Oh Brother!

[jmminor]

We live in NY. My Mother-In-Law passed in February. She had been living with my husband (her son) and I. Her husband was not able to care for her. Her husband was the executor, received the home, vehicle and assets. My husband and his brother were not left anything. My husband did have a joint checking account w/his mom, which he got the $ from. My brother-in-law has tried various tactics to try to "become" the executor, as he is angry about receiving nothing. He has tried to have my father-in-law committed by social services becuase he is elderly. We are his power-of-attornies and help him as needed. The estate doesnt need to be probated, there are no assets in question. However, my brother-in-law is trying to be appointed executor stating that my husband has not handled the money properly and that he used his mom's credit cards and took money off of the cards for his use. This is at the point where we want information on whether or not we have a case for defamation of character. None of these charges are true, and he has acturally only told these points to his lawyer and the surrogate court judge, but they are written accusations. We think he is trying to put question in the judges mind so that he rules the estate be probated at my father-in-laws expense. He is on a fixed income and 76 years old. This stress is killing him, because he thought everything was his and settled until my brother-in-law got a lawyer and stirred up the kettle. Has anyone heard about this? Can my father-in-law be forced to have this probated at his expense? any info appreciated. [email protected]

 

[advisor10]

JULY 11, 2001

DEAR JMMINOR:

Did someone officially advise you that the estate did not need to be probated or was this something that you decided yourselves?

No one can officially be named or serve as executor unless the will was formally probated through the court. It is possible that the brother-in-law can force the will to be probated, because that is the only honest and up-front way that it can be a matter of public record that the assets have been distributed fairly and legitimately to any known heirs.

If the executor was entitled to receive the assets he got because he was named in joint tenancy and he got these items fairly, then there should be no argument. Your husband got the joint checking account fairly so there should be no problem with that. The problem is that there may be some question whether the executor has a claim to the assets he received, and the will should have been probated to get this affair settled out in the open.

SINCERELY,

[email protected]