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Executor's interpretation of will vs. Mine

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jcajr30

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Indiana

The executor of my mother’s estate is really reaching to the outer limits of the scope of the will and essentially trying to interpret Mom's intent to satisfy her personal agenda, which is to tie up the liquidity (~150K) of the estate in a money market trust...you see, mom left all her money market funds (~100K) to my children to begin being distributed upon the thirtieth birthday of my youngest, which I think is great. She left everything else to me, her only descendent. Not to mention that the executor has suggested some outlandish purchases in support of Mom's burial proceedings. I'm all for a respectful funeral, at any cost, but I'm not commissioning a statue (slight exaggeration) on behalf of my mother. There's no Nobel Peace prize or relevant accomplishment in her repertoire, she's just an average Joe's wife who happened to inherit quite a sum of "old" money (~250K.)

The executor doesn't like my mom’s attorney’s interpretation or more specifically authoring complexity of the will and is using the fact that we live in a "one horse town" (despite the lawyers Duke University law degree) to declare mom’s attorney as inexperienced in estate planning/executing. Bottom line is that she wants to fire mom’s attorney and hire someone who will represent her agenda. What are my options?

More specifically; she wants to classify the liquidity of the estate (~150K in checking accounts) as part of the money market fund which places it, by the design of the will, into trust for my children, which will not mature until the year 2026. I think the checking accounts should be released into my care, (as all assets will ultimately be since I’m the sole heir) which incidentally, is a big deal to me not so I can go out and buy a corvette (I make plenty of money) but because I want to ensure my children have the opportunity to acquire a quality education, at an institution with a reputation commensurate with Duke, Stanford, MIT, and the like. This obviously comes at a greater expense than does a state university but the return on investment carries more value to me than does the NASDAQ. Further, why secure it to be issued to my children when they are in their thirties…too late for college…too early for retirement…it will get spent in one swoop on a house or something of the sort. Again, what are my options?

Of course I’m going to consult my mother’s attorney, I just like to weigh all my options, and have all available resources, before making a decision. Thanks, in advance, for your assistance.
 
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tranquility

Senior Member
The executor has the right to make whatever decisions, including firing the previous attorney, she desires. The attorney should not discuss estate business with you as you were not his client and doing so would be a breach of many legal ethical rules.

If the executor breaches her fiduciary duty (like not following the will's meaning), you can move to the court for her removal. Many states also allow a prospective challenge if the executor makes it clear what their intended actions will be, but I don't know if Indiana is one of those states.
 

jcajr30

Junior Member
Tranquility

Very interesting information, thank you very much. I'll have to ask the probate if Indiana offers a prospective challenge. Will I need to hire an attorney to file the prospective challenge?
 

tranquility

Senior Member
Yes. It's like a whole lawsuit where you need to come up with the cash for an attorney and the executor gets to use estate money to defend the estate.

If there is an actual question as to if the money should go one place or the other, a prospective challenge will not be possible. The burden is much higher for such challenges.
 

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