JayPa said:
What is the name of your state? Pennsylvania
My sister, my step-mother, and myself are co-executors of my Father's estate. My sister and I just found out that my step-mother has cleaned out the estate account for no other reason than to "protect" the money from us. Is this not an illegal maneuver on her part? Our current estate attorney seems to be defending her position, claiming that she was worried that we would do the same thing to her. I am baffled by their logic and am suspect of his motives at this point. What is our recourse in this situation?
If pa did not have a will, here is where the stuff goes (and, for purposes of this answer, I am assuming that the bank account was held jointly by pa and step-ma...that means step-ma would get all that dough...if that is not the way the bank account was titled, then post back):
Pennsylvania Intestate Succession Laws
If any part of a Pennsylvania decedent's estate is not effectively disposed of by will, the intestate share will be distributed in the following order and manner:
1. Surviving spouse. A surviving spouse is generally first in line to get any assets from the intestate estate. However, the amount a surviving spouse is entitled to varies as follows:
* A surviving spouse is entitled to the entire intestate estate if the decedent is not survived by a child or parent.
* If there are no surviving children of the decedent, but there is a surviving parent or parents, the surviving spouse is entitled to the first $30,000 plus one-half of the remaining intestate estate. There is an exception to this rule if a decedent died due to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, in which case the surviving spouse gets 100 percent of any compensation award paid under the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act.
* If the decedent is survived by children all of whom are also the children of the surviving spouse, the surviving spouse is entitled to the first $30,000 plus one-half of the remaining intestate estate.
* If the decedent is survived by children one or more of whom are not issue of the surviving spouse, the surviving spouse gets one-half of the intestate estate.
* When there is a partial intestacy, any property received by the surviving spouse under the will counts towards satisfying the $30,000 allowance mentioned above.
2. Heirs other than surviving spouse. Any part of the intestate estate not passing to the surviving spouse as indicated above, or the entire intestate estate if there is no surviving spouse, passes as follows to:
1. Decedent's issue.
2. Decedent's parent or parents equally.
3. Decedent's brothers and sisters, or their issue.
4. If none of the above relatives are available, but the decedent is survived by one or more grandparents or issue of grandparents, half of the estate passes to the paternal grandparents if both survive, or to the surviving paternal grandparent or to the issue of the paternal grandparents if both are deceased. The other half passes to the maternal relatives in the same manner. If there is no surviving grandparent or issue of grandparent on either the paternal or maternal side, the entire estate passes to the relatives on the other side in the same manner as the half portion would.
5. Decedent's uncles and aunts and their children and grandchildren.
3. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. If there is no taker under any of the above provisions, the intestate estate passes to the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania Intestate Succession Law Fun Facts
* Relatives of the half blood inherit the same share they would inherit if they were of the whole blood.
* Relatives conceived before decedent's death, but born thereafter, inherit as if they had been born during decedent's lifetime.
* A spouse who willfully neglected or refused to support a deceased spouse or who willfully and maliciously deserted the deceased spouse for one year or upwards prior to the spouse's death cannot inherit any title or interest in the deceased spouses's intestate estate.
* Likewise, a parent who fails to support their minor or dependent child, who deserts them for a year, or is convicted of certain crimes against the child forfeits the right to their share of the child's intestate estate.
* Evildoers take note! Any person who participates either as a principal or as an accessory before the fact in the willful and unlawful killing of the decedent is prohibited from receiving any benefits from the killing, including a share in the intestate estate.
* Pennsylvania's intestate succession laws, as well as other related laws, can be found in Title 20 of Purdon's Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Annotated.
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