Estate settlement

[J King]

Pennsylvania - This in addition to the previously asked question, How is an estate settled?. My mother died 18 months ago, and I an executor of her estate (my father is also dead). I had an estate lawyer handle everything, all bills are paid, there are no debts, and my two brothers live in her house to keep it maintained. Her will provided us with the house and property, and we want to put the deed in our names. But when can we do this? And since the house is still in the estate, my one brother's ex-wife has sued the estate to get her arrearage on child support. Does that complicate matters as to when we can get the deed of the house and land put into our names?

 

[ALawyer]

Yes, it does complicate matters! Keeping the property in an estate to attempt to deter a creditor from gaining what she is entitled to always complicates matters.

 

[J King]

Thank you for your reply. But I am still confused. You say my ex-sister-in-law is a creditor. Didn't she have to claim monies owed her at the time the lawyer published the info for debtors and creditors in the newspaper after my mother's death? Also, you assumed that I didn't settle the estate so the creditor couldn't claim her monies. That is absolutely not true, since, in my first question to FreeAdvice, I definitely did not know how to settle the estate and deed it over to the inheritors. I know this sounds naieve, but it's true. I'll definitely talk everything over with my siblings and will probably get a lawyer.