Arizona Intestate Probate Trust Payout

[Stevie_B]

My mom passed away last year without a will and I was appointed Personal Representative of the Estate. The only asset that she had at the time of her passing was her house here in Phoenix, AZ. I will be closing on the house next month and need some advice on how to handle the payout to one of my siblings. After I pay off all of the Estates Debts I will be left with approximately $180,000 to divide three ways. I have already established the trust account in the estates name to handle the payouts and my brother has already provided his banking info so that I can wire transfer the money to his account. However my sister is being a huge pain about the whole thing and is refusing to give me her banking info or current address. She also refuses to respond to any message that I send her via text or email and will not respond to phone calls either. I know that she is getting my messages because our father told me she called him about the messages. When I send her a message that I have a check for $60,000 with her name on it she will respond because who wouldn't with that kind of carrot dangling in front of them. Because of the way that she has twisted all of the info in her head regarding the estate I am worried that she will try and take legal action against me for mishandling the estates.

Is there something I can have her and my brother sign before receiving her inheritance that will protect me from any law suit she may try to file? Basically if she doesn't sign something that prevents her from suing me she doesn't get paid. I am not worried about my brother but would ask him to sign one as well so that I appear impartial.

 

[adjusterjack]

Basically if she doesn't sign something that prevents her from suing me she doesn't get paid.

No, you can't hold her inheritance hostage. Doing so is guaranteed to get you sued.

Give her the check along with a written accounting of the estate's finances with documentation of the expenses.

If she's loony enough to sue you there is nothing you can to do stop it, you can only defend.

 

[t74]

Did you use an attorney? If so, why have you not discussed this with him/her?

My thought would be to give the checks and expense documentation to the attorney and let them be included with a letter to the beneficiaries from the attorney documenting closing the estate. Remember to include this fee as an expense to the estate. (I learned from experience of not doing something like this; I am still being berated by an unhappy beneficiary over 10 years later.)

 

[Stevie_B]

No, you can't hold her inheritance hostage. Doing so is guaranteed to get you sued.

Give her the check along with a written accounting of the estate's finances with documentation of the expenses.

If she's loony enough to sue you there is nothing you can to do stop it, you can only defend.

She’s definitely loony enough to sue so I’ll be prepared to defend myself. The way she’s twisted everything in her head I can’t even have a conversation without her yelling right out the gate. My brother on the other hand who lives on the other side of the country knows exactly what is going on and he even tried talking with her which resulted in her verbally attacking his wife because he was telling her she had everything wrong.

 

[Stevie_B]

Did you use an attorney? If so, why have you not discussed this with him/her?

My thought would be to give the checks and expense documentation to the attorney and let them be included with a letter to the beneficiaries from the attorney documenting closing the estate. Remember to include this fee as an expense to the estate. (I learned from experience of not doing something like this; I am still being berated by an unhappy beneficiary over 10 years later.)

I am not using a lawyer but I did seek one out in the beginning. The retainer fee was more then any of us could afford and we all were on speaking terms then so I opted to not get one and became Personal Representative. I have all the receipts of what I’ve had to spend plus an additional $5,000 plumbing job, for the house, that I had to finance. So the accounting side of it is easy for me track and justify what each of us will be getting.

 

[Dandy Don]

You now need to consult with an Arizona probate attorney for guidance or suggestions on how to accomplish what you want to achieve. Consultation will be based on an hourly fee and is not prohibitively expensive.

 

[t74]

I understand about it not being cost effective to engage an attorney to handle probate having had that situation in my own family this year. Check with your local Bar Association. Many have a referral service with inexpensive first appointments for the client to see what the attorney can do for them.