Brother refuses to obey terms of will

[aquariun]

We are all in California. My father died in Dec. 2000. He made out a will in November 1998 leaving his estate to his 4 kids, to be divided equally. My oldest brother is the executor of the will. He is refusing to give us anything. He says father left everything to him to do with as he pleases. We do not believe him. We do not know who his life insurance carrier was or even how much it is. Does this verbal change, when my father was so ill, negate the will? How can we find out what was left and force him to read the will? What if he has destroyed the will? HELP and Thanks!

[Edited by aquariun on 01-21-2001 at 08:28 PM]

 

[advisor10]

01-23-2001

YOU ARE CORRECT in not believing what your brother says. The verbal change (him saying that the father left everything to him) IS NOT WORTH ANYTHING--BECAUSE WHATEVER IS WRITTEN IN THE WILL IS WHAT WILL LEGALLY BE CARRIED OUT. You can't and don't need to force him to do anything about the will.

If he was one of the beneficiaries mentioned in the will, then he can't be paid any money or property until the will is filed and closed through the probate court at the county courthouse, so it would be to his advantage (and everyone else's) to do this as soon as possible. If he hasn't submitted the will to the county courthouse (within 30 days of the date of death) then write a letter of complaint to the Probate Court Clerk at the courthouse and they will have the authority to contact him for an explanation and inform him of the correct procedures to follow. (It is not very likely that he would have destroyed the will.)

Ask him if he knows about any life insurance policies and if he has begun the process to claim them yet. If not, then go to http://www.missingassets.com and pay the $8 fee to have a nationwide policy search done. Get copies of the newspaper obituary notice. Get about 4 certified copies of the death certificate and make about 5 photocopies to keep on file for future use, to submit as verification to creditors and other interested parties that the decedent is dead.

It will take about 9 months (sometimes more, sometimes less)for the executor to process all the paperwork, pay taxes and debts and funeral expenses, and distribute checks to the heirs. All financial documents and records on what he has done will be put in a file along with the will at the courthouse whenever the estate is closed, and anyone can look at the file at that time.

Try to get along with him as much as possible, since he is the person who is responsible for awarding you the inheritance. I realize that this may be somewhat difficult if he has started to be selfish, greedy or uncooperative about the money. Don't "step on his toes" by taking care of any estate affairs that only he may be legally authorized to do, unless you know specifically that he doesn't intend to do it.

Try to find out from a probate/estate attorney in California (or from the Probate Court Clerk) if California requires an executor to be bonded. If YES, then you can claim your inheritance from the bond company IF the brother has already wrongfully stolen your share.

SINCERELY,

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