joint checking question

[rjcgrc9]

What is the name of your state? florida

My brother is the executor of my father's estate. He is also named as joint on my father's checking account so that he could pay my father's bills etc.
He wrote a letter to my father 8 month prior to my father passing insisting he be removed from the account for various reasons. My father's illness prevented this from being done.
I have a copy of this letter. How do I get the court to consider these funds estate assets?

 

[moburkes]

What is the name of your state? flordia

My brother is the executor of my father's estate. He is also named as joint on my father's checking account so that he could pay my father's bills etc.
He wrote a letter to my father 8 month prior to my father passing insisting he be removed from the account for various reasons. My father's illness prevented this from being done.
I have a copy of this letter. How do I get the court to consider these funds estate assets?

You can't. The money belongs to your brother. A joint account is NOT what your father should have done, but nothing can be done at this late date.

Sorry about your loss.

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state? flordia

My brother is the executor of my father's estate. He is also named as joint on my father's checking account so that he could pay my father's bills etc.
He wrote a letter to my father 8 month prior to my father passing insisting he be removed from the account for various reasons. My father's illness prevented this from being done.
I have a copy of this letter. How do I get the court to consider these funds estate assets?

**A: you make such a request in probate court via a filed motion.
By the way, I have never heard of a state of Flordia. Is t his a new one?

 

[rjcgrc9]

ok I corrected my typo. It's actually Florida!

Do I need to hire my own lawyer to do this?

 

[Dandy Don]

Do you have access to the letter now? It would be much easier to ask your brother to put the money into the estate or to split it with the other heirs--have you asked him to do this?

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[rjcgrc9]

At this point he has decided to keep all funds he legally can. He orginally stated he would split the Life Ins. and retirement funds with us, however since he received the funds he has decided to keep all of them himself since he "legally" can. My father's intentions were not for my brother to keep it all however we have no recourse on the Life Ins or IRA since he was the named beneficiary. My brother has become very nasty to the rest of us.
There are no longer funds to pay the mortgage on the house until it sells and he won't pay them unless we all sign an agreement that he can recoup the $$ he has put into it including all the funds from my dad's checking account that were used to pay my father's burial expenses and other bills. There was over $24,000.00 in the checking accounts. He has already received the $30,000.00 life ins policy and $30,000.00 from my father's IRA and he now wants the money from the checking account. If we don't agree he will let the house be foreclosed on which means my sister's and I get nothing.

I do have the letter in my possession as my brother copied me on the letter when he sent it orginally.

 

[Dandy Don]

What would the home sell for and how much in remaining mortgage payments are left?

 

[seniorjudge]

...

I do have the letter in my possession as my brother copied me on the letter when he sent it orginally.

....

The letter is worthless.

If pa (or bro) didn't change the checking account, then the money is all bro's.

 

[seniorjudge]

...

By the way, I have never heard of a state of Flordia. Is t his a new one?

....

It's right next to Abalama.

 

[ladybg1]

Has he actually opened probate? Since there is real estate involved Florida requires formal administration & a lawyer. Was your brother named as the beneficiary on the life ins & IRA-or was it the estate? The value of the house would determine if you want to argue about it.

 

[BlondiePB]

By the way, I have never heard of a state of Flordia. Is t his a new one?

Not at all...it's the state of a boat full of refugees when they see land, smell land, and tell the boat captain to floor-dee-ahhh throttle.

 

[rjcgrc9]

according to my brother he was the named beneficiary on he Life Ins. and IRA.

My sister asked for copies of the assignment of benefits however my brother has not provided them. She also requested an accounting and my brother refused the letter and didn't provide the information when she requested it.

Probate has been open and he has a lawyer.

The house was valued at $194000.00, however since there are some repairs that need to be done it more than likely will sell for near the $150,000.00 range.
There is $60,000.00 owed.
The court has approved the homestead exemption on the house.

My father was very ill at the end so was uanble to make the trip to get my brother's name taken off the accounts. He did contact the bank and have them put a stop to my brother getting counter checks etc, however nothing further could be done with my father in florida and my brother in Virginia. My brother stated in his letter that both parties had to be present to have his name removed from the accounts.

There is approx $5000.00 still unacounted for from my father's checking account. My brother will not pay the mortgage further unless we agree to his terms and intends to have the house forclosed on.

While I was researching this online I found a Florida probate website that stated the court could view the joint account as an account of convenience. This truly is the case, however I don't know how to go about getting the court to do this.

 

[moburkes]

Not to be rude, but this is what happens when people don't properly prepare for their death. You want a court to determine that your father meant to do something which he did not do.

He is not required to provide your sister with information about the assignment of benefits. If he wasn't listed as the beneficiary then the insurance company wouldn't have given him the proceeds. This is their business. They don't arbitrarily hand out money, and hope that no lawsuit follows.

 

[ladybg1]

If he has been appointed personal representative, he could have then had the life ins & ira issued to the estate & cashed them. So the actual beneficiray could be important to find out. What is the probate file listing as the inventory fro the estate? If this matters to you a lot-you need to get your own atty to verify things

 

[moburkes]

If he has been appointed personal representative, he could have then had the life ins & ira issued to the estate & cashed them. So the actual beneficiray could be important to find out. What is the probate file listing as the inventory fro the estate? If this matters to you a lot-you need to get your own atty to verify things

Nope. Can't happen.