Estate, Probate Michigan, No Will

[din]

Background: Michigan Probated estate of my uncle who has basically personal property under $6,000 (appraised value) and real property value varying from appraisal of 360,000 to Fair market values up to $525,000, (free and clear)
My aunt who has 50%, and me and my siblings are entitled to 50%(there was no will and the state mandates this as the split). My aunt requested and became personal rep, we were skeptical, but believed that the Probate court would oversee the expenses incurred, creditors, etc. She is living in the house along with some other relatives of hers,(she had her own but we believe recently sold it) and has been doing some maintenance, which sometimes sounds like remodeling? Who determines what expenses she incures in the name of the estate are legitimate? Can the estate charge her for rent? Does she have to substantiate anything to the us as beneficiaries? Also, she had a roof put on the home a few years ago, no loan papers were signed by my uncle that we know of. Is this roof repair something that the estate has to pay for?

 

[advisor10]

12-28-2001

DEAR DIN:

It seems as if your aunt, as executor, is taking unfair advantage of a situation to benefit herself. The expense for the roof would not seem to be a valid estate expense, and is something she should be paying for out of her own funds.

You haven't mentioned whether the estate is still open now or if it has closed.

If you are absolutely sure that you and your siblings are heirs who are entitled to a portion of the house, then you need to take the will to an attorney to have him/her review it and to ask the attorney to file a petition with the court to force the executor to sell the home (and then give the heirs the amount that they are entitled to), or you could first have your attorney (or do it yourself) ask the executor if she is willing to buy out the heirs (pay the heirs, out of her own money if she can afford to do this, for their share of the home, so that she could then own it free and clear).

If the estate is already closed, you may have to have it reopened just to take care of this matter. If the estate is still open, then this is just one more matter of business that needs to be brought up in probate court.

 

[din]

Michigan Estate

We are sure we are Heirs, there was no will,we were notified by my aunt, after she saw her attorney, that the state dictates that 1/2 to the remaining living sibling (my aunt, because there were no offspring or spouse of my uncles) and 1/2 to the children of my mother who is deceased which is the 3 of us. The estate is still open, it will be a year in March 2002. IS THERE A TIME LIMIT to close the estate? As I stated, it is a simple estate only the real property and the Personal property, no bonds, etc. We are afraid the longer it stays open, the more "maintenance" will be done. Since she has been living there since the death of my uncle, (along with her son on and off and a grandson and his family on and off-she has recently sold her home) DOES SHE HAVE TO PAY RENT to the estate while she is living there? What would a the amount be? The appraised value of the Home and 3 acres is $70,000. The value of the total real property has been given a Fair Market value of anywhere from 425,000 to 625,000 (there is 150 plus acres with a lakefront and woods). She has given a list of "some" of the expenses she has incurred. Including a vet bill for my Uncle's dog for his shots, the dog is not listed as part of the estate and at the Funeral, my brother offered to take the dog, and she insisted that SHE is keeping him?? WHO DETERMINES what is allowed to be charged to the estate and what should be disallowed? Do we as heirs have to petition the court? She wants to have a "Family Auction" for the personal property items, IS A "FAMILY" AUCTION LEGAL? Some items are very old, some sentimental, some antiques, (and some we remember are just not there) Isn't it customary to have a public auction to liquidate the assets which would seem to bring more money into the estate to pay for the "repairs"?

Help! We are getting more Confused, disillusioned, and disapointed as time goes on.

 

[advisor10]

1-3-2002

DEAR DIN:

Your situation is so complex that only a consultation with a local attorney could adequately answer all your questions.

There may be no time limit on how long the estate can remain open, to this is something that you are needlessly worrying about. Technically, as executor, she could find any excuse in the world for keeping it open. Whether there is a time limit is something that only a local attorney can tell you.

It's hard to say for sure whether or not she should be paying rent. Technically, as executor, she gets to decide whether or not rental income is charged on the property (if she rented it out to someone else), but actually, she should be paying rent to the estate even though she is the renter, since the ownership of the house is not 100% hers.

She has a lot of leeway about deciding how the auction of the contents is handled also, as executor. By having a family auction, she is trying to keep participation limited to family members (which might be a good thing if they can afford to pay for the items) without having to deal with the uninterested public.

 

[advisor10]

1-7-2002

DEAR DIN:

I just wanted to suggest that you visit your library to see if a book is available there entitled "HOUSESMART" by Bruce Williams. It gives a guideline in there about how much rent to charge for a rental property--I can't remember the exact figure, but it might have been 1%-1.5% of the total value of the house, and I don't remember if that amount would be a monthly or annual rental amount.

A real estate agent also might be able to advise you on the correct amount.

 

[din]

Next Step

We had the "Family Auction", that sure was an eyeopener. It wasn't a very pleasant experience, she has deeper pockets than we did.

The property is 2 parcels, one approx 14 acres on a lake, and another 147 of woods, some fields, and the old (100 year old) farmhouse.

We know she wants it all, if we cannot come to an agreement on a price for her to buy out our half, do we need to petition the court to split the land? Could the court order that, a survey and split, letting the court decide on who gets what? We wouldn't want the house, just the land. The house was appraised at $70,000, so she could pay us half that value to compensate for it? Please let me know if this sounds reasonable. It has been over a year now, and we just now split (Family auctioned) the personal property.