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Questions about Executor

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mskinner78

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Ky

I have a question about the executor of my dads estate. He passed away in 2005 he left a will with my uncle as the executor. IN the will it says that everything is to be divided between me and my 2 sisters, and his fiancee. well hes been keeping us in the dark about court dates and everything that was going on. Yesterday he calls us up and says the account was finally settled and we would be getting a little money. He says he is getting 12 thousand for his executor fees, and that me and my 2 sister were getting 2 thousand apiece, he also said he was not going to give my dads fiancee anything. his cut seems a littel high to me and can he leave the fiancee out. if you need the will to answer some question a can send you a link to look at it. all this money doesnt include the life insurance we already received that. this is all on the house and cars etc. thanks in advance , any help is appreciated Carolynn
 


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Dandy Don

Senior Member
Has he sent you a copy of the will?

Go to the county courthouse probate court and see if the will has been filed. If it has, you can get a copy there. If it has not been filed, get your own attorney to open up probate so that executor will have to produce the will for court.

He had an obligation to notify you all with a copy of the will and about court dates regarding the probate and if he hasn't done so, then he is trying to be sneaky and trying to handle the estate out of court, which he won't be able to get away with legally. And your executor can also double check the executor fee to make sure he doesn't charge anything outside the legally allowable rate for that state.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])
 
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BelizeBreeze

Senior Member
mskinner78 said:
What is the name of your state? Ky

I have a question about the executor of my dads estate. He passed away in 2005 he left a will with my uncle as the executor. IN the will it says that everything is to be divided between me and my 2 sisters, and his fiancee. well hes been keeping us in the dark about court dates and everything that was going on. Yesterday he calls us up and says the account was finally settled and we would be getting a little money. He says he is getting 12 thousand for his executor fees, and that me and my 2 sister were getting 2 thousand apiece, he also said he was not going to give my dads fiancee anything. his cut seems a littel high to me and can he leave the fiancee out. if you need the will to answer some question a can send you a link to look at it. all this money doesnt include the life insurance we already received that. this is all on the house and cars etc. thanks in advance , any help is appreciated Carolynn
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Since you already have a copy of the will WAS it probated or not. I would suggest before accepting advice from a poster who assumes something underhanded is going on, that you consider the fact that NO ONE here can make such a claim without first reading the facts present in your situation.

You can provide a link to the will but first answer whether it has been through probate or not.
 
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mskinner78

Junior Member
its been through probate court and everything is supposed settle. one question is does he have the right to not give the fiancee a cut of the money. and 2nd he gets a executor fee of 5%. Is his 5% from the total of everything that was sold (house, car, jetski)? he also had a bunch of doctors bills, would the executor get 5% of what was left over after the bills were paid? I dont really want to post a link for everyone to see so if you give me your email ill send it to you
 
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BelizeBreeze

Senior Member
mskinner78 said:
its been through probate court and everything is supposed settle.
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Then you have a copy of the will or can get a copy so that's a moot point.
one question is does he have the right to not give the fiancee a cut of the money.
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No, he must follow the letter of the will unless the probate court has ruled the will or portions thereof invalid.
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and 2nd he gets a executor fee of 5%.
[/quote]
That is a matter of statute.
Is his 5% from the total of everything that was sold (house, car, jetski)?
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It would be from the total assets of the estate once all claims have been settled.
he also had a bunch of doctors bills, would the executor get 5% of what was left over after the bills were paid?
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Most likely yes.
I dont really want to post a link for everyone to see so if you give me your email ill send it to you
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I don't do email. And it's not necessary to see the will. If you are concerned with the ex-girlfriend not getting her portion of the will then you need to view the entire probate file to see what reasoning he is using to exclude her and if she is in fact, excluded.

If she is and the court has not specifically excluded her, she will have grounds to sue the estate and as executor, he can then use estate funds to defend, thereby depleting even further the assets before distribution.
 
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mskinner78

Junior Member
thank you for all your help, where to i go to see the probate file.. The lawyer is good friends with the executor so i dont want to ask the lawyer for it
 
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BelizeBreeze

Senior Member
mskinner78 said:
thank you for all your help, where to i go to see the probate file.. The lawyer is good friends with the executor so i dont want to ask the lawyer for it
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Go to the county courthouse where dad died. The entire file is public information but you'll have to pay a copying fee.
 
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mskinner78

Junior Member
thank you again. one more question how long does it take for im able to view it, i think it just closed wednesday... Again Thank you very much for your help:)
 
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BelizeBreeze

Senior Member
mskinner78 said:
thank you again. one more question how long does it take for im able to view it, i think it just closed wednesday... Again Thank you very much for your help:)
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That depends entirely on how long it takes the clerk to find the file. That's why I said go there. You will have a copy of the file immediately.
 
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tranquility

Senior Member
Is his 5% from the total of everything that was sold (house, car, jetski)?

It would be from the total assets of the estate once all claims have been settled.
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I'm not disagreeing as I don't know KY law, but that's not the way it is in California. Are you sure BB? Here, while the percentages are less than 5%, it is based on the total value of the estate without regard for encumbrances or other obligations on estate property. (Maybe that's why KY percentage is so high. The amount is on the net rather than the gross.)

Info edit:
For compensation rules in Kentucky, see:
http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/KRS/395-00/150.PDF
 
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BelizeBreeze

Senior Member
http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/KRS/395-00/150.PDF

395.150 Compensation of representatives.
(1) The compensation of an executor, administrator or curator, for services as such,
shall not exceed five percent (5%) of the value of the personal estate of the
decedent, plus five percent (5%) of the income collected by the executor,
administrator or curator for the estate.

(2) Upon proof submitted showing that an executor, administrator or curator has
performed additional services in the administration of the decedent's estate, the
court may allow to the executor, administrator or curator such additional
compensation as would be fair and reasonable for the additional services rendered,
if the additional services were:

(a) Unusual or extraordinary and not normally incident to the administration of a
decedent's estate; or

(b) Performed in connection with real estate or with estate and inheritance taxes
claimed against property that is not a part of the decedent's estate but is
included in the decedent's estate for the purpose of asserting such taxes.
Effective: October 1, 1942

History: Recodified 1942 Ky. Acts ch. 208, sec. 1, effective October 1, 1942, from Ky.
Stat. sec. 3883.

From my review of the relevant statute it's not clear whether in this case the value of the estate requires settling claims against the estate first or not. My take on this would be after since the true value of the estate would not be settled until all claims have been disposed of.
 
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tranquility

Senior Member
From my review of the relevant statute it's not clear whether in this case the value of the estate requires settling claims against the estate first or not. My take on this would be after since the true value of the estate would not be settled until all claims have been disposed of.
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I agree. I'm sure the calculation is somewhere else, but I'm too lazy to search for it. I'm not disagreeing with you regarding the part which the percentage is calculated upon as I have no idea. I only know that it is calculated on the entire amount in CA. However, since the compensation percentage is less here maybe the greater percentage is accounted for by KY calculating on a lesser amount. (Assuming a general similarity to probate law. I know it's not the case, but it's always a good starting point for thinking about things.)
 
M

mskinner78

Junior Member
hello i have another question. today in the mail i received a probate proposal. It list all the thngs that were sold fromt he estate and how much money was left over. After the house and jetski and a truck and a couple of other things was sold there was roughly 35 thousand left over. The lawyer took 10 thousand for attornery fees and 7 went back to us for funeral expensives and the executor took a fee of 12thousand dollars leaving you with like 6 thousand split between 3 of us. How do they come up with such a large executor fee? i thought it was only 5% but he took about 30% can some one shed some light on this for me TIA
 
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Dandy Don

Senior Member
Get your own attorney to examine the executor fee and other aspects of this estate to make sure you are not being cheated and to take action if needed while probate is still open.
 
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