Court Appointed Executor, Pls Help!

My dad passed in North Carolina. My brother and I are named co-executors. My brother and I disagree on the verbiage of the will.

The will reads article I My son (me) receives my home at this address along with all the contents thereof.

Several articles later reads My son (brother) to receive all other real estate I own at the time of my death.

There is 1 deed, 1 tax id number on the house and 60 acres of land dad left to me. There was no other real estate owed at the time of his death. I say their is one deed, the deed controls so the house and land are to me. Brother says the house means a reasonable 1 acre parcel (cartilage) around the house and he is to get the remaining 59 acres as "the other real estate" mentioned.

Finally, I asked the court to appoint an executor because we can't agree.

The court appointed attorney will NOT talk to me, only to an attorney if I hire one. I don't have the $ to hire an attorney, so I am trying to figure this myself.

I was told as the executor I was responsible for maintaining the estate. The estate had no assets so I purchased gas to heat the house threw summer so the pipes won't bust, homeowners insurance for the house, electricity, etc and paid for this in my name. The clerk of court told us this would be considered an expense to maintain the property and I would be reimbursed threw the estate.

The new attorney who is court executor sends a letter introducing herself, saying she is not yet bonded however she would like to start getting an idea of what expenses/debts etc. are involved in the estate and to forward to her immediately. I called, she would not talk with me, talked to scty explained I had bills, but I would have to search as I need to call to get receipts if needed as I only have a few receipts. Should I wait until I get the receipts or send what I know now? Scty talked to attorney executor who said she is not yet bonded, she just wants a feel, to just write down in a word document what the expenses are so she can review and follow up on getting the receipts for the future.

I send the word document via fax to the court executor BEFORE the date she was actually bonded.

Today I received a letter saying she denied my claim as it was not received within the 4 mth time line for submitting debts and there were no receipts or verification of the expense. I have 90 days to file a motion in court to appeal the decision.

I do not understand, I did not feel I placed any claim based on our conversation. Also, the bills I acquired are not claims from debtors, they are expenses I incurred maintaining the estate as the Executor. Would I not submit these expenses as an Executor to maintain the property separately than creditors, and if so how do I go about doing so?

What do I do? If I have to file this motion the clerk of court will not tell me the forms or what I have to do to file this paperwork, I am simply told to hire an attorney. I can't afford an attorney because I have my savings of $6,000 that I spent on maintaining the estate as I thought that was my obligation, now I have no money to pay an attorney.

ps The court executor has petitioned the judge to sell the house to pay for outstanding debts to the estate. The question to judge was can I sell it, how can I sell it, do I sell the entire estate or just the house and not the land. If the house/land are all on one deed would the court still choose to split the house/land to sell for debts? How does the judge decide how to allocate the extra money after the debts have been paid?

Should I have to hire an attorney or should the court appointed executor/clerk of courts be required to tell me what forms to fill out?

Lastly, I am excited for the court to make a decision and settle this estate. However, if my brother is not happy with the court's decision does he have to accept the courts decision or can he contest/tie up the estate longer?

I apologize for this being so long, I truly appreciate any and all help in sorting this situation out. Thank you in advance!

Best bet here is to hire an attorney. All correspondence should be conducted in writing, with signature confirmation of receipt, if there's any question as to times or dates. Personally, I'd respond to her in writing immediately and enclose copies of all receipts, etc. in a letter that requires signature delivery confirmation. Send proof of your fax, i.e. confirmation of the fax delivery as well. All of the estate's bills should be paid first before any division and distribution occurs. (That should also include any attorney fees.) Chances are the debts will be sufficient enough that the property may have to be sold first and then any remaining funds may be distributed evenly among the heirs. An attorney can better clarify this.

Who appointed the attorney you mentioned? If at any time, you're concerned about the credentials or conduct of the executor, you can file a petition with the courts to have the executor's behavior examined .. she IS required to keep a constant accounting available to both the heirs and the courts. If needs be, the court can appoint a different executor. Again, an attorney can determine if this is the case. Each state has its own particular requirements.

I wouldn't suggest you do anything on your own. At least not without a prelim consultation. I think the concerns you've voiced are valid; there seems to be discord already that could really skew the intent of the will. Just a suggestion here that you consider an equal division of all of the estate with your brother .. any disagreements and disputes will only end up taking more monies out of the proceeds. Both of you could conceivably end up with nothing.

Good luck.