Time frame to settle estate in Michigan?

[katrinar]

My father passed away in July 1998. He had a will and named my oldest sister as executor. Everything in his small estate, which consisted of some real property and other personal assets, was left to myself and my eight siblings. The real estate was sold within 6 months of his death and proceeds were divided.

There is still a fair portion of the estate (namely, an extensive coin collection of considerable value). My sister, the executor, has had possession of this collection since my father's death, but has a series of excuses on why it has not been sold or distributed. We all live in Michigan. Up to this point, the estate has been handled outside of probate court.

We are rapidly approaching four years since his death and the rest of us are waiting for closure. Pressuring her to act does not help to speed this process along, she is always "too busy" to deal with it. We have all offered to help facilitate the sale of the coins, but she is reluctant to turn over ANY of the collection to anyone else in the family.

Is there anything in Michigan Probate law that mandates a time frame to settle an estate? Please help

 

[advisor10]

1-25-2002

DEAR KATRINAR:

Please explain why the will was not submitted to probate court, or why you all decided to handle things outside of probate court.

By doing this, you are at somewhat of a disadvantage. If you had gone througoh probate court, the coin collection would have to have been reported as an estate asset and divided accordingly.

Now, in order for it to be divided properly amongst heirs, you may need to file a petition with the probate court to open or reopen the estate just for this item. What is the estimated value of the coin collection?

 

[katrinar]

Time frame to settle estate

I believe the matter was not handled through probate at the time of his death because of the time and expense involved, and the fact that the settlement of the estate did not seem to be that complex. (hindsight is 20-20). I don't believe that anyone had expected that four years later it would still not be settled.

The coin collections' book value is aprox. $100k. We have finally coerced my sister (the executor and guardian of the coins) to at least let someone in the family knowledgable about the collection to get it quoted by coin buyers. She reluctantly gave up a VERY small portion (aprox. 1/20th) of the collection to be taken for quotes; we are getting quotes of aprox. 40-50% of book value.

Getting the balance of the coins from her to be sold is another issue; for some reason she is fighting tooth and nail to not hand over the rest. Raises some suspicion; it appears probate is in order.

 

[advisor10]

2-7-2002

DEAR KATRINAR:

In fact, your arguments that the estate was not probated "because of the time and expense involved" and "settlement did not seem to be complex" have been proven by the passage of time to be somewhat foolish or naive. It looks as if you all did not want to pay an attorney the appropriate executor fee, and now you are paying (or will pay in the future) a higher price because the situation was not handled correctly to begin with.

Does the will mention specifically who the coin collection is to go to (a specific beneficiary) or is it just considered an asset of the entire estate? If you had gone through probate, the item could have been reported properly and ordered to be sold and then the monies properly divided amongst the heirs. She is holding on to it because she thought she could sell it and keep the money herself without anyone else knowing about it (who knows why she is being secretive about the remaining portion of the collection--could it be she has already sold it and doesn't want to be discovered?

If you want the collection to be distributed fairly, you will have to get an attorney and report this item to the probate court, which you should have done to begin with.

Something else is confusing: you say "probate" is in order. Do you mean that everything else regarding the unofficial disposition of the estate has been handled correctly, or was there ever an official probate file opened up on this deceased individual at the county courthouse?

How could your sister have ever received official papers to act as executor if she never opened a probate file at the court, or are you merely calling her executor since that is how she has served the estate?

SINCERELY,

advisor

 

[katrinar]

Dear Advisor:
You raise some interesting questions. Thank you for your advice.
To the best of my knowledge, the estate was never filed in probate court. The will named her (the oldest sibling) as executor; so in reality I suppose it is in name only and never recorded legally.

The rest of the estate was handled fairly promptly and proceeds divided nine ways. The coin collection was named in the will as part of the estate to be sold and divided in the same manner. No other instruction was left as to specific requests such as leaving specific parts of the collection to one heir or another.

Now some questions about the probate filing. Please forgive my ignorance, as I have never had to deal with this before. I am assuming that we would need to contact the Probate Court in the County in which he resided? Can any one of the heirs initiate this contact? What type of information will they need from us (I assume death certificates, copies of the will, is there anything else?)

I realize this may vary from state to state, but any background you could give will be helpful.

 

[VeronicaGia]

Link to MI law website:

http://www.michiganlegislature.org/law/mileg.asp?page=ChapterIndex


Probate law starts with chapter 700

 

[advisor10]

2-9-2002

DEAR KATRINAR:

With a distinctively unusual situation such as yours, you should not be the ones doing the filling with the probate court.

Please discuss your situation/interview with about 3-4 different probate attorneys in your area to find out which ones are most competent and that you get along with the best, and then decide on which one you want to represent you.

You would need to explain that it is not the entire estate that is being probated, just the one item (the coin collection). I would not tell them that it is worth $100,000 (since you don't know the true value yet), but estimate that it is worth more than $25,000. Executor's fees in Michigan are set by law as "reasonable compensation", which means they can charge whatever they want, but I assume the rate would be no more than 7% of the estate value unless the attorney charged by the hour. Get them to give you an estimate (in advance) of what their fee would be.

The attorney can advise you of what documentation you would need. Yes, of course, the death certificate (I'm not sure whether a photocopy would suffice or if a certified copy of the death certificate would be required) and of course, the will, plus a brief background of who handled the other items in the estate and how they were handled. If you have received any written documentation of the value of the coin collection, take that as well.

Good luck to you in getting this matter resolved.

SINCERELY,

advisor