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Estate Assets Never Distributed

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richie78

Member
What is the name of your state? Texas

Seems like an impossibility, but this is what happened to estate assets that were distributed to one of the deceased heirs, my Aunt's, estate probate lawyer.

My grandfather's house was partitioned into four equal shares which were then distributed to his four children. Three of the four children had died before such a distribution was made, so the shares went to the estates of the three deceased children. My Grandfather's estate was probated under Massachusetts law, handled by a court appointed Administrator who made the partitioned distribution of the net proceeds by check after my Grandfather's house was sold. One of the deceased children's estate was probated in Florida around 1990, and closed approximately 10 years before my Grandfather's house was sold and the proceeds partitioned and distributed from his estate by the estate administrator. In early 2002, the 1/4 share of the distribution was made by check to the attorney who originally handled my aunt's probate in Florida around 1990. I have the Administrators letter of transmittal and a copy of the face of the check that was sent to the Florida attorney. This check was made out to "The Estate of (my aunt's name)". Upon research thru the Massachusetts probate court, I have not been able to find any documented evidence that this check was ever cashed, and that the proceeds distributed to my Aunts heirs/legatees per her will which I also have a copy of. It happens that I am supposed to get a portion of my aunts estate under the terms of her will. I did receive a distribution from her estate when it was probated in the late 1980's, or early 1990's from the very same Probate lawyer to whom the check for the current distributed share of my Grandfather's partitioned house proceeds was sent. So I am surprized and confused as to why, upon receipt of this check from the Mass administrator of my Grandfather's estate, the Florida Probate attorney for my aunt's estate has never sent me my share of this distribution, or for that matter, why the Florida lawyer has not even tried to contact me.

Does any one have any suggestions about what steps I should take to followup on this and insure that I received my share of the distributionsent to my Aunt's Estate Lawyer in Florida? As it now stands, a very large sum is presently somewhere in limbo that is unaccounted for. Hopefully it is not lost to my Grandfather's heirs.
 
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BlondiePB

Senior Member
What is the name of your state? Texas

Seems like an impossibility, but this is what happened to estate assets that were distributed to one of the deceased heirs, my Aunt's, estate probate lawyer.

My grandfather's house was partitioned into four equal shares which were then distributed to his four children. Three of the four children had died before such a distribution was made, so the shares went to the estates of the three deceased children. My Grandfather's estate was probated under Massachusetts law, handled by a court appointed Administrator who made the partitioned distribution of the net proceeds by check after my Grandfather's house was sold. One of the deceased children's estate was probated in Florida around 1990, and closed approximately 10 years before my Grandfather's house was sold and the proceeds partitioned and distributed from his estate by the estate administrator. In early 2002, the 1/4 share of the distribution was made by check to the attorney who originally handled my aunt's probate in Florida around 1990. I have the Administrators letter of transmittal and a copy of the face of the check that was sent to the Florida attorney. This check was made out to "The Estate of (my aunt's name)". Upon research thru the Massachusetts probate court, I have not been able to find any documented evidence that this check was ever cashed, and that the proceeds distributed to my Aunts heirs/legatees per her will which I also have a copy of. It happens that I am supposed to get a portion of my aunts estate under the terms of her will. I did receive a distribution from her estate when it was probated in the late 1980's, or early 1990's from the very same Probate lawyer to whom the check for the current distributed share of my Grandfather's partitioned house proceeds was sent. So I am surprized and confused as to why, upon receipt of this check from the Mass administrator of my Grandfather's estate, the Florida Probate attorney for my aunt's estate has never sent me my share of this distribution, or for that matter, why the Florida lawyer has not even tried to contact me.

Does any one have any suggestions about what steps I should take to followup on this and insure that I received my share of the distributionsent to my Aunt's Estate Lawyer in Florida? As it now stands, a very large sum is presently somewhere in limbo that is unaccounted for. Hopefully it is not lost to my Grandfather's heirs.
I believe that statute of limititations to contest FL probate have passed. You can read FL probate statutes under Estates & Trusts at this site www.flsenate.gov/statutes
 

Dandy Don

Senior Member
Make sure you have looked at both parties' probate files to make certain you have not overlooked any important information.

File a complaint against this attorney with the appropriate state bar association. Depending on what actually occurred, if it was theft, there may be no statute of limitations on that.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])
 

Dandy Don

Senior Member
Explain exactly who it was that sent you a copy of the administrator's letter and the copy of the face of the check--was this an interested beneficiary or someone else with no official connection to the estate? It would be to your benefit if you were to write a letter to the bank to ask for a copy of the "back" of the check (explain that you are a beneficiary to the estate) so you can see exactly the transmittal account number of whose account it went into (as proof) as well as seeing how the check was endorsed/who cashed it when it was cashed in.

They may not give it to you if they explain that they can only release that information to the executor, but it's worth a try anyway to see if they might provide it to you. If they don't provide it, at the hearing before the state bar you need to ask them to ask this attorney to order the copy to produce it as evidence for a future hearing. You may also want to ask him to order a copy of the estate's state and federal tax returns as additional evidence of how he handled the estate matters.

If the hearing is not successful in sanctioning him or penalizing him or asking for distribution of the monies, you may have enough evidence to consult an attorney to see if there is anything you can do legally to bring a case against him.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])
 

richie78

Member
Explain exactly who it was that sent you a copy of the administrator's letter and the copy of the face of the check--was this an interested beneficiary or someone else with no official connection to the estate?
The Administrator's letter of transmittal and copy of the face of the checks was obtained from the Probate Court that handled the original estate from which the distribution was made.

It would be to your benefit if you were to write a letter to the bank to ask for a copy of the "back" of the check (explain that you are a beneficiary to the estate) so you can see exactly the transmittal account number of whose account it went into (as proof) as well as seeing how the check was endorsed/who cashed it when it was cashed in.

They may not give it to you if they explain that they can only release that information to the executor, but it's worth a try anyway to see if they might provide it to you.
I had been thinking that I would try this. Thanks for the confirmation of this as possible.

If they don't provide it, at the hearing before the state bar you need to ask them to ask this attorney to order the copy to produce it as evidence for a future hearing. You may also want to ask him to order a copy of the estate's state and federal tax returns as additional evidence of how he handled the estate matters.

If the hearing is not successful in sanctioning him or penalizing him or asking for distribution of the monies, you may have enough evidence to consult an attorney to see if there is anything you can do legally to bring a case against him.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])
What state bar would be appropriate? The state bar where the receiving attorney practices, or the state bar where the estate is that made the distribution?
 

richie78

Member
Make sure you have looked at both parties' probate files to make certain you have not overlooked any important information.
(snip)
DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])
I checked to determine whether a probate of my aunt's estate was opened in Florida after this distribution was made to the Florida attorney, but there is no probate that has been opened.

The probate of the estate from which the distribution was made has been apparently closed.
 

Dandy Don

Senior Member
File the complaint with the Florida bar where the receiving attorney practices. So what if probate is closed; you can still order/look at the records if you wish to see exactly what happened previously.
 

richie78

Member
File the complaint with the Florida bar where the receiving attorney practices.
I am awaiting a response to a letter that I sent to the attorney about a week ago. I will wait 7 more days, and hopefully, she will respond to my letter. If she doesn't, then I'll most likely complain to the Florida State Bar as you suggest.

So what if probate is closed; you can still order/look at the records if you wish to see exactly what happened previously.
The distribution to the Florida attorney came from the Estate Administrator of another aunt of mine in Massachusetts.

Probate of my Florida' aunt's estate was closed about 1991, and I received a distribution from that estate as an heir. However this new distribution that was sent by check to the Florida Attorney on behalf of my Florida' aunt's estate, has not caused a reopening of the closed 1991 probate, or an opening of a new Probate in Florida. And that is what's so disturbing. That Florida lawyer has, apparently, done nothing for some reason that is yet to be determined.

Do you know if it is possible for me to initiate a petition to open a Probate action of my aunt's estate thru the Florida Probate Court? The basis would be that the check is outstanding, and it must be determined what has happened to the assets represented by that check. I believe tht the probate Judge coude order that Florida lawyer to explain and account for the distribution to my aunt's estate. Then the answer would be a matter of formal court records, and any subsequent actions that I might take would have good support.
 
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Dandy Don

Senior Member
What you are proposing is a great idea in theory, but not a very practical suggestion. You should only open probate if you have exact specific knowledge of assets that have not been probated and you don't have that evidence yet. You are going to have to bring a civil lawsuit against the attorney outside of probate court.
 

BlondiePB

Senior Member
Do you know if it is possible for me to initiate a petition to open a Probate action of my aunt's estate thru the Florida Probate Court? The basis would be that the check is outstanding, and it must be determined what has happened to the assets represented by that check. I believe tht the probate Judge coude order that Florida lawyer to explain and account for the distribution to my aunt's estate. Then the answer would be a matter of formal court records, and any subsequent actions that I might take would have good support.
Richie, you need to speak with an attorney in FL (the county where this happened). Even Personal Representatives named in wills that live in another state must hire an attorney.


P.S. The accounting reports in FL require: Summary, Schedule A, Schedule B, Schedule C, and Schedule D.
 

richie78

Member
What you are proposing is a great idea in theory, but not a very practical suggestion. You should only open probate if you have exact specific knowledge of assets that have not been probated and you don't have that evidence yet. You are going to have to bring a civil lawsuit against the attorney outside of probate court.
Thanks for your evaluation. I needed that point clarified a bit. I am still trying to get the specific facts of what happened. I received a reply from the attorney concerning this estate distribution. After reading the reply, I've got some immediate questions that perhaps you might have a suggestion for.

Here are my questions.

If an Testate's estate went thru probate with estate assets distributed IAW the Testate's will, and the probate was closed almost 20 years ago, must the Testate's probate case be reopened to distribute a recent inheritance share distributed to the Testate's estate that is received from a relative who recently died Intestate?

Or must a new Probate of the Testate's estate be opened?

Or can an attorney who was the estate lawyer of the Testate's probate act independently on this new inheritance share distribution, and make distributions to the beneficiaries of estate teststor's will, independently of the Probate court?


From what I've been able to determine so far:
a) there has been no further action to reopen the Probate my testate aunt's estate that was closed 20 years ago; and,
b) no new probate action has been initiated after this new distribution was sent to the Florida estate attorney for my Testate aunt's estate.

The attorney did receive the distribution for my aunt's estate in Florida in 2002 by by check from the administrator of her intestate sister's estate. About a year later, the Florida attorney made distributions to my testate aunt's heirs, however the distribution's were not made IAW the provisions of my aunt's Will. My aunt's Will specifically provides that if any of the beneficiaries should die without have any issue, then their share shall lapse, and be distributed to the remaining living beneficiaries on a Pro Rata basis. My aunt had four original beneficiaries identified in her will when she died 20 years ago. At that time all four beneficiaries were alive, and received distributions from her estate. Her brother and sister, two of her original beneficiaries, died before the new distribution to her estate was made from my aunt's intestate sister's estate. Under the provision of my aunt's will, her brother and sister's shares as beneficiaries lapsed, and the remaining two beneficiaries still living should get 50% of this new distribution to my testate aunt's estate. However rather than distribute these estate assets on a pro rata basis as the Will specifies, the Florida attorney made distribution as though all of the original beneficiaries were still alive. Does the attorney have to comply with provision of my Aunt's will, or not?

Boy I hope that you can follow this, because I had a difficult time trying to write it clearly. But this is the basis of the three questions above. If you have some insight that might clarify things for me in thei area, ytou would be relieving a lot of confusion that I have about this situation and what to do about it. And as you can see, I need all the help I can get.
 
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richie78

Member
Richie, you need to speak with an attorney in FL (the county where this happened). Even Personal Representatives named in wills that live in another state must hire an attorney.


P.S. The accounting reports in FL require: Summary, Schedule A, Schedule B, Schedule C, and Schedule D.
Hello BlondiePB,

Thanks for your response, and I'm sorry that I didn't respond earlier. This thing has been so engrossing on me that there is not any relief from thinking about it and trying to develop an effective strategy to resolve it. Primarily because there are many open questions about the actions of the attorney that I'm trying to get answers on. But it's taking time because of the mail transit time between me here in Texas and the attorney in Florida. But hopefully I'll be getting the answers I need to correct this issue.

And thanks for the clarification on the accountings in Florida. Yes that is true according to the Statutes of Florida. When I foud this out, it initially thru me, but after studying the requirement for a Florida accounting, I found them to be very logical and provided more descriptive data and information about estate receipts, expenses, and distributions. Especially informative was the way the accountings handled the sale of real estate.
 

BlondiePB

Senior Member
Hello BlondiePB,

Thanks for your response, and I'm sorry that I didn't respond earlier. This thing has been so engrossing on me that there is not any relief from thinking about it and trying to develop an effective strategy to resolve it. Primarily because there are many open questions about the actions of the attorney that I'm trying to get answers on. But it's taking time because of the mail transit time between me here in Texas and the attorney in Florida. But hopefully I'll be getting the answers I need to correct this issue.

And thanks for the clarification on the accountings in Florida. Yes that is true according to the Statutes of Florida. When I foud this out, it initially thru me, but after studying the requirement for a Florida accounting, I found them to be very logical and provided more descriptive data and information about estate receipts, expenses, and distributions. Especially informative was the way the accountings handled the sale of real estate.
Yep, them there accounting reports (for FL) are to be very detailed. They're a PITA to do, but I don't mind doing them because it's the money of my wards.
 

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