Administrating an Estate

My father, who resided in Ohio, passed away over 7 years ago. He had no will and my mother never became administrator of his "Estate" because she saw no reason to. His Estate consisted of a house he owned jointly with my mom (with right of survivorship), a car he owned jointly with my mom (both names on the title/passed directly to my mom), and a joint checking account with less than $2000 (also became my moms). The small amount of life insurance he had went to my mom as beneficiary.
Now my problem: My dad had an account at a credit union which was worth around $14,000 when he died. He had told my mom that he had set up the account so that it would go to me when I turned 18. I was only 10 when he died and my mom assumed that he had set up some type of trust which would continue to draw interest until I went to claim it.
When I turned 18 I went to the credit union and talked with the woman who had helped my father open the account I am interested in. I guess my father was not being truthful when he told my mother he had set up the account to pass to me when I turn 18 because she told me she couldn't give me any information on the account. She wanted to know who the administrator of his Estate was. I told her there was no administrator because everything in my fathers "Estate" passed to my mom. I also told her that my father had told my mom that he had set up the credit union account to pass to me when I was 18. She told me she needed a letter from an attorney and my fathers death certificate.
I went to an attorney and told them everything and they sent a letter to the woman at the credit union telling her that I was now 18 and wanted to close my fathers account. A death certificate was attached. Now the woman tells me and the lawyer that she needs more information such as: Who was the administrator of the estate?(!) (I had already told her that there was no administrator of the estate!)
Now the attorney says that I need to "do an entire estate" and to bring the deed to the house, car titles, bank statements, life insurance policies, name of the insurance company, amount paid, name of beneficiary, funeral bill, etc. Why do I have to go through all of this if the only thing that really needs to be handled is the money in the credit union. As I said before the house, car, and checking account all passed directly to my mom. These items would not have even been put into a will and they will not have to be included in my fathers estate.
Is there an easier way to go about this rather than "doing an entire estate"? How would a lawyer be paid in this case? Hopefully they do not get a percentage of the credit union account (which I said is at least $14,000.) Also, if someone does have to become "administrator" to access the credit union account does it have to be my mom? (She told me that she would like me to handle this matter.) Any advice or information about this would be greatly appreciated.

How was the accountwritten at the credit union? Did it specifically state your name and specifically give instructions for you to receive the money upon reaching 18 years of age. If it did not specifically give these instructions your other would probably be entitled to the money. Have her get the money and then gift it to you ($11,000. this year and $3,000. next year). If the instructions were specific, talk to the manager. This should not be that difficult, unless there is more to the story.
It does sound like the attorney is trying to take you for a ride, be careful.
I am not an attorney, so it will be interesting to see what someone says.
Good luck

With everything in your father's estate added up, someone probably should have filed an intestate probate proceeding for him to take care of all the real estate and other affairs, but since that wasn't done it's too late to cry over spilled milk, and since your mother would have eventually gotten the largest share of the estate, then everything worked out okay.

The main reason that the credit union is demanding to deal with an administrator is that the administrator is the only person legally authorized to claim any assets belonging to a deceased person. Since there was no administrator, you can file paperwork at the courthouse to be administrator (just for the purposes of handling this money in the credit union) YOURSELF. The process is simple enough that you could do everything yourself, but if you wanted the assistance of a probate attorney to guide you through the process, then hire one on an hourly basis (use a different one than the one you already went to). The attorney you went to is covering unnecessary territory by trying to handle the business of the house, etc.--all you need now is a procedure to get access to the credit union money.

Soon after you file to be administrator, you will receive from the court official, legal papers (called letters testamentary) that will give you the official, legal authority to start claiming any assets that are left in your father's name (which I assume the credit union account is in). Get a certified copy of the letters testamentary from the court and those papers are what you will present to the credit union, and then they will issue you the check.

The probate court in your area is probably not too busy with a lot of cases, so all you basically need to do is fill out a few forms and attend 1 or 2 probate court hearings. The entire process should not take more than 1-2 months. You need to find out from the probate court clerk what the minimum amount of estate value is required for estate papers to be filed--$14,000 might even be below the amount required for filing, so there may be a more simplified procedure set up to handle small estates such as this one.

The administrator can be anyone and does not have to be your mom. It probably would be better if it were you and not your mom, because your mom might be tempted to take some of the money for herself. Also if you were administrator, you would be entitled to deduct a 4% fee for administrating this estate, but in essence you should save yourself the fee by not charging yourself that fee as a deduction.

I'll bet your father WAS being truthful when he told you he had set up the account--the credit union clerk was somewhat rude in not giving you information about the account and how much was in it (since the money is eventually going to be yours), but maybe her hands were tied because she has to follow official credit union policy about releasing information. So go to the courthouse and start filing, and you can soon expect to receive a nice chunk of change!!! How are you going to use it--pay for going to college, save it as a down payment for a house??

Good luck to you!

DANDY DON ([email protected])

Thank you VERY MUCH for your advice. I know I will be finding a different lawyer to help me. I thought that it was strange that they needed so many things even though the only thing I need is that one account. Your post is extremely helpful!! I already have a good scholarship for college... but I'm gonna have to get a part-time job too and I have to get a reliable car to get me there! Thanks again!

When you do eventually receive your letters testamentary from the probate court, you may want to order an extra certified copy from the court. The credit union will need a certified copy to keep for their own personal files, and you would retain your letters testamentary in your files at all times. In case there was a situation in the future where you found other assets that need to be claimed, then you would order additional certified copies from the court--in other words, never give up the original letters testamentary you receive from the court--keep at least the originals in your file at all times.

DANDY DON