Do I turn over to the court?

[Backpack Pat]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? SC

My father died almost 2 years ago. He had a will drawn up, but did not sign. My sister (Only sibling) volunteered to be PR. There have been oddities and discrepancies throughout the handling of the estate. I felt had to hire an attorney, I told him up front she is impossible to get ahold of and will not follow through, and after 6 months all I hear from him is “She is eager to settle and just needs …..” (and I need another check) She has stalled and put off settling the estate, so much so, last fall the probate court closed the file and it must be reopened to proceed. My attorney advised me not to reopen as PR and let her continue because she is so eager to settle.

I found yesterday she had a POD (Possibly) account that she did not put on the asset list, yet she did list another for half as many $. She has at least tripled the value of the property I received ($20,000 on asset report appraised at $3,700 & $15,000 really $3,000 new)

What will happen if I petition to have it turned over to the court and let them settle it?

 

[tranquility]

You don't get to petition to the court to handle it. You have to make claims the PR has breached her fiduciary duties and have her removed. Except for the time it is taking to close, I don't really see anything wrong as yet. (While understanding your narrative is missing some words and facts and it makes it very hard to completely understand.) If your sister is willing to "settle", what is the problem? Do you have a number different from what she is offering?

 

[Backpack Pat]

That is the point

That is the point she isn’t settling. Every time my attorney contacts her attorney, they are on the verge settling, waiting on just 1 more little thing. She hasn’t offered anything. I have only received a copy of the asset sheet filled out for the probate court.

 

[tranquility]

Since I have no idea what the "settling" entails, I have no idea what to say. If she is in breach of her fiduciary duties, sue her.

 

[Dandy Don]

Bottom line is, there really should be no "settling" involved at all, since it is the SC state law that determine who gets what, and that is what you AND SHE should want to go by, in order to avoid further legal complications.

Does the will mention any assets that have not yet been distributed? What does the will say that you are supposed to get--are you even named as a beneficiary in it?

Have you asked your attorney if the will is a valid will or is it NOT a valid will, since it wasn't signed?

From the details you have provided, I can't really tell where a breach of duty has occurred or even if a breach of duty has occurred.

If the POD account names her as the only beneficiary, then it doesn't need to be put on the asset list.

Probably the only reason she put the other POD on there is it perhaps designates YOU AND HER as co-beneficiaries.

Ask your attorney is there a way you or the court can find out for sure if she has reported all of the assets in the estate--it seems like she is trying to hide something but she shouldn't be able to get away with that.

If settlement talks do take place, she or her attorney will need to provide full disclosure of what all of the assets are in the estate. And your attorney should inform your sister that she could face breach of fiduciary duty charges, but it's best for you not to go that route because of the difficulty of proving said charges and the attorney expense involved.