with the debt on the property which the mortgage company holds.  If that debt has been paid off and the mortgage company is holding escrow funds, the only way to get that money since your brother did not have a will depends on the amount of money in escrow.  If under $75,000 then a SEA might (I repeat MIGHT).  There are varying results with this short cut method.  The only sure way is to file an application for a determination of heirship in the county in which your brother passed.  If you are his only heir, in othe words, no living parents and no other siblings, then at the end of the day, you would be declared the only heir and the mortgage company would or should take the court order as proof as you are entitled to the escrow.     I would point out in an abundance of caution, if the note of the property is not paid off, you should start paying it because the mortgage company doesn't care about the TODD.  They hold the first lien and will foreclose if not paid.   Hire a lawyer.,... Read Answer

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your wife. As for your question, it sounds like you are an heir to your wife's estate even if you are not a beneficiary under her new Will. Yes, you will likely want to consult an attorney who is experienced with fiduciary litigation and probate matters. You have rights and interests with regard to the estate and the best way to make sure that you protect those is to have an attorney advise you.  ... Read Answer

Your father-in-law's estate must be probated.  The sooner the better so that you can save the house.  Your spouse will become an equal owner of the house with his/her siblings.  In order to help, I would need to see how title to the house is currently held, and would need to know if he own it with his spouse, etc.... Read Answer

Sorry for your situation.  I would need to see the title to the house she bought for you, and all the related documents.  Is title in your name or in the name of her trust?  Of course, I also see the lawsuit that she filed.  At this point, you have no choice but to respond to the complaint.  ... Read Answer

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your ex and please provide your son with my condolences on the loss of his father.   As for your question, your ex was legally entitled to leave assets to whomever he wished (I'm assuming he was a Georgia resident, but this statement is generally true anywhere in the US), as long as his Will was valid. If you believe that there are strong grounds to believe that the Will was not valid for some reason, then your son, as one of the heirs (along with your ex's current spouse and any other children who he may have had via birth or legal adoption) does have the right to try to challenge the Will. However, whether you can bring that challenge on his behalf is a somewhat different question. To do so legally, you would need to have the legal power to represent your son. You may have that power if he is under 18, or if he is legally incapacitated and you have been legally appointed as his guardian or conservator, or if he has signed a power of attorney that gives you that legal authority. But without knowing more about the actual facts of your son's situation, no one will be able to advise you as to whether or not you can sue on his behalf. You will need to get a consultation with a fiduciary litigation attorney in order to find out what options your son may have to make a Will challenge and what ability you might have to help with that challenge.   On a related note, if your son is under 18, then he has the right under Georgia law to file a Petition for Year's Support and ask for assets from his father's probate estate no matter what the Will says. This may give hiim the ability to receive more than he would otherwises. However, this is again something for which he will need to seek the help of a fiduciary litigation attorney. And timiing may be critical if he is near 18, because the Petitioin MUST be filed before his 18th birthday.   So, get a consultation for your son with a fiduciary litigation attorney. Soon. The attorney can help your son consider his options and the likely costs and risks of bringing a challenge or filing a Year's Support claim. The attorney can also help you determine what steps, if any, you can take on your son's behalf. Best wishes to you.  ... Read Answer

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your spouse. As for your question, you really shouldn't so much "rewrite" a Will as just do a new one. Unless you have some kind of irrevocable trust planning in place, you should be free to do new estate planning documents. Find an estate planning attorney and schedule a consultation. The attorney can help you consider your situation and your wishes, and can then help you develop an estate plan that reflects those and fits you. Ideally, that would mean a new Will, a Power of Attorney, and an Advance Directive for Health Care, to make sure that you have documents in place that will allow someone to help you if you ever become incapacitated as well as a Will that provides for the management and distribution of your probate assets after your death. The attorney should also review beneficiary designations with you, to make sure that those items are coordinated with the rest of your planning.  ... Read Answer

Hello Denelle.  A Living Will is actually a healthcare document.  It cannot be used to distribute your assets. You will need either a Last Will and Testament or a Living Trust.  If you would like to guarantee that you will avoid probate, you should strongly consider a Living Trust.  It's important to also make sure that all of your assets are "funded" into your Living Trust. I would be happy to discuss this with you further if you would like to reach out.... Read Answer

Here is the link to PennDOT’s fact sheet describing the procedure for transfer. https://www.dot.state.pa.us/public/dvspubsforms/BMV/BMV%20Fact%20Sheets/fs-vehtrans.pdf I trust this answers your question, but feel free to call or email me on a free initial basis.      Best Regards,   Matthew R. Nahrgang, Esquire 35 Evansburg Road, Ste 400 Collegeville, PA 19426 (610) 489-3041 o (610) 489-3042 fax nahrganglaw.com  ... Read Answer