How is probate avoided with a will

What is the name of your state? connecticut
my father passed away recently. my mother passed june '99. they owned property in florida. my father had alzhiemers. my brother , who lives in connecticut, claims he aquired poa just before my mother died to care for my fathers finances, bills etc. without any notification. also that he aquired joint ownership on bank accounts etc. the property in florida was quit claim deed to all five children. in this scenario, with bank accounts in connecticut, florida property, my mothers will had my father first, then divided equally to 5 children. father came to live in connecticut with my brother 6 months after mother died. his will specifys heired to the 5 children.
now, without seeing any documentation from my brother, he says he controls the estate, it is his due to the joint account status and there will be no probate, either in connecticut or florida. the executor resides in florida, and the laywer also.
i think there hasnt been any filing whatsoever in connecticut.
what are my options to get probate invoke in connecticut?

[Dandy Don]

What type of property did your father and mother own in Florida (was it just a house or a house and land) and what was it worth and is it paid for in full? It would seem that at some point, the ownership of the properties is a matter that has to be determined and that must be done in probate court, so at some point there should be a probate proceeding in Florida to get the title transferred to the names of the new heirs, or maybe the quitclaim deed takes care of this. You really need to consult with a probate attorney to find out what your next steps should be.

If brother/executor gets ownership of the bank accounts through joint tenancy, then there may not be much of an estate left over to be probated. Each state has a minimum amount of estate value required before a probate filing is needed. You need to find out what the minimum amount of estate value is for Connecticut and Florida by contacting the probate court clerk and asking.

The probate is supposed to be filed in whatever county that the death occurred in, so I assume it will be in Connecticut. You need to discuss with your lawyer whether or not the executor can get away with not filing the will--it would seem to be highly improper for him not to file it, if there are other assets in the estate that must be divided among heirs. If he was honest and/or ethical, he should be willing to provide the heirs with any documentation regarding how the estate is being handled, but it looks like his greed is trying to keep everything secret from everybody else.

If you all expect to get anything from this estate, you will have to stand up for your rights.

Who is "the lawyer" that you mention in your posting? Is this the attorney who drew up the will or just someone who is representing your brother/executor? Do you have a copy of the will, and who has the original will?

DANDY DON

[ALawyer]

Any heir at law can file for administration of the estate if there was no will, and if there was a will but it was not filed, any heir at law can then file, even if not named as executor.

Powers of attorney expire at death, and if it is not a durable power, on incapacity. A person with a power who takes from the estate may be held into account.

connecticut. florida property is a condo, no land. paid in full, modest value. 1/2000 condo was quit claim deed to my father and 5 children. his passing i assume just leaves the 5 children on title. no problem there, yet. the florida lawyer handled simple filing of will and death certificate in florida court from what ive been able to determine. also drew up both wills in 1989. my father died in connecticut and was residing with brother up until a few months before passing. he resided in 2 assisted care centers before going into hospital. estate assets are some personal items, whatever hasnt been taken from savings/checking in the past 3 years, most likely life insurance and 2 ira's. brother claims to also have joint tenacy on the ira's which wont mature ?? until 12/04, but has given inclination that he will divide by 5. which i cant put much faith in his word. wouldnt ira roll into the estate probate proceeding? which is my question, can my brother avoid probate where my father died, with a will and estate value well over any state minimum probate? with joint tenacy, would there be an opportunity to avoid legal posting with court on any of this?

[Dandy Don]

What he is telling you about joint tenancy on the IRA may or may not be true (I doubt it, since father would have filled out a beneficiary designation form at the time he first got the IRA that would leave it to specific beneficiaries), but he is probably willing to split it with you all since he knows he will be found out about that. He needs to prove what he is saying by giving you all the name of the company that is holding the IRA so you can check out the status of the account yourself to see if what he is saying is true or not.

The only way you all are going to get full disclosure is to go ahead and open the estate for probate yourself by applying to be administrator. Then when he finds out about it, he will have to put the will up for probate in order to keep control of all the assets and then he will be forced to provide financial information about the estate. He technically has no legal authority to claim any assets that he was not named joint tenant of, since he only becomes official executor when he files to open the estate up for probate.

I repeat, you need to be talking to a probate lawyer in Connecticut to find out what your options are. It is probably illegal to deliberately withhold the filing of a valid will there.

DANDY DON

[Dandy Don]

What state did the death occur in?

Have you had a chance to review the probate file in Florida to see what is in it?