executor greedy

[nana72023]

What is the name of your state?Arkansas My husbands mother died a few months ago, and one of his four sisters was named executor, according to a will her and her husband produced to the siblings after the funeral. Everyone thought that the Uncle (the mothers brother) had her last will and testament. They never said anything about having a will, all the time the mother was sick, and the mother never said any different. The uncle also thought he had the last will written. The sister produced this will dated one year after the will that the uncle had. The will the uncle had was done by an attorney, the will the sister had was done on the computer, and signed by two friends of theirs as witnessess. The siblings questioned the orginality of this will, but didn't contest it, because the only difference in the two wills, are, in the uncles will, he's named as executor, and in her will, she's named as executor. Immediately, she started taking things from the house, and cashed in some CD's (totatling approx. $26,000.00 ) and put the money in a savings account with her name only. The will states that everything is to be divided equally, except for a few named household items to go to certain individuals. She has contacted an attorney for probate, and is in the process of putting the house on the market.(market value approx. $75,000.00). The siblings received in the mail from the attorney, letters of "Waiver of Inventory and Accounting, and a" Waiver of Notice and Entry of Apprearance." The petition for probate of will, list only the house and land valued at 75,000.00, and a list of the named household items at $500.- 1,000.00,as total of estate being $76,000.00. No mention of the cash that was found in the house ,or the CD's that were cashed. Shouldn't these also be listed in the probate? How would the siblings get their share of the cash, if it's in an individual savings account? The deceased had no debts, and enough money in her checking account to pay off all of her funeral expenses. Please respond to this post as soon as possible, a reply is needed.

 

[BlondiePB]

What is the name of your state?Arkansas My husbands mother died a few months ago, and one of his four sisters was named executor, according to a will her and her husband produced to the siblings after the funeral. Everyone thought that the Uncle (the mothers brother) had her last will and testament. They never said anything about having a will, all the time the mother was sick, and the mother never said any different. The uncle also thought he had the last will written. The sister produced this will dated one year after the will that the uncle had. The will the uncle had was done by an attorney, the will the sister had was done on the computer, and signed by two friends of theirs as witnessess. The siblings questioned the orginality of this will, but didn't contest it, because the only difference in the two wills, are, in the uncles will, he's named as executor, and in her will, she's named as executor. Immediately, she started taking things from the house, and cashed in some CD's (totatling approx. $26,000.00 ) and put the money in a savings account with her name only. The will states that everything is to be divided equally, except for a few named household items to go to certain individuals. She has contacted an attorney for probate, and is in the process of putting the house on the market.(market value approx. $75,000.00). The siblings received in the mail from the attorney, letters of "Waiver of Inventory and Accounting, and a" Waiver of Notice and Entry of Apprearance." The petition for probate of will, list only the house and land valued at 75,000.00, and a list of the named household items at $500.- 1,000.00,as total of estate being $76,000.00. No mention of the cash that was found in the house ,or the CD's that were cashed. Shouldn't these also be listed in the probate? How would the siblings get their share of the cash, if it's in an individual savings account? The deceased had no debts, and enough money in her checking account to pay off all of her funeral expenses. Please respond to this post as soon as possible, a reply is needed.

Have your husband and the other siblings hire their own probate attorney, immediately, to look into this. Do not have them sign the waivers and have the executor post a bond. Their attorney can obtain the bank records to determine whether or not the accounts had a designated beneficiary (the executor sister) that were payable upon death (POD) and by-passed probate. Executor needs to account for the entire estate and produce documents of all this.

 

[Dandy Don]

If it turns out that sister was named as the only beneficiary on the CD's, you will need to discreetly (without letting her know the reason you are asking) ask if she has a power of attorney document signed by the mother (which would have given her legal power to claim the CD money before death) and you will also need to find out whether the CD's were cashed before mom's death or after, and whether the CD's had reached full maturity date or were they cashed in before the maturity date.

If she used POA to change beneficiary designation, that may have been illegal and can be corrected if there are laws in your state to cover this.

Also need to look at the bank account and see when she was named as joint account co-owner or beneficiary of that account, if in fact she was named as such.

And you also need to examine the signature on the newer will to determine if it looks valid and you need to be discussing with your attorney whether you need to contest the newer will.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[nana72023]

I don't know if she was named beneficary on the CD's , but I do know her name was on the account along with the mothers. She has ,for years been on the same checking account with the mother. Also, the CD's were cashed after the mothers death. She did not have POA.

 

[BlondiePB]

I don't know if she was named beneficary on the CD's , but I do know her name was on the account along with the mothers. She has ,for years been on the same checking account with the mother. Also, the CD's were cashed after the mothers death. She did not have POA.

In order to get to the bottom of this, you need an attorney. Make an appointment asap.

 

[Dandy Don]

I question whether the bank that held the CD's will release the information to anyone other than the executor--I doubt it, but I guess it's worth a try.

If the sister's name was on the bank account as co-owner, then that money passes directly to her at the time of death and will not go through probate--it's hers.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[nana72023]

Thank you for your immediate reply. So I guess the siblings have to wait to see if she decides to be fair and split the money with them. I know the mother did not intend for her to keep all of the money, but be fair and divide it equally with all her children. If she chooses to keep all of the 26,000., she risk looseing her brother and sisters, which would be very sad. The papers that the siblings received in the mail from the attorney to start probate, (see first post),should they sign them and send them back, or does it not really matter?We don't really understand the contents of them to sign.

 

[Dandy Don]

You have already been advised to consult with your own attorney about this. You have a chance to recover considerable monies if executor messed up with claiming the CD's.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])