Massachusetts Probate Legal Questions

Perhaps a "demand letter" carries some legal force in another state, but in Massachusetts it may amount to no more than a scare tactic. Perhaps the demand letter was sent with the intention of trying to get you to make payments that you may not be responsible for making. There are extensive legal procedures that creditors must follow before the situation would ever get to the point where a sheriff could be involved. A lawsuit would have to be filed on a timely basis against your husband's estate (and perhaps against you, if the creditors are claiming that you bore some responsibility for or received some benefit from the debt). The estate would have the right to file an answer to the lawsuit, and the creditors would have to prove that they have a valid debt.... Read More

The need for probate would exist if the real estate were in your mother's sole name at the time of her death. Whether probate is needed for real estate after someone's death is not based on how much it is worth. Perhap the best way to think of whether probate is needed is to ask this question:  If the real estate were being sold, who would be able to sign the deed, and what would give that person the right to sell the real estate that is in somebody else's name?... Read More

Your mother's debt is her debt and the debt of her estate.  It is not your debt.  While it must be paid before anything is distributed to you and your siblings, you do not need to pay it.  If the debt seems likely to be greater than the assets, let some creditor pay to probate her estate.... Read More

No executor named in a Will becomes the executor until a court appoints that person executor.  If the named executor refuses to act and the Will names a successor executor, the court can appoint that person if the first named executor provides a satisfactory excuse.  If the named executor refuses to act and the Will does not name a successor executor, submit the Will for probate and ask the court to appoint an executor.... Read More

HR may not realize it, but unless the company hired Fidelity to do this (iunlikely), the company is the plan administrator and holds the document on which your boyfriend designated you as beneficiary.  If you have a copy of this document, please send it to the company.  If not, send them the document (Will?) designating you as beneficiary.... Read More

A Will has no legal effect until it is submitted to probate. It then becomes a public document. Only beneficieries and creditors need be notified,  If you were among them, please contact a probate lawyer who practices in the county in which your mother died to determine your best course of action.... Read More

It is highly doubtful that a divorced spouse inherits a home not awarded to her in the divorce decree.  Nor does a home deed by your parents to one child become a "family home" on his death.  If the house was not awarded to the divorced spouse in the divorce decree, it, and everything else, likely passes to your brother's children or, if he had none, to his parents or, if they are dead, to his siblings.  Please take the divorce decree and the deed to a local probate lawyer.  When someone says that they have a lawyer, that does not mean that they have one or, if they do, that their statements reflect the law or the lawyer's advice.... Read More

When someone dies without (known) named beneficiary, the 401k passes to the heirs through the estate.  When someone dies without a Will, the estate is probated (proven) through an heirship proceeding.  Ask a probate attorney who practices in the county where your mother lived and died to help you with this.  ... Read More

You get nothing for being a caregiver unless there is a Family Caregiving Agreement saying that you do.   The administrator is required to take possession of the assets.  If the two of you can't agree that you will get your personal possessions while she watches to make sure that you take nothing else, try mediation at a Dispute Resolution Center or, if that does not work, hire an attorney to sue her for conversion.  By locking up your personal possessions, she has converted them to those of the estate.... Read More

Trusts are not public documents.   When a Will is submitted for probate (proof that it is genuine, assets collected, debts paid and the rest distributed to the people named in the Will), it becomes a public document.  You may not be able to act immediately.  But you should be able to see the Will.  Some counties even have them online.... Read More

Once a Last Will and Testament has been signed and witnessed, under Massachusetts law it is too late to make changes directly on the document. A codicil or revised Will should be done afterwards to make any desired changes. Writtten changes made directly on an existing Will could result in expensive litigation about what was intended and whether the changes were effectively made.... Read More

As a beneficiary, you have a right to an inventory and an accounting.  I would make the request in writing to document it.  You could add a deadline after which you will file the request with the probate court.  The court could order the executor to produce the documents.  You also can ask for court oversight of the executor, court approval of the accountings, or even to have the executor removed.  Any of the court actions could jeopardize your relationship with your sibling, although her or his failure to provide you with information is also doing that.  But it is usually best to try to work these issues out between you rather than involving the court, which takes time and money and can increase conflict. ... Read More

It sounds like your mother needs to hire a probate attorney in New Jersey to assist her.  If she is named executor of her sister's estate, all of her expenses would be paid by the estate.   If your aunt's husband died recently too, then I'm guessing that his son is administering his estate with the help of an attorney.  How estate assets are distributed depends on who died second and what their Wills state.   I don't understand the California connection other than that it sounds like your mother might live there.  But probate will occur in the state where your aunt lived, and the law of that state will apply.   Your mother should be able to do much of it by mail, especially with the help of an attorney.  ... Read More

This sounds like a scam.  People cannot execute Wills in other people's names.  If you have a Will, it would be one that you prepared, whether you wrote it yourself, used a form, or met with an attorney.  Given that you have been the victim of identity theft in the past, I recommend that you execute a Will if you do not have one already, just to be sure that a phony one is not used.  I would put the original in a safe deposit box or leave it with your attorney if you have one, and provide copies to at least one person with a notation of the location of the original. ... Read More

You do not need to change the deed.  Joint tenancy includes rights of survivorship, so that the remaining two siblings are now the owners.  When the two siblings sell or otherwise transfer the property, the deed to the new owners should just note that the third sibling died and the date of death.  Until transfer, however, no action is required.  If you like, you can inform the town so that its records reflect the death and property tax bills and other notices are sent only to the remaining siblings. ... Read More