Estate Issues.... Military Benificiary

[stuckinlamad]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Maine

My father in law "Phil" passed away in March 2011. He named his oldest son "BILL" as executor in his will. "Bill" is also the only one who still lives in Maine. Both my husband "Jack" who is military and his sister "Jill" currently live far away from Maine.

When "Phil" passed away in March his GF "Lil" was listed as co-owner on all the vehicles and bank accounts. "Lil" took off and hasn't been heard from since the funeral. The will stated that the home was to be put in "Bill's" "Jack's" and "Jill's" names. We trusted "Bill" as executor to handle this process.

HOWEVER, there has been no paperwork shown to prove that this has been done. "Bill" has rented out "Phil's" house while collecting rent is not paying the mortgage or taxes. He is also keeping all rent being paid. There are rumors that "Bill" is using and selling drugs. We have reason to believe that the rumors are true. "Bill" did not pay any of his share of expenses unrelated to the funeral ie: legal fees, tombstone cost, etc. Those fees were paid by "Jack" and "Jill". "Jack" and "Jill" want to remove "Bill" as executor to ensure that they do not lose the property due to the taxes and mortgage not being paid.

The only thing we do know is that it has finished going through probate.

My husband is about to deploy again. We are very concerned as we do not live in Maine that things are being badly mishandled up there. Can he give me power of attorney to handle things on his behalf if he deploys before this is resolved? WHAT CAN WE DO???? Please help. Thanks!

 

[justalayman]

I suggest you find out in a hurry whether the mortgage and taxes have been paid lest it will be foreclosed upon either by the mortgage lender or the tax authority.

"Bill" did not pay any of his share of expenses unrelated to the funeral ie: legal fees, tombstone cost, etc.

Bill didn't have a share of those expenses unless he agreed to have a share of those expenses. The legal fees (presuming you are meaning the probate costs) should have been born by the estate so he definitely wouldn't have any of those expenses. The bulk of the funeral expenses were also owed by the estate unless Bill agreed to pay for something there. A tombstone may or may not be considered a funeral expense. If it wasn't, unless Bill agreed to share in the costs, he had no obligation to pay anything.

Can he give me power of attorney to handle things on his behalf if he deploys before this is resolved?

for most things: yes.

When "Phil" passed away in March his GF "Lil" was listed as co-owner on all the vehicles and bank accounts. "Lil" took off and hasn't been heard from since the funeral.

co-owner does not necessarily mean joint owner with rights of survivorship. Hopefully they were listed as such or you may have gotten screwed out of that money.

"Jack" and "Jill" want to remove "Bill" as executor to ensure that they do not lose the property due to the taxes and mortgage not being paid

if probate has been closed, Bill is no longer the executor. You close probate when the disposition of the estate has been completed.

 

[stuckinlamad]

As a result of the GF being on the bank accounts the estate had NO cash period. Therefore there were expenses owed by the estate that were not paid by the estate and were covered by "Jack" and "Jill".

The GF screwed us but between the values of the cars and bank accounts there was less than 5k.

The house is the only major concern right now. How do I find out...

1. IF the morgage is current? The last time we spoke to the bank they wouldn't tell us anything.

2. IF there is insurance on the home/property? Is it being paid?

3. Are the taxes being paid?

4. Who's names are listed on the deed?

The PROBLEM is that if it was handled improperly and the house was not titled in my husbands name as 1/3 owner than the bank, insurance company, state taxes etc can not legally give us any information. IE IF he put it in just his name what can we do? Since the bank won't give us any information we believe this is the case. It is our belief the Bill has either not transfered the house or only transferred it to himself. What would be our next step?

 

[justalayman]

stuckinlamad;2971870]As a result of the GF being on the bank accounts the estate had NO cash period. Therefore there were expenses owed by the estate that were not paid by the estate and were covered by "Jack" and "Jill".

that was nice of Jack and Jill but it does not obligate Bill to also contribute.

Time out:

if there was any equity in the house, there should have been no costs born by Jack or Jill. If it requires selling the house to pay the bills, well, then that is what it takes. If you got the house in exchange for paying some of the bills, well, then you made that choice.

The GF screwed us but between the values of the cars and bank accounts there was less than 5k.

if the accounts and titles were joint with rights of survivorship, she didn't screw you out of anything. Your father in law made arrangements for her to get the assets when he died. If you want to be pissed at anybody, be pissed at your father in law.

no, better yet: be pissed at yourself because complaining about the GF getting what she did is jealousy. Your FIL gave the stuff to her. Why would you be angry that she accepted what your FIL gave to her?

1. IF the morgage is current? The last time we spoke to the bank they wouldn't tell us anything.

then I suspect the title has not been transferred

2. IF there is insurance on the home/property? Is it being paid?

I don't know. Has your husband purchased insurance? Why is this all Bills problem to deal with?

3. Are the taxes being paid?

call the county that collects the taxes and ask.

4. Who's names are listed on the deed?

if it takes this, hire a title company to research the title. Other than that, actually you can do a basic title search online for many states or if not available, you would have to go to the register of deeds office in the county of the property.

What would be our next step?

I would start with getting a copy of the probate file to see what can be seen there.

 

[anteater]

The only thing we do know is that it has finished going through probate.

How is it that you know this?

I ask because some people have some odd ideas about what "going through probate" means.

 

[stuckinlamad]

1. I am not jealous that she got the money in the bank or the cars....
She took personal belongings that were not hers to take. They had personal value not numeric value. She also had someone call us and say we were "reported for elderly abuse" because while we were going to allow her to remain in the house she needed to put the bills IE Electric, gas, in her name as Phil's estate didn't have money to pay her future bills. We were however able to prove that wasn't a case of elder abuse.

2. The insurance: Bill is collecting rent on the home, he is keeping all rent money and that money should be used to pay the insurance, mortgage, and taxes. The mortgage in only $250 monthly and the taxes are $400 yearly. He is collecting $400 monthly on the house. As this house is in a very rural area taxes and property values are very low. The rent he is collecting and keeping is more than enough to pay the mortgage, taxes, and insurance. If he wasn't collecting rent then it would be another matter. WE DO NOT CARE IF HE COLLECTS/KEEPS ANY RENT REMAINING AS LONG AS THE MORTGAGE AND TAXES ARE PAID.

3. Bill said it had gone through probate. I don't really know what he ment by that and at this point we have reasonable belief that as executor he is not acting in a responsible manner.

4. Jack and Jill both want the house to belong to only Jack, Jill, or Bill by having 1 of them buy the others out of their share. Bill doesn't see any reason to do that as he is collecting the rent and doesn't want to just buy them out. Jack would like to buy them out and Bill as executor is not doing anything. He doesn't feel he needs to. He is collecting money and has no reason to put Jack and Jill on the property.

 

[anteater]

Has your husband received any notifications from his brother regarding probate? Notification that probate was opened and the brother appointed as the estate's personal representative? Notice that the estate is closed? For example, the Maine Probate Code provides that:

§3-1003. Closing estates; by sworn statement of personal representative

(a). Unless prohibited by order of the court and except for estates being administered in supervised administration proceedings, a personal representative may close an estate by filing with the court no earlier than 6 months after the date of original appointment of a general personal representative for the estate, a verified statement stating that the personal representative, or a previous personal representative, has:
(1). Determined that the time limited for presentation of creditors' claims has expired;

(2). Fully administered the estate of the decedent by making payment, settlement, or other disposition of all claims that were presented, expenses of administration and estate, inheritance and other death taxes, except as specified in the statement, and that the assets of the estate have been distributed to the persons entitled. If any claims remain undischarged, the statement must state whether the personal representative has distributed the estate subject to possible liability with the agreement of the distributees or it shall state in detail other arrangements which have been made to accommodate outstanding liabilities; and

(3). Sent a copy of the statement to all distributees, to all persons who would have a claim to succession under the testacy status upon which the personal representative is authorized to proceed, and to all creditors or other claimants of whom the personal representative is aware whose claims are neither paid nor barred and has furnished a full account in writing of the personal representative's administration to the distributees whose interests are affected thereby.

The problem here is that everything you are conveying (at least, I think it is everything - have not read back through the posts completely) is based upon what someone has said. Given what you have said about brother-in-law, I don't know that I would trust anything he has to say. You or your husband need to get some hard information.

In addition to checking with the county property records as justalayman suggested, I would suggest that you contact the probate court in the county in which your husband's father resided to ask if probate was even opened. I did a quick search and was initially skeptical about the site below. But I looked at the websites of a couple of the Maine county probate court and they point to this site. So, I assume it is legitimate:

http://www.maineprobate.net/

 

[stuckinlamad]

Information I learned today

1. The taxes have NOT been payed on the house as Bill stated. Received this information from the state of Maine property tax department who was able to email us a copy of the bill. The bill has been due since October and started accruing interest this month.

2. The county deed office told me that they have received a copy of the will but need another form called a Deed of Disbursement to actually put the names of Jack Jill and Bill on the Deed. This must be signed by Bill as he is currently the executor/ personal representative of the estate.

3. We still can't find out any information from the bank as only the personal representative can access this information.

4. Spoke to 2 lawyers today. The first was the original probate lawyer who could not give me any information as he represents Bill as personal representative. The second was extremely helpful and suggested as my first step to send a written letter requesting an accounting. Asking them to prove the taxes and mortgage are being paid. If they do not comply then it will be easier to prove he has not properly managed the estate and can be removed as personal representative. This is more complicated due to the fact Maine requires the personal representative to be living in the state of Maine. However, since we know that the taxes aren't paid this will allow us to hopefully get the mortgage information to keep the house from being foreclosed on if it isn't being paid.

5. The lawyer suggested a 2 week window for complying. Since we now have the copy of the taxes due we know they will not be able to show proof of payment.

 

[stuckinlamad]

Has your husband received any notifications from his brother regarding probate? Notification that probate was opened and the brother appointed as the estate's personal representative? Notice that the estate is closed?

We have never received any paperwork from Bill regarding Probate. After speaking with the original lawyer who held the will I do know that Bill was appointed the estate's personal representative. Speaking to the county deed office I learned that they received the copy of the will from the probate court.

The estate is not closed to the best of my knowledge. The 2nd lawyer I spoke to said that disbursement could not begin until at least September as he had looked in the court records and seen the notice to the creditors was posted in May. I did tell the original lawyer that the taxes had not been paid but did not reveal any additional information to him as he is Bill's lawyer. He stated he would speak to Bill on the matter.

I will be sending the letter tomorrow as recommended by the 2nd lawyer to get an accounting of what has been done as we have received no notifications of any kind at this point. This will at least allow us to get a clearer picture of what has happened so far and what hasn't.