claim for funeral expenses out of probate estate?

[cmora438]

I live in MO, and still not case still not closed after nearly 3 years. Estate is less than $20,000. Just when everything looked like it was coming to an end, again. A claim for funeral expenses that was filed by step-mother before she died, has popped up again, eventhough I was advised that it was not going to be an issue, and supposedly my attorney thought it had been thrown out or ruled upon, whatever. It wasn't not to be worried about. Now, it seems, it is a problem. A valid claim is what I'm told. Why? It was my deceased stepmother's husband, she got everything he owned that was in her name except half of the intestate bank accounts, which I now, have to split with her mother, and her siblings. She had no children. How in the world is it fair that her siblings get half of the cost of my father's funeral expenses out of the amount to be inhereted from this estate. The woman is dead. They didn't pay for his burial. She had no will, and neither did my father. Since this case, I see a lot of changes that should be made in our state. I am the only child of my father, but since I was not her child, I keep getting kicked in the shins by our laws here. At first, my stepmother tried to tell the original attorney of this case that I did not exist. Soon after I found out about the accounts left instestate, is when another attorney in her behalf took her case. She finally admitted that she thought my dad had asked her to give me the account with the most in it. At any rate, I almost wish I hadn't found out about the accounts. What could be a good reason for this supposed resurfacing claim to be denied?

 

[advisor10]

3-23-2002

DEAR CMORA438:

The main thing you need to find out is why wasn't this funeral expense paid during the deceased stepmother's husband's probate process (assuming he had a will), or even if he didn't have a will, try to find out the date of the funeral bill and how much it was. This is something that his estate executor should have taken care of during the time the decedent's estate was probated. The only acceptable reason that it might not have been taken care of is if he didn't have enough assets in his estate or there were too many debts, in which case it is understandable why his wife would want to take care of it.

It seems that someone (the executor or the court) made a mistake (even in submitting it to the stepmother's estate) by not getting this item paid before distributing the monies to the heirs.

However, it would be the ethical thing for the heirs to do to go ahead and contribute the money to getting this bill paid--show some respect for the deceased, especially since it is HIS money you all are getting. Wouldn't you want someone to pay YOUR funeral bill if it was still outstanding?

SINCERELY,

advisor

 

[HomeGuru]

I agree with advisor.

 

[cmora438]

Trying to make my previous query clearer

I guess I didn't make myself clear. The funeral bill was paid out of my dad and his widow's checking account before she died. After he died, she wanted the money back out of the probated part of his intestate estate money. It would be like him paying twice for his own funeral. I hope I have made this clear this time. She wanted money back for paying for his funeral. When I ask for advice, I hope to get help, not a lecture. Poor guy my you know what. When he got out the service, all he wanted to do was molest me. The deceased, eventhough I was his only child, left me nothing and after my parents divorced, did not help my mom raise me in any way. He left his widow well set, so you know who got all of that after she died. Not I. This intestate estate is all I have a right to. Can't you see why I would not want to split it with his widow's siblings, much less, have to be forced to pay for his funeral again, and that cost too, going to her brother and sisters, who didn't file the claim in the first place????

 

[advisor10]

3-23-2002

DEAR CMORA:

Thank you for clarifying. Your position is much stronger now.

Specifically who is asking for this money to be paid now--is it a probate court judge or merely another attorney? Is it an official court order? If they can't cite the specific law or probate law to justify their position, then the claim is a little bit suspicious. Since the funeral expense was already paid for/taken care of previously, it seems highly unfair for the deceased wife to be repaid that money. Of course it might be better to go ahead and pay it off to avoid further aggravation.