no reply from estate executer

[Chattycathy454]

My mother passed a year and two months ago in Minnesota. I live in Michigan. I was her only heir. After putting up w/months of evasiveness from the executer not wanting to let me know what the hold-up was (some stocks needed to be transferred into my name), I finally got a lawyer in my state to get in touch with him - hoping to light a fire under him. The executer e-mailed me to let me know that the stocks were finally ready to be transferred into my name (over a year after her death) and he said that they had to liquidate some of the stock to cover "estate costs". Since we had no idea of how much these costs came to, my lawyer asked the executer for an account of the costs and also an account of his time spent on the estate since he was charging 5000.00 for his services( He was my mother's stepgrandson). It has been a week and neither our broker, where the stocks were to be transferred, nor our lawyer has heard a word from him. Any ideas as to what may be going on & what to do about it? Thank you in advance!

 

[advisor10]

1-19-2002


DEAR CHATTY CATHY:

Do you know how to reach the executor at his home phone or daytime business phone or home address or business address?

Have you sent the executor an e-mail?

Do you know the name of the stock brokerage house that is doing the transaction so that perhaps you could check with them to find out the status of the transaction?

Try to get your broker to find out the status of the transaction and if it ever took place.

In fairness there may have been some complication or some reason that the transaction did not go through, but the fact that this executor has not contacted you seems to imply that maybe he received the check and may have cashed it and perhaps improperly kept most of the proceeds for himself instead of turning it over to you in the form of a separate check issued to you.

Is this estate still officially open or closed? You also need to consider the possibility of asking the probate court judge to instruct this executor to properly submit the financial records about this transaction to the probate court so it can be determined if everything has been done properly.

SINCERELY,

advisor