help with will

The way you do it is to go to the county or township where the decedent lived and walk in to the PROBATE OFFICE. Tell them you are a relative of so and so and you want assistance opening probate. Tell them the date of death and ask if they can help. In my location, they are very helpful--in fact, my first appointment, I met with the judge for almost three hours in private in her chambers. I think you will find them to be very helpful. You don't need the will to open probate. A lot of people, unfortunately, die intestate. I would check for power of attorney documents first ( even though they terminated upon her death) just so you know just how much the sister in question has been lying about.

Let me know if I can help.

If you were correct in thinking that the property was passed to avoid the medicaid requirement that all assets be used down to near pauper level before the nursing home would be paid by medicaid, then it is very strange that the date of transfer was 2002 and the date of death was 2006-7 sometime. That would indeed indicate that the property was transferred illegally to avoid the medicaid rules. The rules changed in December, 2002, and that is probably when it changed to three years rather than five, but NOT to transfers that occurred before December. Thus the estate may have to pay back the amount paid by Medicaid to the nursing home and other services she used on their tab.

If the estate was really as large as a million dollars, there might be a good portion left since it shouldn't cost more than $30K yearly to keep her unless she was comatose with grave medical problems.

I suspect she is avoiding probate to avoid the Federal requirement for the Medicaid repayment.

You need to have that chat with her and decide what you want to do. Sounds like she's not just trying to scam the government but the siblings too.

It is important that you let her know the jig is up. She needs to be given an opportunity to fix these false reports of "no assets" she has filed under penalty of perjury to the Feds under Medicaid rules.

Furthermore, I would consider it extremely important to follow through on somebody's suggestion to open probate... but talk to her first so she can protect herself by submitting true reports. You really don't want her in court being charged with defrauding the government. I'm surprised she was able to get this passed by the local Medicaid officials...

You should take all your information showing she has NOT complied with the rules of being an executrix to a lawyer for guidance in what penalties there might be for her... or for anyone who attempts to circumvent those Medicaid rules based on the transfer dates and her date of death.

Good luck... hope you get a bundle.

I can see why you posted atop jetlag's problem. One of the worst problems in rural areas is that houses of recently passed folks get broken into and damaged by vandals or just thieves. If nobody is actually there daily, even though they are in the local area, it is just too easy to get in and strip the house. People steal copper pipe, plumbing fixtures, furnaces and water heaters... just to resell for what they bring.

Just as you have seen above, the recommendation is to open probate so the estate assets are protected by the court. I'm thinking the sister is actually providing a service until this gets probated, but I suspect she should be paying rent... maybe at a slightly off rate to recompense her for that service. Vacant houses have a way of getting leaky plumbing too. Since she is not doing the job of executrix, the court will allow someone else to take over... your problem is finding someone to do it. Just get it under supervision by the court. The judge will require paperwork from HER if nobody else steps up. She HAS to provide it or be replaced... and the judge can replace her with a lawyer who will charge the estate big $.

The estate was originally unsupervised and is now being court supervised. When she found that out, she called my husband and said that she had a buyer for the house but since is it court supervised, she couldn't sell it. Knowing her, I doubt it very much. I worked with her for almost 5 years,which was not very fund. The house where her father lived is in the country and there are ways of having a timer in the house to have the lights go off and on. So I really doubt that there would be anyone to get any copper from the house. I haven't seen any copper for anyone to take. I have been to the house many times. She was supposed to have left the estate right after the auction,which she didn't. She has almost her whole family living there. She is taking advantage of the situation. My brother and his other 2 sisters have an attorney. They had a deposition for "C" and she lied almost through the whole thing. She thinks that she is going to build their new house with the inheritance from their dad. This situation is a total soap opera. Bottom line, I want to know how long it would take a judge to look at the deposition and decide that she should be removed as executrix and the other sister put in that place. The will said that if "C" couldn't to the job that the other sister would be the personal representive.

Well, you are correct that she misrepresented the effect of the court supervision. I have seen the results of houses stripped of their copper. Thieves literally tear out the walls getting it out. No, you won't see the copper even AFTER they strip it. They damage the house so that it will NEVER sell without big costly fixes. It is worth having SOMEONE there to ensure that doesn't happen. Teen vandals also cause a lot of damage... and somehow these situations of a death in the family get reported in the paper... obituaries... and people start calling about investments and come looking at the house... and teenagers start looking for a place to party. Keep the house occupied. You won't regret it. You can have the court evict anybody who misuses the premises or keeps it a pigsty to prevent its sale. If she has this deal going, you should talk to them and verify it. Then assist her in getting it sold... There are discount brokers who will assist you with sales contracts for a set fee if you show up with a buyer. Try it out. You'd be surprised how easy it can be. You might want to get three brokers to give you a sales estimate... just like you would if YOU were in charge of selling the property and wanted to hire a broker... you don't have to hire the brokers, but you could use their value estimates as a good estimate of worth for the court. Should make it easier to get it sold. Or you could pay $300-600 to an appraiser to make his estimate of highest and best use value. Either way, the court will make short work of the sale.

Thanks for what you said. I just wanted to know, bottom line, if she should be paying rent while she is living there? Where they live, it is so desolate. Okay, she might need to live there for a while but she is taking advantage of the situation. Guess we will just have to wait to see what the judge says about how long it will be until he makes a decision about the deposition. Thanks for your input.

J.

I really can't say what the judge might rule, but it is a question for the courtroom... no point in second guessing here. It really depends on whether you would have to PAY someone to go out to a "desolate" area at different times in multiple days to check up on the premises and give the "locals" a presence that is unpredictable as to time. I would just be glad she was willing to protect it for the family.

And now back to jetlag... I think you can see from Judy's situation that opening probate give you peace of mind that she can do whatever she wants with the estate and the money. It STILL requires that you be present in court and that you attempt to refute what you know is not true... just to preserve the estate. Court supervision and potential depositions requiring testimony under oath should give her pause before anything bad happens to the estate.

I lived in my late husbands house for many months after his death and didn't "pay rent". In fact, I was actually paid back for MY COSTS while acting as exector of his estate ( for property taxes I paid in his name, etc). Expecting the executor of the state to pay rent ( to whom, and how much? Who decides that?) isn't a reasonable request.

I'm sure you lived there with your children just like this person is too. While it should be expected for his wife and children to live in that house, it is NOT expected that the executrix should live in the decedent's house. While I do consider it a service based on the threat of having the community aware of the death, I also consider that she is putting herself at risk without other members of her family WITH her. But the point of asking for rent is when the value of the property in rent is significantly higher than the value of the service AND that the propensity for damage must be accounted for. That is a significant portion of rental risk and this is a bartered rental situation. I do believe it is appropriate that a small rent be tendered .