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Administrator of my father's "estate"

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volunteermom

Junior Member
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? I reside in Tennessee but my father was a resident of Indiana

My father died in early Jan leaving no will and really very little in his "estate". Nobody in my family seemed interested in stepping up to take the administrator duties, so I did. After I retained an attorney, that is when the family troubles soon began beginning with my father's sister and her husband. They have interfered by calling my attorney and questioning my capability to administer. They have called the pension company and raised questions about the claim that I filed on behalf of my brother, my sister and myself. They used money from my father's union to purchase a headstone rather than help with paying the bills. I could go on but you get the idea...

My attorney communicates very little with me and I question whether he is actually working for me or my aunt.

My father actually had flown to China in Dec 2003 and "married" a woman who was due to have her Visa interview in Feb 2005 which can never happen now that my father (her sponsor) is deceased, yet this "marriage" is keeping the pension claim in legal department due to the conflict between the children, my aunt (who was the previous beneficiary on the policy) and the Chinese "wife".

My questions are:
1. Now that the courts have legally made me the administrater and the real estate and property inventories have been filed, do I have to stick with this attorney if I feel that he is not working to the best of his ability on my behalf? Also, what is the traditional payment for the attorney for an estate of under $100,000?
2. Do we (the children) have any legal recourse for the receipt of my father's pension? This really doesn't have anything to do with the actual estate but could be used to help pay claims if we need to do that.
3. What rights if any do my aunt and uncle have in challenging the distribution of the estate since nobody else seemed to want to take responsibility for making sure that my Dad's affairs were taken care of until after I stepped forward?
4. What is the legality of the "marriage" since there is no United States marriage certificate (there is a Chinese one, I guess) and now that she cannot come to the states and receive a social security number that is required in order to claim the pension death benefit?

I've never had to deal with anything like this before and I really am trying to do what I feel my Dad would have wanted. There are more issues really going on with this whole situation and I wonder if I actually took on too much in a time of great loss and grief. Any help that you can give me is greatly and warmly appreciated. I feel like I am not doing my Dad's memory any justice.
 


Dandy Don

Senior Member
Is the pension coming from the union or elsewhere? You can contact the union yourself for more information about that. The relatives had no business getting money for the headstone unless the union just automatically assumed that they were the only next-of-kin and perhaps were not aware that you were executor and the only person legally authorized to claim decedent's assets.

Did your father truly love the lady he married or was this a marriage that was done just for the purpose of getting this lady immigration papers?

Did he officially change the beneficiary designation with a form submitted to the insurance company?

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])
 

volunteermom

Junior Member
Reply to Dandy Don

The pension is from The Central Pension Fund and we have been in contact with them but have been told that the information is with their legal department and no comment will be made pending a decision.

I doubt if my father really loved this woman. He did not speak Chinese and she does not speak English. I think that my father was lonely and realized too late that this union probably wouldn't work.

He filed his taxes single for the last 3 years so I don't really know if he ever thought she would get here at all.

My aunt was the last beneficiary stated on the form before my father attempted to make his new spouse the beneficiary. Does that mean that it will automatically (the pension) go to her?
 

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