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Executor/Administrator abuse

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T

tish721

Guest
I am from NY with a little problem. I will try and make this as complete as possible. My parents died some time ago and my (unmarried) sister was left as the executrix to their estate, which solely consists of a 2 family house. My sister has also passed away and my oldest brother was left as the administrator, (court appointed). My problem is that my brother recently past away and we are now finding that the funds (from the rents) were misappropriated. (There were originally 8 heirs - currently there are two heirs surviving.) Currently, with some effort, we recently received some bank statements from my niece. We noticed that there are a few entries that are just not right. So we are trying to get all the paid bill receipts and all of the bank statements to find out what happened to all the monies that should have been in the bank. We are told that the receipts, for services rendered, are on - not bill sheets, but on plain pieces of paper, with no business names, addresses or phone numbers or for what house the services were for. The papers just consist of an amount , a signature, a date, and possible a customer's name. My question is: will these papers (bills) hold up in a court of law? We believe, according to the bank statements and events that have happened over the last few years, that the funds were misappropriated. We currently have a meeting with the attorney that is currently handling the estate and 2 of my nieces, on Thursday. (This is when they are suppose to produce the papers that we asked for). I am looking for some help here as I am not rich, nor am I young anymore... and the house is under contract to be sold. I would appreciate any help you can give me, as I am at my wits end and I am getting too old for this nonsense.
 


ALawyer

Senior Member
My sense is that your surmises are probably correct, and while some of the money may have been missappropriated, it is probably less than you think.

The difficulty will be in proving the facts, especially as many of the people who handled the estate are now deceased, and going after them or their heirs may be hard. So focus on the things that may be major, and on the living rather than the deceased.

You, perhaps with advice from an accountant or lawyer could likely come up with approximations of what SHOULD BE LEFT. Add up the rent income and find if and how it was paid -- asking the former tenants is one way -- and then see whether the rent was deposited in a bank (and if not, why not). Then look to see what expenses would likely have been required to maintain the house in decent repair (fuel, lawn, electric, water, gas, painting, repairs, taxes, etc.). Then compare that with the bits of paper for the claimed expenses. Perhaps partial records exist for these expenses, etc. But for Gosh sake, be realistic and don't expect everyone to account for every nickel. If you go to the hardware stre to buy $15 of grass seed or fertilizer, you probably don't record it in a book -- and if you do, you are far more perfect that most people ever are.

Courts rarely require precision -- after all there were no professional executors, and while executors are fiduciaries who are obligated to faithfully account for all the money, they also would normally be entitled to fees for managing the estate's property and executors fees.
 

Dandy Don

Senior Member
Who are you going to file suit against IF you prove that the money was appropriated? It is very unlikely that the total amount you claim misappropriated is going to meet the high burden of proof. Don't blame the heirs for what the administrator brother may have done.

What is the value of the administrator brother's estate? Your attorney fees in filing a lawsuit will probably amount to more than what was taken.

You haven't explained who the rental monies were supposed to go to according to the terms of the will. Did they all go to the administrator or was he supposed to split it amongst the heirs?
 

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