sister is not going to file probate

[redwing22]

Hi Mom passed away december 22nd 2001 in ny. i spoke with sister jan 8th and asked if she filed probate yet. she said no and that she did not intend to since mom didn't have a lot. mom divorced dad 3 years ago and everything was split including the sale of the house. this would have given her about 70,000 to 80,000 at the time. sister claims there were a lot of medical bills, but mom retired from state of michigan and had medical coverage through the state, so i think a lot of the bills would have been covered. sister had power of attorney over mom and i think she took money out of moms account the day after she died. now sister also claims she can't find moms will. something just doesn't seem right. how could 70,000 dissapear in two years? is there a time limit on filing for probate in ny? I think she may be stalling to hide something. there is another sibling a brother who has not said anything yet. dad said he may have moms will from before they were divorced. Help!

 

[advisor10]

1-12-2002

DEAR REDWING:

It MIGHT be true what your sister is saying about there not being much left in the estate after bills are paid, but she needs to prove it.

You could get an attorney to force her to submit the will to probate court. But first you should try to get information about how the bank account money was handled--when it was closed out. The power of attorney expires at the time of death, so if your sister did take this money out after your mother died, she had no legal authority to do this--it should probably have been reported as a probate asset unless there was someone's name listed as beneficiary on the account card, in which case the money would pass directly to them without having to go through probate.

If she was not authorized to take this money out, it needs to be reported to the estate and the probate court can order her to return it.