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Closing out Probate problem

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C

cmerk

Guest
What is the name of your state? North Carolina

Mother passed away last year and was buried in Pennsylvania April 2001. Her estate was insolvent and monies were distributed by percentages. According to NC law, if an estate is insolvent, the max you pay to the funeral home is $2500.00. The invoice was for approx 8K. I paid $2500 in August and requested a paid in full receipt. I never heard a word from him. No invoice, no phone call. He cashed the check.
Now we are ready to close out the probate, and they(Probate) are saying I need a paid in full receipt or letter of acceptence of payment from the funeral home. I called the funeral home and he said he will not give me a PIF statement because it is not paid in full and that I am responsible for the balance (I signed the contract). He can sue me, but doesn't want it to go that far. He figures he can hold this as leverage as I can't close out the probate until I pay the bill.
Am I liable for the balance because I signed the contract with him knowing my sister and I were co-executers. Should I get a lawyer?
Help Please!!
 


Dandy Don

Senior Member
You really need to consult with a local probate lawyer about your situation, since it is very unlikely that a North Carolina probate lawyer would be reading this message board.

Yes, you are liable for the contract because you signed it and agreed to the terms.

Something seems a little bit odd about your description. An insolvent estate means there is little or no money left over to be divided amongst the heirs, but you say that whatever monies were there were distributed according to percentages. Under normal procedures, the $8,000 funeral expense was supposed to be paid by the estate BEFORE the remaining money was distributed. Are you saying that there was not enough money in the estate account to pay this entire bill?

Did you and your sister receive executor fees for handling this estate?

You need to ask your probate attorney about what the consequences are in not getting this estate closed if the bill is not paid. It may not matter very much if the probate is not closed out.

DANDY DON
 
C

cmerk

Guest
Thanks for the quick response!

Her total estate was approx $8,000. We were told that the max we pay to the funeral home was $2500 and the balance of $5500 was distributed to pay out the balalance of approx $30,000 worth of creditors.

No, we did not receive executers fees as there is no money in the pot.

I have been told that survivors are not liable for any monies owed.
 

curb1

Senior Member
Who arranged for the funeral? The cost of the funeral would have been discussed at that time. You cannot order an $8000.00 funeral and then expect to pay only $2500.00 (regardless of what the law says). Did you tell the funeral home that you were only going to pay $2500.00 before or during the planning of the funeral. Sounds like fraud on your part from the information given thus far.
 
C

cmerk

Guest
The family (sister, 2 brothers) arranged the funeral. Mom had done the prearrangements, we just formalized it. I signed the contract. Since Mom was buried 4 days after she died, we did not have any time to fully look into the financial aspects. Since Mom had prearranged the funeral, we assumed that she had enough monies in either life insurance, assets, etc. So, no, we did not arrange the funeral fraudently, we thought it would be covered by her estate.

Our problem has been the Clerk of Courts from the beginning. They have been misinforming us from the get-go. Since we have not done this before, we could only assume that the directions we were given were legit. We were told by the Clerk that we were to pay only the $2500 for the funeral and that the balance would have to be written off. I had not heard from the funeral home since we sent the check in August - no phone calls or invoices with the balance. Since we got no response, we assumed that the info we were given was correct. We have honestly been under the premise that the balance had been taken care of.

Now, the main problem, we do not have the money to pay for the balance. We are going to try to work something out. It may mean selling the plot next to Mom to pay, we don't know.

I think I have answered my own original question, but feel like we have been lead down the wrong path. Is there any recourse we have with the Clerk of Estates?
 

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