Questions about a will...

[MrBo]

What is the name of your state? NV

I had a close friend who passed last week. He had no family and only 3 close friends. Thankfully he created a will and directives 3 weeks before he passed. One of the friends was designated the POA and followed the advance directive. This friend of his originally took him to finalize his will and knows the attorney. I have yet to find out who the executer of the will is and need to ask his friend for the attorney contact information. My problem is that I don't trust this friend of his. Some questions I have are as follows. First, what steps can I take to protect my late friends property(I don't expect it to be much but none the less). Second, this other friend of his has a key to his apartment and I know he has been in it since our friend passed. Is this legal? Is there another way I can find out about the will without having to ask this other guy? Does the POA become void now the my friend has passed? I have never been through this before and want to make sure my friends estate wishes are handled properly.

Thanks for your input...

 

[curb1]

The POA is not valid after death.

 

[justalayman]

read this:

http://www.accessclarkcounty.com/District_court/Probate_Forms/Probate_Law.pdf

and this:

http://www.nvbar.org/Publications/Publications_Pamphlets/Probate_and_Administration_of_Estates.htm


depending upon how much your friends estate is worth decides what needs to be done. $20,000 seems to be the magic number.

 

[MrBo]

Thanks for the information. So what about this guy entering the home before the will has been read? Should I worry?

 

[curb1]

Was this "friend" listed as personal representative for the estate? You don't know, I presume. You need to ask him as a concerned close friend (even if it is awkward) . Many of your questions will be answered at that time.

 

[justalayman]

Thanks for the information. So what about this guy entering the home before the will has been read? Should I worry?

actually you need to check to see if probate or the other administrative disposal has been filed. If it has, then you should be able to find out who is rep..

If nothing has been filed, nobody should be in there at all UNLESS this other guy has some legal claim to the apartment (co-signer possibly?)

 

[MrBo]

Again, thank you both for the information. I spoke with this guy today. He informed me that he contacted the attorney this morning and that he is the executer of the will. He also mentioned that the attorney can’t do anything until he receives the death cert. I did get the attorneys name. Should I call him? I am a bit concerned that this guy entered my friends home before he spoke with the attorney. Maybe I should just let it go and wait for notification from the executor. Again I am just not sure as I have never been through this before and feel like I should be doing something for my friend.

 

[MrBo]

Update and questions.

Well, it looks like this guy is the executor for the will after all. A few things though. First this guy was in my friend’s apartment before he received a death certificate and he began to “get rid of” stuff. Is this legal? Here is the thing, my friend trusted both of us and has told me and my children verbally and in writing and email, things that he was leaving us and how he wanted his possessions divided. I believe this other guy talked my friend into leaving everything to him and he would handle the division based on some documents my friend left behind. I had always had remote access to my Friends PC as I would help him regularly with issues. This guy knew this and allowed me brief access (by turning on the pc) soon after my friend passed away. I was able to download his documents where he clearly documented how he wanted to have items divided. I also believe my friend had hard copies of this documentation that he gave this guy for division of the estate. Problem is that now it is or has gone to probate, this guy or his lawyer won’t talk to me anymore. He says everything was left to him without further instruction. My friend also confided in my wife and I that he had a child in the UK who is probably around 55 by now. I would love to track this person down if they are still alive but I can get any information from my friend’s estate to do so. I can’t afford and attorney but would like to do something. Can anyone help?

 

[tranquility]

The attorney cannot talk to you because of attorney confidentiality. You have no standing to talk to the police or to the court. You cannot "protect" your friend's property beyond trying to find a beneficary of the estate and talk them into caring.

 

[MrBo]

The attorney cannot talk to you because of attorney confidentiality. You have no standing to talk to the police or to the court. You cannot "protect" your friend's property beyond trying to find a beneficary of the estate and talk them into caring.

Thanks for the information. So there is no point in trying to talk with the Probate court regarding the possibility of a relative?

 

[tranquility]

So there is no point in trying to talk with the Probate court regarding the possibility of a relative?

Your intention is to do an ex parte communication with the court to tell them there might be a relative? No, there is no point. Better would be for you to find the putative relative and have *them* motion the court.

 

[MrBo]

What kind of time frame do I have for NV?
Thanks

 

[tranquility]

It is impossible to tell without the facts. The sooner the better, but if there is fraud where the executor knows of a beneficiary or heir and did not contact them, he would have personal liability for a different amount of time if he didn't take proper steps to locate the person.