Difficult Heir

[CharlieW]

Kentucky

My wife is executrix of an estate that has 3 heirs. My wife, my wife's sister, and their sister in-law. The sister in-law is being difficult. She was invited to meet with my wife and her sister at the house they inherited to see if she wanted anything. She (the sister in-law) declined the invitation .... twice. She told my wife twice that she didn't need anything and didn't want anything out of the house as far as furniture, appliances, or any other items goes.

Long story short, she simply wants her 1/3 of the money after the property is sold.

Today we find out she has hired an attorney to make sure she get's her share, which we fully intend to give her anyhow. But he has sent a letter to us and our attorney demanding we have any items inside the house appraised before they are sold, given away as gifts, or taken by my wife or her sister.

We will be discussing this with our attorney Monday or Tuesday, but in the meantime, our question is this. How can the sister in-law's attorney demand we have common household items formally appraised ? There is no antique furniture, coin collections, or other high value items in the house.

Also, this attorney has demanded we hire a relater to sell the real estate. My wife wants to have the house appraised and then buy the house ourselves. My wife's sister has agreed to this. Does majority rule in this instance ?

 

[Ohiogal]

Kentucky

My wife is executrix of an estate that has 3 heirs. My wife, my wife's sister, and their sister in-law. The sister in-law is being difficult. She was invited to meet with my wife and her sister at the house they inherited to see if she wanted anything. She (the sister in-law) declined the invitation .... twice. She told my wife twice that she didn't need anything and didn't want anything out of the house as far as furniture, appliances, or any other items goes.

Long story short, she simply wants her 1/3 of the money after the property is sold.

Today we find out she has hired an attorney to make sure she get's her share, which we fully intend to give her anyhow. But he has sent a letter to us and our attorney demanding we have any items inside the house appraised before they are sold, given away as gifts, or taken by my wife or her sister.

We will be discussing this with our attorney Monday or Tuesday, but in the meantime, our question is this. How can the sister in-law's attorney demand we have common household items formally appraised ? There is no antique furniture, coin collections, or other high value items in the house.

Also, this attorney has demanded we hire a relater to sell the real estate. My wife wants to have the house appraised and then buy the house ourselves. My wife's sister has agreed to this. Does majority rule in this instance ?

What has the probate court ordered? Because the probate court will make those decisions.

 

[justalayman]

How is the will written? Does it simply state one third of the estate to each or share and share alike? Does it speak to the estate in whole or does it break it down into real estate, personal property, and liquid assets?

If broken down, does it give each heir equal shares of each grouping of assets?

The executrix, limited by the court and laws and directives in the will, makes the decisions. There is nothing improper about hiring a licensed appraiser to value the house. If SIL
Disputes that valuation, they can hire their own appraiser. Unless specified in the will,
There is no requirement to hire a Realtor nor sell it to a party outside of the heirs if the executrix so chooses. The only thing that is important in that issue is the SIL recieves full value for her share as the will
Directs.

The property inside; an appraisal may be needed if items are gifted or
Retained. It's a shame SIL wants a $25 item appraised as it will reduce her share of the estate as well by 1/3 of cost of the appraisal. If she really wants to fight over pennies it will cost her money as well.

 

[anteater]

Out of curiosity... Is this sister-in-law the one who talked your father-in-law into the contract with the auctioneer?

Come to think of it... You don't mention a will. If one exists, was she included as a beneficiary?

 

[CharlieW]

What has the probate court ordered? Because the probate court will make those decisions.

Court hasn't ordered anything that we are aware of. Our attorney told us to notify the deceased bank of his death, open an estate account, and pay any creditors we identify. We did that. Two of the heirs, my wife and her sister paid off the credit card debt the deceased left behind and the only other creditors were two medical bills. These 3 creditors and the utility bills were paid by my wife and her sister with their own money. After giving the attorney a retainer, there was very little left in the estate account. We have receipts, photo copies of the checks we wrote to deposit into the estate account, deposit slips, everything. The creditors were paid with estate account checks, with the exception of the credit card balance. They did an electronic withdrawal for that.

We haven't sold any estate items, nor have we removed anything from the house other than keys we found and paperwork/documents.

90 days have passed since the deceased's death. We don't expect more creditors to surface, but we realize they may.

Anyhow, it just seems so assinine that this attorney wants a formal appraisal on household items that are going to be sold at an estate sale. I suppose he expects us to price the items at top dollar and require payment by certified check or money order so his client can't cry wolf and accuse us of receiving more for the items via cash payment.

I can't wait to talk to our attorney. If he gives us the go ahead to have a sale without a formal appraisal, we are going to have the sale this coming weekend and I'll price the items at no brainer prices to move them and get it over with. If the heir who doesn't trust us has an issue with that, she can get her rear on over to the property and witness the transactions herself.

The real estate ? Of course we will get a fair appraisal and do everything by the book.

 

[CharlieW]

I'll answer in bold ..

How is the will written? Does it simply state one third of the estate to each or share and share alike? Does it speak to the estate in whole or does it break it down into real estate, personal property, and liquid assets?

If broken down, does it give each heir equal shares of each grouping of assets?

The will states the entire estate's assets be divided equally among the three.

The executrix, limited by the court and laws and directives in the will, makes the decisions. There is nothing improper about hiring a licensed appraiser to value the house. If SIL
Disputes that valuation, they can hire their own appraiser. Unless specified in the will,
There is no requirement to hire a Realtor nor sell it to a party outside of the heirs if the executrix so chooses. The only thing that is important in that issue is the SIL recieves full value for her share as the will
Directs.

Exactly what I expect/hope to hear from our attorney.

The property inside; an appraisal may be needed if items are gifted or
Retained. It's a shame SIL wants a $25 item appraised as it will reduce her share of the estate as well by 1/3 of cost of the appraisal. If she really wants to fight over pennies it will cost her money as well.

I hope what you are saying here is that the items sold at an estate sale do not need to be appraised and that the items can be sold for cash ? We will of course tell SIL that she is welcome to come help with the sale and witness and keep track of the cash transactions. Short of that, she will just have to trust us. As far as gifting and items retained by any heirs, I suppose that is reasonable and fair. My wife and her sister don't want much out of the house anyhow. I'm guessing the cost of the appraisal will exceed the value of the items. Perhaps whoever appraises the real estate can appraise the few items we will be retaining while they are there ?

 

[CharlieW]

Out of curiosity... Is this sister-in-law the one who talked your father-in-law into the contract with the auctioneer ?

Come to think of it... You don't mention a will. If one exists, was she included as a beneficiary?

No, a niece of the deceased was power of attorney and set the auction up. We have since found out that she was going to get a kick back from the auctioneer.

Btw, the auctioneer agreed to forget it and not attempt to carry on with the personal property auction. His reason was that the personal property in the house wasn't worth enough to be troubled with if he wasn't going to be able to auction off the real estate as well. He even admitted he hadn't invested any money in advertising the sale and he expects no compensation.

There is a will and the niece is not an heir.

 

[CharlieW]

Thank You !

Btw, thanks to all for taking time to reply. My wife (the executrix) will discuss it with the estate's attorney and I'll post an update.

 

[Ohiogal]

Btw, thanks to all for taking time to reply. My wife (the executrix) will discuss it with the estate's attorney and I'll post an update.

Probate needs opened. And quite frankly, this is NOT your business.

 

[CharlieW]

How is the will written? Does it simply state one third of the estate to each or share and share alike? Does it speak to the estate in whole or does it break it down into real estate, personal property, and liquid assets?

If broken down, does it give each heir equal shares of each grouping of assets?

The executrix, limited by the court and laws and directives in the will, makes the decisions. There is nothing improper about hiring a licensed appraiser to value the house. If SIL
Disputes that valuation, they can hire their own appraiser. Unless specified in the will,
There is no requirement to hire a Realtor nor sell it to a party outside of the heirs if the executrix so chooses. The only thing that is important in that issue is the SIL recieves full value for her share as the will
Directs.

The property inside; an appraisal may be needed if items are gifted or
Retained. It's a shame SIL wants a $25 item appraised as it will reduce her share of the estate as well by 1/3 of cost of the appraisal. If she really wants to fight over pennies it will cost her money as well.

My wife spoke with the attorney and everything you say is spot on.

We figure the value of the items my wife and her sister want to retain will be equal to or less than the cost of an appraisal. Sad indeed.

 

[LeeHarveyBlotto]

Probate needs opened. And quite frankly, this is NOT your business.

Not trying to be snarky, I'm truly curious. Why do people who represent others for a living have a problem with people posting on behalf of others on this board?

 

[Ohiogal]

Not trying to be snarky, I'm truly curious. Why do people who represent others for a living have a problem with people posting on behalf of others on this board?

Because non legal parties to cases tend to have NO knowledge of the situation or believe they can make demands on others when it is not their business. The clients I have that are difficult? They are usually the ones who have their mother, father, girlfriend, boyfriend, bedwarmer or whoever attempt to tell me what to do when they are not the client. Those clients are either dropped relatively quickly or they discover that the judge will put the interloper in their place and it usually harms my client's interests. Hence why I am quick to point out when it is NOT the individual's LEGAL business.

 

[LeeHarveyBlotto]

Thank you for your logical and polite response. I would point out that the spouse of an heir in a probate case does have a material interest in the outcome of the case, so while you may be technically correct in saying the case itself is none of his business, in any real terms, it is. Of course it is.

 

[Ohiogal]

Thank you for your logical and polite response. I would point out that the spouse of an heir in a probate case does have a material interest in the outcome of the case, so while you may be technically correct in saying the case itself is none of his business, in any real terms, it is. Of course it is.

Not legally. LEGALLY he is NOT a party. LEGALLY this is not his fight. LEGALLY he has nothing do with it. Personally he does. But personally he goes through his wife. that is why I respond the way I do to third parties. I appreciate you not thinking I was being rude or snarky.

 

[LeeHarveyBlotto]

Not legally. LEGALLY he is NOT a party. LEGALLY this is not his fight. LEGALLY he has nothing do with it. Personally he does. But personally he goes through his wife. that is why I respond the way I do to third parties. I appreciate you not thinking I was being rude or snarky.

Fair enough, this seems to bother you more than it does me, while I am more bothered by other things on the board, like laymen who come dangerously close to practicing law.