Wills vs Trusts

[Enzianme]

I live in N.Y. state. My Father died on Nov 23, 2001. It is now Jan 2002 and I have not seen a will, if there was one. I have been told that younger sister is the executor of the estate, but do'nt know for sure. During Dad's last days, I requested to see the will and was told it was a secret and I could not see it. Can somebody help!

 

[advisor10]

1-8-2002

DEAR ENZIANME:

Check at the county courthouse to see if the will has been filed yet. If it has been, you can get a copy.

It will show the name of the executor.

If it has not yet been filed, ask your sister if you have been named as a beneficiary and ask her to mail you a copy or at least ask her when she intends to have it filed at the courthouse--normally it is supposed to be within 30 days after the person has died.

 

[Enzianme]

No will on file at county courthouse. Will has disappeared. There is much more to this problem that I would like to get into. But I don't know who I am speaking with! I would like to see Father's estate taken into the proper court, but don't know how.

 

[advisor10]

1-11-2002

DEAR ENZIANME:

How can you reasonably expect to be given adequate advice if there are missing pieces to the puzzle?

How can your sister be an "executor" if no will has been filed? She can not technically called an executor if she has received no legal authority from the court to do so. Whoever fills out the paperwork to apply to the court (whether that is a family member or an attorney) will be appointed the official executor of the estate.

Was the will prepared by an attorney? If so, his/her office should have a copy on file or should be able to produce a replacement copy for submission to probate court. If you reasonably feel that someone in the family is hiding the will or deliberately destroyed it, then someone needs to hire a probate attorney to "force" the will to be produced by whoever has it (probably the sister) or begin probating the estate according to intestate law for your state.

It sounds like your sister is taking control of assets and trying to steal or at least keep everything she is doing in secret, and unless someone else in the family does something about it (opens up the estate in probate court), you may regret it later on.

Normally, it is required that the person's will be filed in probate court within 30 days after the person's death, so if they haven't done so, then something seems a little bit suspicious.

Do you have any idea of how much this estate is worth?

Is there any way to find out if your sister has already claimed his bank accounts, employment benefits, etc. when she really has no legal authority to do it?


SINCERELY,

advisor

 

[Enzianme]

I am sure sister and husband is trying to steal everything

Dear advisor,
Younger sister claims she had POA for Father and Mother, before Father's death. She also claimed that she was the executor of the estate. While Dad was alive I was told that there was a $10,000.00 trust fund for me. This has disappeared too. Dad owned a 95 chevy that I was told by him to use and one night while I was at the American Legion, selling 50/50 raffle tickets, the car was taken from the parking lot.
I was on SSI until somebody made a report and informed SS admin. that I had been given some land, which is where I lived on. As a result of this report, I lost my SSI. Father made a mistake on the amount of land that he gave to me and my mobile home didn't sit on the land that he gave to me. My mobile sits about 50ft in back of the land that he gave to me. My younger sister or her husband shut off my water supply, which came from my Father's home. As I stated, there is alot to this, and more.

 

[advisor10]

1-12-2002

DEAR ENZIANME:

Get a local attorney as soon as possible or your situation could end up being even worse!!

I can't emphasize this enough--IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOUR SISTER CLAIMS SHE IS EXECUTOR OF THE ESTATE--THAT IS NOT TRUE UNTIL SHE HAS FILED THE WILL WITH THE COURTHOUSE. THEREFORE IF SHE HAS NOT FILED THE WILL SHE HAS NO AUTHORITY TO MAKE FINANCIAL DECISIONS ABOUT YOUR FATHER'S ESTATE AFTER THE DEATH OCCURRED, BECAUSE POWER OF ATTORNEY EXPIRES AT THE SAME TIME DEATH OCCURS.

If your dad was telling the truth about the trust fund, surely he left instructions with someone about what bank it is held at or how to access it. How do you KNOW that it has disappeared?

If the car was stolen from the parking lot, you need to file an official police report so that it can be located and returned to you.

You need to find out from the SSI office who made the accusations against you and have an appeal of your case made. If those accusations are false, then you could be reinstated.

Please get an attorney to help you so that you can financially benefit from your father's estate. If you don't do anything, this sister is going to completely take everything and you will be left with nothing.

SINCERELY,

advisor

 

[Enzianme]

Dear Advisor,

During this tough time I employed the help of an attorney, one Pat Evans, he bailed out on me last week. On Dec. 11, 2001, he wrote Dad's attorney a letter, requesting to know the facts surrounding my late Father. Mr. Evans recieved a verbal respond from Dad' attorney. After this he bailed out on me.


During the past week I have made an appointment with Legal Services of Central N. Y.
Also I called the State Police.
Between the State Police investagator and Mr. Evans they believe there was a Trust Fund.





Sincerely,

Milon E. Enzian

 

[advisor10]

1-14-2002

DEAR ENZIANME:

I'm very glad that it looks like Legal Services of Central New York will be able to assist you in getting something done!

Did you pay attorney Pat Evans any money to represent you? If you did pay him and he did not provide any services, you need to report him to the local/state bar association for abandoning you as a client. They will investigate and either get your money back or send someone else to assist you. If you DID NOT pay him any money and he was just helping you out as a favor, then please do not file a complaint against him.

I believe that as soon as your attorney is able to make contact with the sister or at least force her to file information with the court, you will start to make progress. GOOD LUCK!

SINCERELY,

advisor

 

[Enzianme]

Dear Advisor,

Help is in doubt from Legal Services, but never can tell. There is still NYS Troopers to deal with sister.

I did pay Evans, but don't see how I can get any money back. He did write a letter for me to Dad's lawyer and drafted a bill of sale, which I had Mother sign in front of a notary.

The problem seems to be the willingness of one Lawyer to take on another Lawyer. My question is How does a person determine how much knowledge a given Lawyer has, or wether or not a given Lawyer is able to help you?


Lawyer with Legal Services told me today that they could not force sister to file with Surrogate Court.


Sincerely,

Milon Enzian

 

[advisor10]

1-15-2002

DEAR ENZIANME:

I disagree with the advice you were given--call up 3-4 other probate attorneys and ask them if they can get a court order from the probate judge forcing this sister to file the will if she has it, and I think they will tell you yes.

SINCERELY,

advisor

 

[Enzianme]

Looking for good Probate lawyer.

I am looking for a Good probate lawyer to handle Dad's and Ma's estate. I suppose the estate is worth between $100,000.00 and $200,000.00.

SINCERELY,
Eznainme