Probate questions

[kinder970]

What is the name of your state? Looking for some guidance, please.

My grandparents’ estate has never been finalized. Now, my father – the estate’s PR – is in an incapacitated mental state. I am looking to start work to finalize the estate, but I am not sure how to go about the process, given some of the complexities. Here are details.

• Probate initiated in Oklahoma in 1990 (grandparents lived/died in Oklahoma). Probate case was dismissed in 1992 (Order of Dismissal).
  • My understanding is that remaining probate tasks are related to stock ownership. There are various common stocks that require ownership to transfer from my grandparents to my father.
  • Other matters of estate have been resolved, including real estate, debts (with exception of 2019 income taxes) and personal property.
  • The law firm that facilitated probate in Oklahoma is no longer in business as both partners of firm have since died.
• My father – PR of estate – now lives in Colorado.
  • My father is in an incapacitated state as of November 2019.
    • There is medical documentation of my father’s incapacity by a practicing physician.
  • My mother is his statutory POA. She also lives in Colorado.

My main questions:

Should probate be reinitiated in Oklahoma or could it be filed in Colorado?

Will my mother be able to potentially act as PR for estate, given that she is POA for my father?

What else should I be considering?

Thank you in advance for any insight.

 

[adjusterjack]

This is simple. Get your mother an appointment with a local probate attorney who can advise her on how to handle everything. There's just too much of a mess to do otherwise.

Yes, it will cost her money.

Anything you find out on the internet from strangers won't do her or your father a bit of good.

 

[zddoodah]

My grandparents’ estate has never been finalized.

Grandparents...plural? I assume you're only referring to two of your grandparents (i.e., either your father's parents or your mother's parents), in which case you'd be talking about two separate estates. Did you intend to say that neither of the estates have been finalized? Or, if you're only talking about one of the estates, which are you talking about?

Should probate be reinitiated in Oklahoma or could it be filed in Colorado?

Oklahoma since that is presumably where your grandparents lived.

Will my mother be able to potentially act as PR for estate, given that she is POA for my father?

Sure she could. Potentially, I could become PR. That your father signed a POA appointing your mother as his agent/attorney-in-fact is completely irrelevant. Note, by the way, that Oklahoma law requires a nonresident executor to appoint a local agent for purposes of service of process.

What else should I be considering?

Whoever wants to restart this process needs to talk with an Oklahoma probate attorney.

Also, while it's not relevant to what you asked, why did your father abandon the probate 25+ years ago, and what is the motivation for now wanting to restart it?

 

[FlyingRon]

The estate has to be probated where the deceased was residing when he died. That appears to be Oklahoma. It matters not where the PRs, former or future, reside.

Yes, it is confusing as to why the estate was closed without disposing of all the assets.