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wills and probate

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Traci Laidlaw

Guest
In the state of Georgia, my aunt took out stocks in both her name and mine years prior to her death (joint tennant), therefore the stocks were not part of the probate process. an attorney is saying i owe a prorated portion of the debt of the estate based on the stock value which was already mine. is this true?
 


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advisor10

Guest
OCT. 2, 2001

DEAR TRACI:

So that a proper answer to your question can be ascertained, please provide more information that will help to clarify the situation.

(1) What is the value of the stock?

(2) What was the estimated value of your aunt's estate?

(3) How much debt does the estate owe now, and/or how much money is this attorney asking you to pay towards the debt?

(4) Is this attorney (who is asking you to pay) the official executor for your aunt's estate or not?

(5) Is this estate still open now or has it been closed?

(6) What month and year did your aunt die?

SINCERELY,

[email protected]
 
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Traci Laidlaw

Guest
Thanks for your help. The value of the stock is around 20,000. The estate is estimated at 560,000. The debt we are told is around 100,000. The attorney is not the executor, he is the man who drew up the will for my aunt and is the attorney for my cousin who is the executor. The will is still open,my aunt died Jan,2001. The attorney has told me and I have paid 4100 or 4.12 % of the total debt. I have since been told that since the stocks were already in my name and did not need to go thru probate that I legally did not owe anything to the estate. I do not know Ga law on this. Can you shed some light .Thanks.
 
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advisor10

Guest
OCT. 3, 2001

DEAR TRACI:

No, this would not seem to be true.

Apparently, this attorney does not understand the concept of joint tenancy--that is the advantage of having an asset placed in the names of 2 people, so that property can pass directly to the other person, without having to go through probate. (Politely ask this attorney to look up the term joint tenancy in a legal dictionary.)

If what he is saying is true (that you owe a prorated portion of the debt), then he should be able to back it up by telling you exactly which statute of the Georgia law requires that. I don't think any such concept exists, and I feel you were deliberately misled and conned for whatever money they could get from you. (However, I am not familiar with Georgia law and you would need to consult with a local attorney to get a more definitive answer.)

With an estate valued at over $500,000, they should well be able to afford to pay all of the $100,000 outstanding debts, and then distribute what is left over to heirs/beneficiaries. Even if there was no estate money left over to pay debts, the estate would essentially be bankrupt and the creditors would remain unpaid. It would not be anyone else's responsibility to contribute to paying off any bills unless you just wanted to volunteer to do it out of a sense of responsibility or kindness to your aunt's memory.

If you don't mind having paid the money, then you could let the matter go unchallenged. But if I were you, I would ask an attorney how to go about getting your money back--would you need to file a claim or a letter with the probate court so they could review the matter, etc. Do you expect to be receiving anything else as a beneficiary of this estate?

SINCERELY,

[email protected]
 

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