Property improperly gifted from estate

[t74]

What is the name of your state? TX

Is there anything that can be done when the deceased's property which was to have been equally divided (2 beneficiaries) is gifted by the beneficiary with access to the property to non-beneficiaries without even consulting the second beneficiary?

First person was never named the personal representative/executor because she did not file probate. All of this apparently occurred before the second person (despite asking repeatedly for information) became aware of the situation. It was only after engaging own attorney did this information become available.

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state? TX

Is there anything that can be done when the deceased's property which was to have been equally divided (2 beneficiaries) is gifted by the beneficiary with access to the property to non-beneficiaries without even consulting the second beneficiary?

First person was never named the personal representative/executor because she did not file probate. All of this apparently occurred before the second person (despite asking repeatedly for information) became aware of the situation. It was only after engaging own attorney did this information become available.

What kind of property are we talking about? Are we talking about keepsakes or significant assets?

 

[t74]

What kind of property are we talking about? Are we talking about keepsakes or significant assets?

Both. Although the money is likely gone; the actions of the financial institution's representative have been reported to FINRA. The financial abuse occurred over 5 years ago and was just discovered since person 1 was acting as deceased POA. The situation only came to light in a casual conversation after the accounts original owner's death.

Other property is estimated in the range of $50-70K. Property specifically requested by person 2 is less than $10K; the main item is an heirloom has a replacement cost of a similar item of around $5-6K. At this time, the property provided/offered to person 2 is valued at less than $300. I believe the property desired was given to friends of person 1; . It is likely that person 1 retains property about $30-40K. Person 1 was asked on several occasions for an inventory; she began gifting deceased property less than 24 hours after death and was asked and then told to stop especially since final expenses were unknown.

I was considering asking the individuals I believe to have received property for a list of what they were given and ask for the return of the items specifically requested. I would explain that person 1 had no right to gift anything of the deceased to them since she was not PR/executor of the estate and the property still belonged to the estate to be distributed according to the will. If these items are still not returned, can they be reported stolen? Will probate need to be court supervised if they can be reported stolen.

 

[LdiJ]

Both. Although the money is likely gone; the actions of the financial institution's representative have been reported to FINRA. The financial abuse occurred over 5 years ago and was just discovered since person 1 was acting as deceased POA. The situation only came to light in a casual conversation after the accounts original owner's death.

Other property is estimated in the range of $50-70K. Property specifically requested by person 2 is less than $10K; the main item is an heirloom has a replacement cost of a similar item of around $5-6K. At this time, the property provided/offered to person 2 is valued at less than $300. I believe the property desired was given to friends of person 1; . It is likely that person 1 retains property about $30-40K. Person 1 was asked on several occasions for an inventory; she began gifting deceased property less than 24 hours after death and was asked and then told to stop especially since final expenses were unknown.

I was considering asking the individuals I believe to have received property for a list of what they were given and ask for the return of the items specifically requested. I would explain that person 1 had no right to gift anything of the deceased to them since she was not PR/executor of the estate and the property still belonged to the estate to be distributed according to the will. If these items are still not returned, can they be reported stolen? Will probate need to be court supervised if they can be reported stolen.

They can be reported stolen, but that doesn't mean that the police will actually do anything about it. It doesn't mean that they won't either, but they may consider it to be a civil matter. However, nobody can do ANYTHING at all until someone gets themselves appointed by the courts as executor/PR of the estate.