Need Help Please

What is the name of your state? Arkansas
Basic Facts: I have a valid lien on my Ex-husband's share of his Mother's Estate. I received a letter from the court that stated the following:

ORDER SETTING FINAL TRAIL
The Court, having found that the administration of this Estate has been unduly prolonged, herby schedules a two day trail on all outstanding issues involved in this cause on March 8 & 9th, at 9:00am. All motions & petitions bearing upon the distribution of the assets & payment of liabilities of this Estate must be filed no later than 7 weeks before the trail date.
The Administrator shall be responsible for serving each person or entity claiming an interest in the Estate with this Order Setting Final Trial.
Should a person or entity claiming an interest have a matter that should be decided before the trial, such discovery issues, inventory issues, etc., then he must file a written petition or motion concerning the matter no later than December 31, 2003, and provide a copy thereof to this Court. The court will neither consider nor respond to letters of complaint or ex-parte communications from anyone.

Do I need to file a motion or a written petition in order to make sure my lien is honored? and can someone advise me on how to word such a document? I really would appreciate the input.

Should a person or entity claiming an interest have a matter that should be decided before the trial, such discovery issues, inventory issues, etc., then he must file a written petition or motion concerning the matter no later than December 31, 2003, and provide a copy thereof to this Court.

Click to expand...

I assume you are a person.

I assume you want to collect on your lien.

And I assume you aren't totally devoid of common sense.

If The answers to the above three questions are positive, then hire an attorney to file your claim against the estate. If you try to do this yourself you'll end up paying a fool to represent you. This ain't traffic court.

If you weren't too busy running at the mouth, you might have caught in the 1st paragraph

Basic Facts: I have a valid lien on my Ex-husband's share of his Mother's Estate.

This lien has already been filed & thank you very much, I managed to do it myself. It has been recognized by the Probate Court & the Judge is very aware of this lien and had allowed it to be a priority lien (from a divorce settlement, in which she was also the Judge in that court too)

Now, my questions still stand:
Do I still need to file a motion or a written petition in order to make sure my lien is honored? and can someone advise me on how to word such a document?

Let me make this VERY simple so that even you can understand it......
This is clearly a complex matter with a LOT of legal issues to be resolved. And you are obviously going to get ONE chance to do it right.

Either do it right by getting an attorney to represent you, or take a quick law course and get your bar card. This forum is NOT going to do your legal work for you.

Got it?? Good!

It takes an Arkie.

O.K. at the risk of breaking up Benie and the Jets I'm going to try and get through to you. And it's only because I bleed Razorback red and have since Jon Brittnum and the good ole' days.

The reason I told you to seek the advice of an attorney is because filing a lien and having that lien presented as a claim against the estate are two entirely different things.

Anyone who can read and write can file a lien. HOWEVER, do you know in what order your lien will be listed against the assets of the estate? Does the estate have enough assets to satisfy the lien and if so, how you would go about collecting the proceeds?

Do you know how to file an objection against the ruling of the administrator or even who the administrator of the estate is?

How do you file for discovery of assets? Or do you know already or have in your possession a complete and honest list of the assets of the Estate?

These are just a few of the issues you will have to deal with BEFORE trial, along with filing a claim against the estate to have your lien included in the judgement. And the wording of such a document depends on the findings of all of the above.

So, the next time you decide that someone is being flippant, remember, you asked the questions and we gave you the answers. It's up to you what to do with them.

Dear Jetx & Homeguru,
Eventhough I throughly enjoy your witty & thoughtful comments, I find it beneath either of you to insult someone merely on the type of mood you are in at the moment.
Correct me if I am once again wrong, but what is this site for if not to ask questions pertaining to legal matters & to hopefully get answers, advise or some insight to the overly complex world of "members only", "card toting" Law? (I am assuming you are both attorneys)
I maybe an Arkie, but I am also someone who believes that a person who feels the need to be rude and condensending is often someone who is only trying to make up for short-comings they themselves have. (such as personalities, feelings, or lack of sexual drive perhaps?)
Please forgive me if my comments strike too close to home. I honestly appreciate your well educated, ever so thoughtful yet timely responses to my questions.

HEY dumbass;

JetX and HG were being smart because they were defending ME against an attack by you. And why did you attack me? Maybe it's because you're so frigid that you can't understand plain English.

GET AN ATTORNEY!

Now, I will give you 10 minutes to read my earlier attempt to try to educate you before I delete it. Then that priggish bitch nose you have in the air is on it's own.

Hexeliebe,
First off, I don't call their comments "smart". I am neither dumb nor an ass. I did not "attack" you & apologize if you feel I did. I only answered your first responce in the same manner & tone that you had replied to mine.
I have never been accused of being frigid before so forgive me if I am at a loss for a comeback to that one. As far as my priggisg nose, well now, even I have to give you that one. It had me laughing so hard that I could barely see straight. Oh well, I guess you are one up on me.....
Thanks so much for your insight

Okay, lets try this ONE more time....

You said that you have a "valid lien on my Ex-husband's share of his Mother's Estate."
How do you know the lien is valid?? What is the lien for??
Are you COMPLETELY familiar with Arkansas law (Title 18, Subtitle 4) on the different types of liens and how they can be avoided??

As I said before, this is CLEARLY going to be your one shot at this and I would presume you would want to take the steps to protect your 'lien'. If so, get an attorney. If not, who cares??

Now, with that out of the way.... where was the insult in my post???

As I said, the Probate Judge is/was also the Judge in our divorce proceedings & she allowed my settlement to be protected by filling a "priority lien" (her words & in the divorce decree) on my Ex's share of his Mother's Estate. My divorce attorney filled the lien. (His services ran me $1200.00)

Shortly afterwards my Ex filed bankruptcy, listing me as an unsecured creditor. I got copies of his schedules & went over them with a fine tooth comb & then made notes, corrections (basically told the truth) & then gave all that to the trustee & his bankruptcy attorney. I then filed a Proof of Claim & showed a copy of my lien. Now both the Bankruptcy Court as well as the Family Court recognized my lien & it was upgraded to a Secured Lien. In fact, I was able to stir up enough in his bankruptcy to get his attorney to offer me a "deal" & the bankruptcy trustee agreed to it. My Ex is having to refile his schedules & I am being left out of his bankruptcy so that I can collect my settlement directly from the probate estate & Bankruptcy Judge allowed this.

Now I am dealing with nothing but the Probate Court... you will just have to take my word for it. The Judge is fully aware of my lien and even though by many people the dollar value isn't much, ($3,200.00) it is all I have. In fact, at a recent probate hearing (which I was unable to attend) my lien was brought up & both the estate attorney & the Judge stated that this lien was to be paid before Ex was to receive any funds.

Now back to my original post...based on the letter that I received. Do I need to file a motion or a written petition to make sure my lien is heard/honored?

Ex's share of the Estate is more than large enough to cover my lien & I am the only lien he has on his share of the Estate. (his share will be over $150,000.00)

I am truely sorry if I mistook anything you said in reference to my inteligence/comprehention.
"Let me make this VERY simple so that even you can understand it......This is clearly a complex matter with a LOT of legal issues to be resolved. And you are obviously going to get ONE chance to do it right.
Either do it right by getting an attorney to represent you, or take a quick law course and get your bar card. This forum is NOT going to do your legal work for you."
Got it?? Good!"

I am having to do all the leg work myself as what good does the settlement/lien do if I pay it out in the form of attorney's fees to protect it???? Esp. since I am finding out that each court doesn't seem to honor the decisions of the other? So far, with input from others such as yourself, I have wadded through the Bankruptcy Courts & up to this point the Probate Estate proceedings & feel I only have a short way to go before seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.