FancyForrester
Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA
My niece is the beneficiary of a rather complicated estate and has asked me some rather complex legal questions that I have no clue about!
First off, her mother passed away shortly after her father and the estate of her father hadn't been properly settled by the time of her mother's death.
Her mother died with sole ownership of an $800,000.00 dollar property (that was placed in an irrevocable family trust), 2 savings accounts that totalled$20,000.00, and some furnishings/jewelery that has been appraised and total $10,000.00. In addition, her mother was to receive a $10,000 life insurance claim from her father that wasn't processed by the date of her mother's death. Her mother was also going to receive a pension of roughly $2,000.00 a month from her father's company. That claim hadn't been processed either by the time of her mom's passing. Total, the company owes about 6 months of pension that her mother never received which comes to $12,000.000. Her brother was named executor and is doing a horrible job according to her.
Her siblings (3 total) had over the years amassed $250,000.00 in credit card debt on her parents credit cards and that amount is still owed.
The house is in need of repairs and renovation that will likely cost at least $50,000.00 before the property is sold. In the mean time, the credit card companies have NOT been informed of the deaths of my niece's parents. They assume that her parents are simply not paying on the balances and have sent notices informing of legal action if the matters aren't resolved. My nephew the executor refuses to do anything about it. The late charges and finance charges are adding up...is my nephew responsible for paying them since he has refused to use the estate money to keep up with the payments? He has also spent the entire savings on some very badly done "repairs" by his friends to the property and the rest on fees for him "consulting" with the estate attorney.
The life insurance and pension is going to be arriving shortly and my nephew has stated that he simply plans on splitting it 4 ways and giving to himself and his siblings without paying any of the credit card debts or making more much needed repairs to the property.
My niece wants to know what she can do. I told her that I believe what my nephew is doing can be labeled as fraud. He is not informing the credit card companies of their passing and has not used the money that was in the estate correctly.
She is demanding that he use the life insurance and pension money to begin paying off the balances of the credit cards and complete the repairs needed to the house rather than divide it up and give it to her and her siblings...and I believe that it would be illegal for him to distribute funds to beneficiaries when there is so much debt still and the estate is not settled...right?
Any information would be appreciated.
My niece is the beneficiary of a rather complicated estate and has asked me some rather complex legal questions that I have no clue about!
First off, her mother passed away shortly after her father and the estate of her father hadn't been properly settled by the time of her mother's death.
Her mother died with sole ownership of an $800,000.00 dollar property (that was placed in an irrevocable family trust), 2 savings accounts that totalled$20,000.00, and some furnishings/jewelery that has been appraised and total $10,000.00. In addition, her mother was to receive a $10,000 life insurance claim from her father that wasn't processed by the date of her mother's death. Her mother was also going to receive a pension of roughly $2,000.00 a month from her father's company. That claim hadn't been processed either by the time of her mom's passing. Total, the company owes about 6 months of pension that her mother never received which comes to $12,000.000. Her brother was named executor and is doing a horrible job according to her.
Her siblings (3 total) had over the years amassed $250,000.00 in credit card debt on her parents credit cards and that amount is still owed.
The house is in need of repairs and renovation that will likely cost at least $50,000.00 before the property is sold. In the mean time, the credit card companies have NOT been informed of the deaths of my niece's parents. They assume that her parents are simply not paying on the balances and have sent notices informing of legal action if the matters aren't resolved. My nephew the executor refuses to do anything about it. The late charges and finance charges are adding up...is my nephew responsible for paying them since he has refused to use the estate money to keep up with the payments? He has also spent the entire savings on some very badly done "repairs" by his friends to the property and the rest on fees for him "consulting" with the estate attorney.
The life insurance and pension is going to be arriving shortly and my nephew has stated that he simply plans on splitting it 4 ways and giving to himself and his siblings without paying any of the credit card debts or making more much needed repairs to the property.
My niece wants to know what she can do. I told her that I believe what my nephew is doing can be labeled as fraud. He is not informing the credit card companies of their passing and has not used the money that was in the estate correctly.
She is demanding that he use the life insurance and pension money to begin paying off the balances of the credit cards and complete the repairs needed to the house rather than divide it up and give it to her and her siblings...and I believe that it would be illegal for him to distribute funds to beneficiaries when there is so much debt still and the estate is not settled...right?
Any information would be appreciated.