only76daughter
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Pennsylvania
Hi-- I’ll try to keep this as brief as possible. Dad, a full-time antique dealer, passed away. Will orders his antiques be sold at public sale but also gives Executor powers to sell at private sale if he sees fit. Executor barely knows me, but is cozy with my greedy stepmother, and I don’t trust either of them further than I can throw 'em. One major antique of my Dad’s is currently being put through auction at a drastic, drastic reduction (1% of maximum estimated value) from the amount my Dad estimated it during his lifetime. The piece is physically very huge and hard to move, lacks much visual charm, and is being described as basically a fake; therefore, it can’t be expected to sell well at auction. In fact, it has already been through auction and nobody bid. Here’s my suspicion: piece is purposely being vastly de-valued by whomever is in on the conspiracy to make it unsellable at public auction and thereby “forcing” a private sale. Whereupon co-conspirators sell it for what it’s REALLY worth, for cash, and divvy up the profits for themselves. I suspect this because my Dad was no liar and no fool about his business and I believe that the Executor, the stepmonster and the auction owner are all greedy pigs (auction owner was busted in the 1980’s for what is known as “shilling”--- a practice which operates in the opposite manner of my current suspicions, but one of many possible ways to work an estate auction scam, I’m sure).
My questions, then are these:
1) I’ve asked Executor for an appraisal and/or to provide solid documentation of exactly how it was determined that the piece is a “fake”, and/or for simply more time to get more information before it’s rushed through auction again for dirt cheap. My argument was that given the gargantuan discrepancy in the valuation and the fact that it serves ALL of our collective interests to make sure there was no mix-up and we are all not going to lose a heap of money, that we should find out for sure from an expert. I’ve been given the non-response “we’re just going to do what we want” response, from both Executor and auctioneer, as I suspected. Stepmonster is conveniently mum and MIA, including about when my father‘s funeral was or will be, the classless toad. (But I digress…) Auction is in three days, and they all apparently want to proceed as planned. What can I do in terms of either insisting on appraisal/documentation and/or making a case for breach of executor duty if he continues to refuse to provide documentation of the piece’s value? I guess it’s too late to stop the auction, but do I have any other recourse?
2)A few people have suggested I bid on the piece myself, which would be a great idea. Sadly, though, I simply don’t have the money to do so, even with it being drastically devalued it’s still much more than I can afford. Plus there's the aforementioned logistics of moving it, and I am far out of state. Do I have any other options? Ideally something pre-emptive that doesn't require me to wrangle the thing and/or lay out a bunch of my own money upfront...
3)My suspicions and fears are based on my assumption (based on the way the world tends to work) that any private sale engineered by Executor is potentially a lot more shady and less traceable/accountable than a public sale where things have to be more transparent. When he conducts a private sale, what by law does the Executor have to provide in the way of HARD, SOLID PROOF of EXACTLY what he sold the piece for and to whom? In other words, do I have to worry as much as I’m currently worrying that he/they will be able to pocket a bunch of extra money that I and the Probate Court will never know about? Or that he/they'll sell it to one party for the cheap price, then that other party will trun around and sell it for the full price to a fourth party, well beyond the pale of havig to provide any documentation. Do I have to worry about this or are there ways to ensure this can’t/won’t happen? Specific laws, steps I can take, etc… ? Am I crazy or paranoid to have these alarm bells going off in my head?
Hi-- I’ll try to keep this as brief as possible. Dad, a full-time antique dealer, passed away. Will orders his antiques be sold at public sale but also gives Executor powers to sell at private sale if he sees fit. Executor barely knows me, but is cozy with my greedy stepmother, and I don’t trust either of them further than I can throw 'em. One major antique of my Dad’s is currently being put through auction at a drastic, drastic reduction (1% of maximum estimated value) from the amount my Dad estimated it during his lifetime. The piece is physically very huge and hard to move, lacks much visual charm, and is being described as basically a fake; therefore, it can’t be expected to sell well at auction. In fact, it has already been through auction and nobody bid. Here’s my suspicion: piece is purposely being vastly de-valued by whomever is in on the conspiracy to make it unsellable at public auction and thereby “forcing” a private sale. Whereupon co-conspirators sell it for what it’s REALLY worth, for cash, and divvy up the profits for themselves. I suspect this because my Dad was no liar and no fool about his business and I believe that the Executor, the stepmonster and the auction owner are all greedy pigs (auction owner was busted in the 1980’s for what is known as “shilling”--- a practice which operates in the opposite manner of my current suspicions, but one of many possible ways to work an estate auction scam, I’m sure).
My questions, then are these:
1) I’ve asked Executor for an appraisal and/or to provide solid documentation of exactly how it was determined that the piece is a “fake”, and/or for simply more time to get more information before it’s rushed through auction again for dirt cheap. My argument was that given the gargantuan discrepancy in the valuation and the fact that it serves ALL of our collective interests to make sure there was no mix-up and we are all not going to lose a heap of money, that we should find out for sure from an expert. I’ve been given the non-response “we’re just going to do what we want” response, from both Executor and auctioneer, as I suspected. Stepmonster is conveniently mum and MIA, including about when my father‘s funeral was or will be, the classless toad. (But I digress…) Auction is in three days, and they all apparently want to proceed as planned. What can I do in terms of either insisting on appraisal/documentation and/or making a case for breach of executor duty if he continues to refuse to provide documentation of the piece’s value? I guess it’s too late to stop the auction, but do I have any other recourse?
2)A few people have suggested I bid on the piece myself, which would be a great idea. Sadly, though, I simply don’t have the money to do so, even with it being drastically devalued it’s still much more than I can afford. Plus there's the aforementioned logistics of moving it, and I am far out of state. Do I have any other options? Ideally something pre-emptive that doesn't require me to wrangle the thing and/or lay out a bunch of my own money upfront...
3)My suspicions and fears are based on my assumption (based on the way the world tends to work) that any private sale engineered by Executor is potentially a lot more shady and less traceable/accountable than a public sale where things have to be more transparent. When he conducts a private sale, what by law does the Executor have to provide in the way of HARD, SOLID PROOF of EXACTLY what he sold the piece for and to whom? In other words, do I have to worry as much as I’m currently worrying that he/they will be able to pocket a bunch of extra money that I and the Probate Court will never know about? Or that he/they'll sell it to one party for the cheap price, then that other party will trun around and sell it for the full price to a fourth party, well beyond the pale of havig to provide any documentation. Do I have to worry about this or are there ways to ensure this can’t/won’t happen? Specific laws, steps I can take, etc… ? Am I crazy or paranoid to have these alarm bells going off in my head?