Executor & Co-Executor Feuding

[Zelly]

My mother died almost 4 years ago. My sister was named as the Executor and my youngest brother Co-Executor. My brother could not perform his job as Co-Executor at the time of my mothers death and my sister acquired Power Of Attorney to pay estate bills and disburse money my mother had in stocks that she owned. My mother also owned property and it was decided to sell the property and split the money 4 ways. My sister later allowed her son to live in the house and not pay full market value rent to the Estate for living in the house. My brother now wants to get involved in the Estate and find out exactly what has been paid out of the Estate account and what has been received by the Estate for rents and so forth. My sister has refused to send him records and any statements concerning the Estate. Since he is still the Co-Executor, does he have rights to this information and if so how would he go about forcing the Executor (my sister) to share any and all information concerning how this Estate has been handled over the last 3 years. He also worries that if our other brother and I decided to contest how this Estate has been handled, would he in fact be liable since to his knowledge, he is still listed as Co-Executor. He also wants to know if it is possible for him to take over the Estate and dispense with the propety or rent the property at a fair market value until it is sold. We live in New Jersey and this problem is driving all of us up the wall.

 

[ALawyer]

This will tear your family apart.

Get a lawyer for the family now to straighten things out amicably. I'd have to read the documents to give any intelligent advice on the parties' rights and responsibilities.

It should have been done years ago.

 

[advisor10]

(01-11-2001)

Please answer a few more questions so that a person can get a more comprehensive understanding of what is happening in your situation.

(1) Is your sister (the Executor) finished with all the work regarding the estate and has she already filed the will for probate at the county courthouse or does this still have to be done?

You may have to speak with a probate/estate attorney in your area to find out whether or not a co-executor's signature is required when submitting the will for probate. It might not be necessary, but then again you never know for sure.

(2) If the will has already been probated and is on file at the county courthouse, then ANYONE who is a member of the public can view it, including your brother, the co-executor. If he doesn't know this, then please tell him about this so he can review the documents himself. However, if he doesn't know this, then you have to decide whether or not you want to keep that information to yourself in order to protect yourself legally. If you think he is belligerent enough or it would financially benefit him enough to start contesting the will, then I don't think you should necessarily "give him the ammunition to go against you" by telling him about the probate file. Maybe an attorney in your city could better advise you about this.

You don't mention where this brother lives, but assuming he lives in New Jersey in a different city from where you and your sister live, then I would think it would be better to "keep him in the dark". It would be very difficult for him to come up with sufficient grounds to challenge the decisions that the executor has made. You would only need to be concerned about a will contest if the estate is considerably large (with assets of more than $50,000).

SINCERELY,

[email protected]