I'm in the midst of some complicated legal wrangling with siblings over my father's estate, and in the course of these wranglings something came up of which I was hoping to get some feedback about as to whether it qualifies as coercion. Here's the summary.
There is a life insurance policy separate from the rest of the will. As the policy was written all siblings will be able to cash in on the policy when it comes due in one year. However, if all beneficiaries agree, we can give individual beneficiaries the option to receive the money now minus whatever interest would have accrued over the next year. Anyone who wanted to wait until the policy came due in a year would also be free to do so. Most of the siblings, including myself, wanted the money now. It is particularly important to me to get the money sooner rather than later, as I can use that money to hire a lawyer.
The problem that has come up in this situation is that two siblings (a minority of the total - it is a big family), including the executor of the will, have refused to sign the form for early disbursement of the insurance policy until all family members sign the necessary forms to allow the executor to begin executing the will, and also provisions agreeing to the manner the will shall be executed.
Contentious points of disagreement have come up concerning how the will shall be executed, and so it seems like these two siblings are basically saying that "if you want us to let you see any of that insurance money sooner rather than later, you need to sign this separate agreement for how the will shall be executed."
So, is this legal? Is it coercion?
It's a New York estate, for what it's worth.
Thanks in advance!
There is a life insurance policy separate from the rest of the will. As the policy was written all siblings will be able to cash in on the policy when it comes due in one year. However, if all beneficiaries agree, we can give individual beneficiaries the option to receive the money now minus whatever interest would have accrued over the next year. Anyone who wanted to wait until the policy came due in a year would also be free to do so. Most of the siblings, including myself, wanted the money now. It is particularly important to me to get the money sooner rather than later, as I can use that money to hire a lawyer.
The problem that has come up in this situation is that two siblings (a minority of the total - it is a big family), including the executor of the will, have refused to sign the form for early disbursement of the insurance policy until all family members sign the necessary forms to allow the executor to begin executing the will, and also provisions agreeing to the manner the will shall be executed.
Contentious points of disagreement have come up concerning how the will shall be executed, and so it seems like these two siblings are basically saying that "if you want us to let you see any of that insurance money sooner rather than later, you need to sign this separate agreement for how the will shall be executed."
So, is this legal? Is it coercion?
It's a New York estate, for what it's worth.
Thanks in advance!