What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? - Indiana but I would have to file in Illinois
I was the executor of my mother's estate. It was opened in November of 2005 (death was 9/11/05). My step-father did not know she had a will and left everything 50/50 to my sister and me. In September 2005, he took out $47,000 from my mom's line of credit. That was the main thing that help everything up. He said that it was for her final expenses. We had him expense everything and he got caught with a lot of untruthful things. One of them was a grave marker for my mom's plot. He claims he bought a grave marker for $1550. When I called the cemetery in May of 2006, there was no grave marker on order. After that, he produced a purchase agreement from a memorial company in the same amount. I agreed to pay half - since his name was on the other half. He was credited with $776 for a grave maker. About 2 weeks ago, my husband and I visited the cemetery and noticed a hole where a grave marker should me. After calling the memorial company and cemetery, I was told that he was granted a refund on August 20, 2007. My estate attorney advised me to write him a letter asking him nicely for a reasoning. I asked that he get in touch with me within 2 weeks. So far, no answer.
My question.... if I don't hear from him, can I file this in small claims court? In Illinois, you can ask for a max of $10,000. I settled with him and he was granted a $10,000 spousal award. If I file for small claims, can I ask for that back? I feel that I can show how he was not a good spouse and should not be deserving of this money. The estate was closed in April 2007.
Thank you.
I was the executor of my mother's estate. It was opened in November of 2005 (death was 9/11/05). My step-father did not know she had a will and left everything 50/50 to my sister and me. In September 2005, he took out $47,000 from my mom's line of credit. That was the main thing that help everything up. He said that it was for her final expenses. We had him expense everything and he got caught with a lot of untruthful things. One of them was a grave marker for my mom's plot. He claims he bought a grave marker for $1550. When I called the cemetery in May of 2006, there was no grave marker on order. After that, he produced a purchase agreement from a memorial company in the same amount. I agreed to pay half - since his name was on the other half. He was credited with $776 for a grave maker. About 2 weeks ago, my husband and I visited the cemetery and noticed a hole where a grave marker should me. After calling the memorial company and cemetery, I was told that he was granted a refund on August 20, 2007. My estate attorney advised me to write him a letter asking him nicely for a reasoning. I asked that he get in touch with me within 2 weeks. So far, no answer.
My question.... if I don't hear from him, can I file this in small claims court? In Illinois, you can ask for a max of $10,000. I settled with him and he was granted a $10,000 spousal award. If I file for small claims, can I ask for that back? I feel that I can show how he was not a good spouse and should not be deserving of this money. The estate was closed in April 2007.
Thank you.