They are after us!

[Toxic]

What is the name of your state? Minnesota

Just before Thanksgiving of 2003, my wife's father passed away. He had no will, no one to take care of the funeral expense (which I somehow ended up doing) , no legal paperwork at all. He left behind no estate, did not own a home, had a broken down old pickup truck, nothing more. I somehow ended up verbally being "Executor of the Estate" (which is completely new to me). All of his mail is being forwarded to me at this time only to find out he was in debt about $20,000 to a few credit card companies. I have been returning these bills with a copy of the death certificate enclosed. What else do I need to do? Do I need to do the probate court thing? Do I need an attorney? My wife and I can not afford to pay off his debt, and I guess even if I could, I feel I shouldn't have to. Am I correct? Can anyone help me out here and shed some light on how I should approach this and what my next move should be? It is also my understanding that I need to file a last Income Tax for her father, is this true as well?

Tox

 

[lwpat]

You need to visit the probate court and officially become the executor. Then you can transfer the pickup and sell it in order to recoup some of your expenses. You do not need an attorney and you are not responsible for the credit card bills.

You do need to file an income tax return since there could be a refund. You will need to attach the letter from the court naming you as executor.

 

[Toxic]

Thank you for your reply. I must admit I am a bit relieved knowing I/we are not going to be held accountable for his debt. Is this probate court visit to be officially made executor a relatively easy process, or something else I need to stress over before it is taken care of? As for the income tax return, can I assume this will be a pretty simple form? So many questions!

Tox

 

[JETX]

"Then you can transfer the pickup and sell it in order to recoup some of your expenses."
*** You CANNOT do that!!
The pickup truck (and ANY other assets) are a part of his estate. As such, they MUST be used to pay the debtors, equally. That does not mean 100% to you and nothing to others!!

Also, in MN, if the estate is less than $20,000 in value, it can be handled using what is called an "Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property". This form can be downloaded from:
http://www.finance.state.mn.us/agencyapps/sema4/forms/affcollectionpersprop.pdf

You can also contact your local probate court and ask for a "Guide to Informal Probate" which will help you in this process.

Oh, and by the way, MN (and a lot of other states) no longer call you an 'Executor'. You are called a "Personal Representative" of the estate.

For more, go to:
http://www.mnfindalawyer.com/pamphlets/probate.pdf
http://www.diallawyers.com/p.html

 

[Toxic]

I neglected to state that her father was a resident of Illinois, not a resident of Minnesota. How does this factor into this whole mess? Also, as far as the pickup is concerned, her father, in an
8 1/2 x 11 hand written page stated that his grandaughter, my daughter should get his truck. Is this still considered an asset that now must be sold to pay off any of his debt?

Tox

 

[JETX]

"How does this factor into this whole mess?"
*** Since you failed to include that FACT, it changes the response completely. You are now going to have to do a little research into the ILLINOIS probate process.

"Also, as far as the pickup is concerned, her father, in an 8 1/2 x 11 hand written page stated that his grandaughter, my daughter should get his truck. Is this still considered an asset that now must be sold to pay off any of his debt?"
*** That would depend on whether the note consistutes a valid gift per probate law (it probably does not).

 

[lwpat]

""Then you can transfer the pickup and sell it in order to recoup some of your expenses."
*** You CANNOT do that!!"

Yes you can. The poster indicated that he had paid the funeral expenses. He has a claim against the estate and by the description of the truck it probably would not come close to covering the funeral bill.

"MUST be used to pay the debtors, equally."

Where did you get that? Estate bills are paid if full in the order dictated by state law.

524.3-805 Classification of claims.

(a) If the applicable assets of the estate are insufficient
to pay all claims in full, the personal representative shall
make payment in the following order:

(1) costs and expenses of administration;

(2) reasonable funeral expenses;

Since there are no lawyers to pay the funeral expenses are next.
Of course this was based on Minnesota (I hate it when they do that).

 

[JETX]

"Yes you can. The poster indicated that he had paid the funeral expenses. He has a claim against the estate and by the description of the truck it probably would not come close to covering the funeral bill."
*** Doesn't matter that he has a claim or not. He still can't sell the truck and pay himself first.

"Where did you get that? Estate bills are paid if full in the order dictated by state law."
*** Agreed.

"524.3-805 Classification of claims.
(a) If the applicable assets of the estate are insufficient to pay all claims in full, the personal representative shall make payment in the following order:
(1) costs and expenses of administration;
(2) reasonable funeral expenses;
Since there are no lawyers to pay the funeral expenses are next."
*** Wrong. Since the writer has already paid the funeral expenses, there aren't any. His claim would be just one of the unsecured claims that might be made on the estate..... that is if this were in Minnesota.

 

[Toxic]

First off, I must apologize for messing up on the state he resided in. This is a man that left home when my wife was 2 years old. I have met the man no more than 10 times in my lifetime and my wife and I have been married for 18 years. Secondly, I have never gone thru this and hope I never will again. When I verbally offered to do this, I wish I had known what I was getting into before doing so. It appears as though there is some disagreement on what needs to happen here. How can I find out if an "Affidavit For Collection Of Personal Property" holds any water in the state of Illinois? Does such a form exist? I have spent way to much time browsing for answers here at work and feel kind of guilty about doing so. I guess my next move is to start make long distance calls to Illinois to see what the heck needs to happen. Keep jumping in here if you have something to say, you guys are all valuable pieces of information!

Tox

 

[lwpat]

"*** Wrong. Since the writer has already paid the funeral expenses, there aren't any. His claim would be just one of the unsecured claims that might be made on the estate..... that is if this were in Minnesota."

I think we age going to have to agree to disagree on this one. Had a similar case where the probate judge ruled that since the personal representative paid the funeral expense they were still funeral expenses and he was entitled to reinbursement first. Not saying another court might find differently.

He could get around any problem by having the funeral home return his money saying it was a deposit and then paying out of the estate account.

 

[JETX]

Illinois does have what is called the "Small Estate Affidavit", for those estates with a value less than $50,000.
More on this can be found at:
http://familyestate.com/main/SmallEstates.htm

The affidavit can be filled out (or downloaded) from: http://www.co.lake.il.us/elibrary/forms/circlk/smestateaff.pdf

The statute covering small estates (755 ILCS 5/25) can be found at:
http://www.legis.state.il.us/legislation/ilcs/ilcs2.asp?ChapterID=60