Arizona Probate Legal Questions

You need to deposit the check in his account (if it still exists) and using Letter Testamentary transfer that account to the estate's account.  If his account no longer exists, deposit the check in the estate's account.  As the bank may have told you, you cannot simply cash it: the money belongs to your father and then to his estate, not to you.... Read More

When an estate is presented for probate, with or without a Will, it becomes a public record.  Contact the probate court clerk in the county where you father died to see whether he left you anything in his Will or, if he did not have a Will, what proportion of the estate you are entitled to -- after all debts are paid.  There is generally much less than people expect.... Read More

A Will has no legal effect until a Court admits it to probate (proving).  If your sister has not presented the Will to the Court, file an Application for Determination of Heirship.  She can either present the Will or live with a 50-50 distribution (assuming you two are the only heirs).   If you have evidence that your sister is a convicted felon and not allowed to possess firearms but does, report this to the police.... Read More

You are not a party if you did not file or contest an action.  That does not mean that you are not entitled to an accounting.  Hire an Arizona lawyer to demand one and, if it is not forthcoming, to bring a motion to have the personal representative replaved and held personally accountable.... Read More

In response to the life insurance, if your father listed you as beneficiary on his life insurance policy, you should are entitled to the share. It does not matter that you are not his biological child. The insurance policy should not have to go through probate since your father named beneficiaries. ... Read More

Simple answers are rare in the law, but I can give you some information that may help.  Wills only apply to probate property, which is property owned solely by someone who has died (the decedent) with no named beneficiary or pay-on-death designation.  These type of assets require some sort of probate process to transfer.  To transfer, you must be appointed personal representative of the estate, which is done by filing an application with the probate court for the region where the decedent lived.  If the decedent's probate assets are worth less than $75,000 and there is no real estate, you can use a small estate affidavit to transfer them rather than probate appointment.  You can be appointed personal representative of the decedent's estate without the Will.  On the court form, you could indicate that you have been unable to find the Will.  You also could incllude information on this person you believe has a Will.  Either way, you would get appointed as your parents' heirs.  You then would have the legal authority to pay estate bills and then distribute the remaining assets in accordance with either the Will (if the person comes forward and files it) or with the laws of intestacy.  The laws of intestacy provide that assets go to children if there is no surviving spouse.  If you have a deceased sibling who left children, those children are entitled to their parent's intestate share.  Again, the laws of intestacy only apply to probate assets.  ... Read More

You do not need to go back to the same attorney, and the fact that he/she is not returning phone calls is a good indicator that you should find someone else who will respond to you on a timely basis. The number one complaint against attonerys is that they don't communicate. If the attorney you are using does not communicate, find one who will. They are out there. Ask around and find someone who is reputable who handles probate matters (wills).... Read More

She is permitted to do that under the Power of Attorney, in that the account was 100% both of yours.  At any time, you could have removed the money, just as your mother could have (or her agent).  It does sound like there was some sneaky maneuvering on your sister's part, but it was entirely legal.  As your mother's agent, she is responsible to show that she's acted in her mother's fiduciary interest.  It may be worth it to speak to a lawyer about this.  It's certainly possible that a court could order her to return the money to the joint account.... Read More

I am sorry for your loss. It sounds like a tough situation.  There are situations where a will or trust can be un-done. These would lack of capacity, undue influence, fraud, and some others. It sounds like it's possible your mom may have had two or three of these going on at once. I encourage you to find a trust or estate litigation attorney in the county where your mom resided at death. This is where the Court case would be. It's possible you may find someone who would take the case on a contingency fee which would mean no money up front for you. Best of luck to you!  -John... Read More

The only way you can get the "power" to settle the estate of your daughter's father is to become the Personal Representative of his estate.  In Arizona, this can be done fairly easily if he didn't leave behind any spouse, parents, or siblings, as they would be given priority appointment over you (provided you were not married at the time of his death).  In the event that there are other family members left, they will need to consent to your appointment since they would be given priority.  You can ask the Court to waive or defer the costs of becoming the Personal Representative.  Typically you have to file with the Court a list of your income and expenses to see if they will waive (meaning you owe nothing) or defer (meaning you make payments) the costs.  This can include publication costs as well.  You need to get the Court's approval to act as his Personal Representative because his property is in his name and you have no authority, without court orders, to liquidate/sell any of his assets.  Since he died without a will, the court system will have to be utilized. Given that your child is 10, you will also need to set up a conservatorship account if she is set to receive from her father's estate more than $10,000.  If he only had personal property, you may not need to set up this type of account unless she is going to receive more than $10,000 from the sale of that property.   *The answer presented is for informational purposes only and does not create and attorney-client relationship between the question presenter and Laura B. Monte, Esq. or Donaldson Stewart, P.C.* *Laura B. Monte, Esq. is licensed to practice only in the State of Arizona.  Any answers presented are based solely on Arizona state law and case law.*  ... Read More

Unfortunately, unless all of the parties agreed to have the ADR act as a final order of the court, under the probate rules (specifically Rule 29) exclude arbitration as being binding on all of the parties.  So yes, the guardian ad litem and fiduciary can take the case to trial if they so choose.  The two types of agreements, the hold-harmless and slander, are typical agreements that are utilized by guardians and conservators in probate court.  From the way your question was presented, it appears that the guardian and conservator are having you sign a separate agreement from the one agreed to at ADR, therefore it should not be a similar or same type of agreement as before. *The answer provided is for informational purposes only and does not create an attorney-client relationship between the question presenter and Laura B. Monte, Esq. or Donaldson Stewart, P.C.* *Laura B. Monte, Esq. is licensed only in the State of Arizona, therefore any answers presented are based solely on Arizona case law, laws, and rules.*... Read More

The term "recite" refers to repeating something in a formal manner. So it is most likely asking you to affirm something in a positive, legal manner. *This answer is being provided for information only and does not create an attorney-client relationship between the question presenter and Laura B. Monte, Esq. or Donaldson Stewart, P.C.* *Laura B. Monte, Esq. is licensed to practice law in the State of Arizona. The answer presented is based only on Arizona law.*... Read More

I am a California lawyer and each state is different however Arizona laws are often similar to California. With that said, here in California, after death a will is generally filed with the probate Court in the county the decedent resided in. Once filed it is a public record.  Some counties even have on-line access to documents. Having said that, due to the public nature of wills and probate many people opt for living trusts which are typically not public. This is good for people that want to keep their affairs private but bad for people trying to find out about the other's affairs!  Sometimes you need to do some sleuthing to find out if there was a trust. One easy place to check is with the public real estate records in the county the person lived. You can often look up their deed and see if there is something about a "trust" on that deed.  Then you know it's in a trust. Of course, then your work can get harder as you have to somehow figure out how to find out what the trust says! That's a whole other can of worms....  Good luck to you.... Read More