• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Please help - daughter handling estate, or lack of estate for deceased father

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

gaseafan

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? I am located in Georgia, where my father signed his last will. His previous address and wife live in TN where he moved from 3 weeks before he died.

This is a complex situation. My father was a resident of TN until he moved in with me in GA the last 3 weeks of his life. He was married to my stepmother, who didn't want to care for him in his final stages of cancer. So after he moved in with me, he told me she had made him sign a will and he didn't know what it said and he wanted to draft a new one. So I had that done for him in GA, as well as assigning me as executor and power of attorney. He died 3 weeks later. My father only had an IRA (designating his 4 adult children as beneficiaries) which my attorney advised was not considered part of an estate. His only other property included two used vehicles that he co-owned with my stepmother and the house and land they have in TN. Because my stepmother is difficult to deal with, I as executor spoke with the beneficiaries and we came to an agreement to leave the property as-is all to my stepmother, along with the $20K in social security disability money she had received on my father's behalf while he was living. Now though she is wreaking havok on our lives and sending us his unpaid medical bills that are over 10 months old - back when he was still living in TN! Because there is no estate, my attorney advised that we have no legel responsibility for those bills.

His will specifically mentions that failure to provide for my stepmother was intentional. He states that his IRA and all his personal possessions go to the 4 adult children. My question is, do his beneficiaries (his 4 children from a previous marriage) have any rights to the aforementioned property? If she is going to continue to harrass us with bills to pay, I'd like to collect all that was rightfully my fathers so I can pay whatever outstanding bills she should have already paid. In other words, do I have a legal right to now go after this property and create an estate so that we can probabe it?
 


HomeGuru

Senior Member
What is the name of your state? I am located in Georgia, where my father signed his last will. His previous address and wife live in TN where he moved from 3 weeks before he died.

This is a complex situation. My father was a resident of TN until he moved in with me in GA the last 3 weeks of his life. He was married to my stepmother, who didn't want to care for him in his final stages of cancer. So after he moved in with me, he told me she had made him sign a will and he didn't know what it said and he wanted to draft a new one. So I had that done for him in GA, as well as assigning me as executor and power of attorney. He died 3 weeks later. My father only had an IRA (designating his 4 adult children as beneficiaries) which my attorney advised was not considered part of an estate. His only other property included two used vehicles that he co-owned with my stepmother and the house and land they have in TN. Because my stepmother is difficult to deal with, I as executor spoke with the beneficiaries and we came to an agreement to leave the property as-is all to my stepmother, along with the $20K in social security disability money she had received on my father's behalf while he was living. Now though she is wreaking havok on our lives and sending us his unpaid medical bills that are over 10 months old - back when he was still living in TN! Because there is no estate, my attorney advised that we have no legel responsibility for those bills.

His will specifically mentions that failure to provide for my stepmother was intentional. He states that his IRA and all his personal possessions go to the 4 adult children. My question is, do his beneficiaries (his 4 children from a previous marriage) have any rights to the aforementioned property? If she is going to continue to harrass us with bills to pay, I'd like to collect all that was rightfully my fathers so I can pay whatever outstanding bills she should have already paid. In other words, do I have a legal right to now go after this property and create an estate so that we can probabe it?
**A: hire a probate attorney.
 

lwpat

Senior Member
Since the property is in Tenn you will need to file there. As executor of the estate you are responsible for collecting the assets of the estate and paying the bills. This means selling the house and land along with his personal possessions.
 

gaseafan

Junior Member
Since the property is in Tenn you will need to file there. As executor of the estate you are responsible for collecting the assets of the estate and paying the bills. This means selling the house and land along with his personal possessions.
OK - I'm not trying to avoid paying for advice but my attorney who has handled everything up to this point doesn't know the answers to this stuff. So another question if I may? They were married 7 years. She acquired the house and land before they married but the 7 years he was there he contributed. All of his financial records are at her house in TN now and I cannot get to them. Is the estate still entitled to a share? Thanks in advance!
 

nextwife

Senior Member
How is the house titled? If they are co-owners as Jt Tenants, the house automatically passes to the surviving Jt. Tenant.
 

gaseafan

Junior Member
How is the house titled? If they are co-owners as Jt Tenants, the house automatically passes to the surviving Jt. Tenant.
.

That is a great question. I have no idea but if I were a betting woman, I'd say the house is in her name solely, since she is not the type of person to add his name onto the house after they were married. Would that automatically make them Jt Tenants? Or would he have no rights at all?
 

seniorjudge

Senior Member
Q: Would that automatically make them Jt Tenants? Or would he have no rights at all?

A: No and if his name was not on the deed, he probably had no rights to it. If your lawyer doesn't know the answers, then you need to hire a probate attorney; but, from your post, it doesn't sound like that he had any assets which would go through probate.
 

gaseafan

Junior Member
Thanks to you all- you've at least given me some ideas as to what I'm dealing with. Between your advice and my reading online, it looks as if he most likely would not have rights to the property, but possibly to the value the property gained while he lived there and contributed. I have a message in with a TN probate attorney...now I just have to wait and see what she says when she calls back. Really I'm not looking to collect anything from her other than the money needed to pay the outstanding legal & medical bills. I don't want and never have wanted anything from her, except to be allowed to move on with my life in peace. That hasn't happened yet unfortunately and it's been nearly 6 months since my dad's death. Hopefully this will all be over one day and I can go back to my semi-normal life.

Thanks again! I greatly appreciate all of your assistance!
~Kelly
 

lwpat

Senior Member
He may have an equitable interest in the house or it may have been transmuted into marital property. However you will end up spending a good bit on attorney's fees and may not get anythng. Is it really worth all of the trouble just to pay off the creditors?

I would have your attorney send the creditors a letter saying there is nothing in the GA estate. Then let the creditors decide whether to go after her under the doctrine of necessaries or even open probate in Tenn and try to claim a portion of the house. Why take the chance when there is nothing in it for you?

I would check the title but it is most likely still in her name.
 

gaseafan

Junior Member
Well, I contacted the creditors myself and told them there is no estate and that it was never required to be filed in court, but they are claiming she (the crazy stepmother) sent them a copy of the POA Dad signed 10 days before he died and that makes me liable for settling the debts. I have left a message for my original attorney as well, but he was in court all day today so I've been in limbo about what to do. I just need to know what my recourse of action is in the event I am legally liable to cover his outstanding medical expenses. To be honest with you I'd also like to be able to use (if it turns out the estate is eligible for more) the going to probate etc as a threat to get her to finally leave me and my family alone. Right now she is trying to continue to control us with these bills. If she finds out we can legally come after her property I think she will drop it. The bills only amount to about $1500 total. The moral issue I have with paying them is the expenses were incurred when he was originally admitted to the hospital on 12/25 with signs of a stroke (turned out to be a brain tumor) and his first chemo in February. She deliberately withheld payment on those bills because she knew my dad wasn't leaving her anything and that she could make my life miserable. He was receiving $2K a month in SS disability payments that she was confiscating. There was more than enough to cover the expenses.

Anyway, too much information, I know, but that's why I'm willing to go to more trouble. I tried doing this the easy way and she hasn't cooperated. Now I'll do whatever it takes to get her permanently out of my life.
 

lwpat

Senior Member
You are not personally liable for the debts. The POA has nothing to do with it and ended with your father's death. Have your attorney send them a letter stating there is nothing in the estate. I understand the emotions but you really need to let it go.
 

nextwife

Senior Member
Not only does A POA end at death, but one person can't write a note that makes another person liable for THEIR debts! Even if dad did write such a letter, it's legally meaningless, as YOU didn't assume the responsibility and are NOT his spouse.
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top