Should I allow my brother to be executor?

[pault]

What is the name of your state? Oregon

Hello, my father died in the beginning of march without a any kind of will. My brother and myself are his surviving heirs. Fortunatly the only items that had no beneficaries listed were the house (Around 100k) and his bank account (2k). I am wondering if I should allow my brother to be the executor of estate.

A little background.. Shortly after the funeral I arranged to meet with a lawyer with my brother and mother present. During the meeting my brother started arguing with the lawyer and ended up leaving. The lawyer eventually said he would rather not take the case. So I ended up making another appointment with a different lawyer and got everything setup to begin probate. All we needed to begin was an apprasial of the home since there was not a current one. I setup to have the appraiser call my brother to come by the house and look at the home. (I live around 80 miles from home and cannot drive) Basically what happened at this point was that he cancelled two appointments with her and didn't show up for the third. So it never got taken care of. At this point my brother was upset because he thought we were going to try to remove him from my fathers home, which he moved into after he died. My uncle (Father's brother) offered to be a neutral executor for us, I accept and my brother refused.

At this point nearly three months later my brother has finally gotten to the attorney and wants to be the executor of the estate. Obviously he would be entitled to a executor's fee. If he is the executor can he do anything to cause the assets not to be divided 50/50?

Another question, assuming both my brother and myself jointly own the home and are responible for the debt (40k mortage) Lets say that I paid off my half of the mortage.

What happens if...

1) My brother fails to pay off his portion of the mortage?
2) My brother has alot of personal debt (80k) can I lose my value in the home?
3) What if one of us wants to sell the home, but the other does not?
4) How much rent should be charged if he is living in the home?
5) If he is living in the home how should the house insurance/property taxes/incidentals be paid?

Should I get my own lawyer?

Sorry for the long post.. really confused...

Thanks,
Paul

[BlondiePB]

Originally Posted by pault

What is the name of your state? Oregon

Hello, my father died in the beginning of march without a any kind of will. My brother and myself are his surviving heirs. Fortunatly the only items that had no beneficaries listed were the house (Around 100k) and his bank account (2k). I am wondering if I should allow my brother to be the executor of estate.

A little background.. Shortly after the funeral I arranged to meet with a lawyer with my brother and mother present. During the meeting my brother started arguing with the lawyer and ended up leaving. The lawyer eventually said he would rather not take the case. So I ended up making another appointment with a different lawyer and got everything setup to begin probate. All we needed to begin was an apprasial of the home since there was not a current one. I setup to have the appraiser call my brother to come by the house and look at the home. (I live around 80 miles from home and cannot drive) Basically what happened at this point was that he cancelled two appointments with her and didn't show up for the third. So it never got taken care of. At this point my brother was upset because he thought we were going to try to remove him from my fathers home, which he moved into after he died. My uncle (Father's brother) offered to be a neutral executor for us, I accept and my brother refused.

At this point nearly three months later my brother has finally gotten to the attorney and wants to be the executor of the estate. Obviously he would be entitled to a executor's fee. If he is the executor can he do anything to cause the assets not to be divided 50/50?

Another question, assuming both my brother and myself jointly own the home and are responible for the debt (40k mortage) Lets say that I paid off my half of the mortage.

What happens if...

1) My brother fails to pay off his portion of the mortage?
2) My brother has alot of personal debt (80k) can I lose my value in the home?
3) What if one of us wants to sell the home, but the other does not?
4) How much rent should be charged if he is living in the home?
5) If he is living in the home how should the house insurance/property taxes/incidentals be paid?

Should I get my own lawyer?

Sorry for the long post.. really confused...

Thanks,
Paul

With your squibbling brother acting like jackass and having an extremely large personal debt, why would you want him to be the executor?

Should I get my own lawyer?

Yes, and step up to the plate to be executor, seriously consider evicting him and changing the locks.

[pault]

So after I made this post I found out my brother had been lying to me about a vechile that he convinced me to sell to "help pay the bills" ended up he put his portion into a new car. If I had known that was the intention I would have rather left it in probate. I spoke to my mother and uncle and they basically told me to goto the probate hearing and to not support my brother in his petition to be the executor. I'm hoping the judge will appoint a neutral party.

Is there anything I should know going into this hearing to make sure a neutral party is named? Knowing that of course that my brother has an attorney who has taken an advisarial role as my brother is his client. I would really rather not hire an attorney at this point.

Thanks,
Paul

[GaAtty]

Get your terms right. An executor is named by a will. If there is no will there is not executor. There is an administrator if there is no will. You are really jumping the gun to try to get an appraisal. That is the job of the administrator, not yours. Your brother sounds like an irresponsible person, so why would you want him to handle such an important thing as your inheritance? Apply to be administrator yourself, and forget him. He cannot legally divide the estate any way other than 50/50. HIs credt has nothing whatsoever to do with the estate. You have it backwards, regarding the mortgage payoff. You and you brother do not jointly pay off your portion of the estate after it is divided. Either the administrator pays off the entire mortgage (if it can) then divides the property, or the property is sold by the estate and the proceeds divided. If one wants to sell the home and the other doesn't, then you have a choice. Either the administrator asks the court for permission to sell the property, or the administrator asks the court to order the property sold, or your buy out your brother or he buys out you. He should either pay the insurance/utilities or he should give the money to the administrator and the estate pays it. The rent is up to the administrator. You need to think of the estate as another person, with the administrator acting for it. If your brother sold a car which was estate property, he owes the estate the amount the car was worth. You are making the wrong decision to ask the court to appoint a neutral party. You should do this. Stop being a doormat.

[lwpat]

Where is your mother in all of this. She has a claim for the house.

[BlondiePB]

Originally Posted by lwpat

Where is your mother in all of this. She has a claim for the house.

Probably divorced. That's why OP and his brother are the heirs.

[pault]

I would like to be the Administrator for the estate however my brother says that if I block him from doing it he will do the same to me. My brother wants his lawyer to be the administrator. Would my brother be able to keep him as his lawyer if the judge named the lawyer as the neutral party to administer the estate?

What would I have to do to ask for a different neutral party to be named? (besides being at the probate hearing)


To answer your question my Mother and Father were divorced 5 years ago, although they ended up on good terms before he died.

Thanks,
Paul

[BlondiePB]

Originally Posted by pault

I would like to be the Administrator for the estate however my brother says that if I block him from doing it he will do the same to me. My brother wants his lawyer to be the administrator. Would my brother be able to keep him as his lawyer if the judge named the lawyer as the neutral party to administer the estate?

What would I have to do to ask for a different neutral party to be named? (besides being at the probate hearing)


To answer your question my Mother and Father were divorced 5 years ago, although they ended up on good terms before he died.

Thanks,
Paul

Hire an attorney to assist you with becoming the administrator.