Got Court Order but still incomplete accounting (PA)

[Abqguy]

What is the name of your state? Pennsylvania

Hello, I am one of the beneficiaries of my father's estate. He died in Nov 2021. It's a very simple estate, and yet 2 1/2 years later, it is still not closed It was valued in the low 7 figures; the bulk of it has been distributed. The executrix (my stepmother) refuses to provide full information about the legal expenses the estate has incurred. I believe her attorney is taking advantage of her lack of mental clarity, and continuing to bill her. He is now saying there will need to be a clawback, to pay his legal fees. After many delays on the part of this attorney, we received a judgment from the county Court of Common Pleas, ordering my stepmother to provide a full accounting of all expenses incurred. The deadline for providing the accounting was June 15, 2024. It's a month now past this date, and all we've received is spotty documentation, including no legal bills since July 2023.

My question is, how can we compel her to provide full documentation? My siblings hired a lawyer to get the Court Order, but they are loath to pay any more legal fees. I called the courthouse, but the employee there is telling me I need to hire counsel. Is there a way, in PA, that I can get the judge to refocus on this, simply as an interested party?

 

[Taxing Matters]

What is the name of your state? Pennsylvania
Is there a way, in PA, that I can get the judge to refocus on this, simply as an interested party?

Just contacting the judge's clerk (the judge should not talk to you directly) and asking that the judge look into it won't go anywhere. The judges have too much work on the cases assigned to them to do things they don't have to do. If you want to get some action, file an appropriate motion, perhaps a motion for sanctions for violating the order and to compel the lawyer for a direct accounting of his fees and work on the estate.

 

[zddoodah]

My question is, how can we compel her to provide full documentation? My siblings hired a lawyer to get the Court Order, but they are loath to pay any more legal fees. I called the courthouse, but the employee there is telling me I need to hire counsel. Is there a way, in PA, that I can get the judge to refocus on this, simply as an interested party?

Courts take action when parties request that they take action. They generally don't take action on their own. If you want the court to take a particular action, you need to make a request in the appropriate legal form. If you don't know how to do that yourself, you'll need to hire an attorney to act on your behalf.

 

[Abqguy]

Thank you, this makes sense.