need info fast

I live in the state of West Virgina. On March 6,2009 I lost my cousin in a house fire. He made it out of his home but went back in to get his dog. The house exploded just seconds after he entered. My husband and I were trying to get him into a mental hospital but everyone dragged their feet. He had 2 sons who wanted nothing to do with him. They were finally found and notified of his death but still want nothing. He had been an electrician for 40yrs and had left his life insurance policy to me . To make a very longgggggggggg story short, he stopped paying this insurance and there was nothing to even bury him. He was one of those guys who did not believe in paying taxes. He had not paid them since 1979. The IRS had finally caught up with him, and had taken all of his income except for $600 a month. He had nothing, no electric, was heating his house with the 4 burners on his gas stove. Which is what caused the fire.
Here is my issue. The entire estate is worth maybe $ 4000.00. I still do not have a registrated death certificate. A few weeks ago the IRS lady showed up on my door step. They have $122,000.000 lein on his property. She sent me a letter telling me what can and can't be paid out. The state of WV paid for his burial and it was $1250.00. I need to know exactly how I figure out the complete total of the estate and what fees I am can take. There is only about $1700 in total. I have spent hours getting paper work done, get things together. The house that burned is a mess, and must be cleaned up but they are telling me that is not an expense I can take. I can not afford to pay a lawyer to get this info. And everyone I talk to wants at least $500 to answer this question

I am not sure why you are doing anything with the situation. If you stand to gain nothing from the estate, you have no reason to get involved----I don't mean that unkindly----I mean, being harassed by the IRS, sifting through things he didn't think were important enough to tend to while he was alive is an arduous task.

What do you mean "what fees I can take"? What fees YOU can be paid? or who to pay out of the many people he owes?

Have you been to probate? Get a copy of his death certificate (try the funeral home) and head to probate. I recently went through probate after my young husbands sudden death and they literally walked me though every step of it. They will give you forms to fill out, sit down with you, and most likely even assign you a case worker or someone who you can ask questions of.

If you don't want to handle this, there is no reason that you should-----if it wasn't important enough for him to worry about while he was alive---it is unfortunate you would feel such angst about it now.

And, about 'fixing' the house? Who told you that was your job?? it most certainly is not. You not only do not have to do anything with/ for/to the house, you don't have to do ANY of the estate handlings either.

I am sorry for your loss.

Good luck.

I am doing this not for money but because he was family. He was a Veteran who went into Vietnam with an already major mental issue and came out with more and his life just was a down hill roll his entire life. My husband and I loved him inspite of what he did. A few years ago he had filled out his life insurance and left me in charge of getting things done. When he died, I opened the paperwork, made the calls only to find out he had not paid the dues and that he had nothing. I then did what had to be done just to give him a proper burial and for us to be able to grieve like normal people do. I had no idea that this was going to turn into a nightmare. As for probate, I can not do anything about it until we have a registrated death certificate. His is still pending and will be for a few more months, I am told by the state examiner's office. I realize that the fees I am asking about are what I can be paid. I simply need to find out what exact amounts I can and can't do. I am in this not for money but for the love of a big brother. A bigger lesson I am learning, that when we die, its only those who truly love us that care what is done . Money always seems to be the bottom line. I had hoped to get some basic info from this site to at least give me a direction to go. So I am simply sending the numbers to the IRS and then waiting to see what comes down the road. If you can further help that would be great. Thanks for at least giving me the chance to get answers.

You personally don't get paid for handling someone's estate.

Your questions can be answered when you go to open the estate. There is an usually a meeting with the judge (in my case) and you sit down one on one in her chambers/his chambers and go over the do's and don'ts. You will be assigned a caseworker to assist you with this. I would NOT ask the IRS about PROBATE advice---they, clearly, are going to favor their own interests. DO NOT (repeat) give the IRS INFORMATION about the estate---they are NOT your friend in this matter and they have NO authority to grant you permission regarding ANYTHING to do with probate. PERIOD.

In order for the man to be buried, there HAD to be a death certificate. I fear someone is telling you incorrectly. In my husbands case, I had the coroners report. Ask some more questions on that.
Good luck.

This article and linking articles may help you: Estate Administration Lawyers

I do have a certificate that states how he died. However it is not complete. There are several medical tests pending and until the complete certificate is granted by the medical examiner I can not probate. As for any fees for myself, its not an issue with me. there isn't anything here to cause me to worry. As for the IRS, as far as I am concerned they are just as much responsible for his death as the WV DHS and our county police officers for not following through and taking the action they had informed me that was going to take place. The IRS took everything but $600 a month from him because she was afraid he would hurt her. This is a mess, all I want is to cover myself legally so that I can give him at least the final respect any human being deserves. He fell through the cracks of our system from the time he was 11years old. I know a lot of people can not understand why my husband and I even care. He was a pain at times, he was mental ill and we did everything in our power to get him help. It simply came to late. I thank you for your advice.

If you cannot probate the estate, then the IRS cannot take any further action--no one can do anything until probate is opened and the estate goes through those steps.....

The judge has to decide and declare you a personal representative (not sure about WV, but is so in CO) when you turn in the will and/or death cert to the court. If you are not his representative the IRS can't bother you, if you are his representative, they have to prove a first lien on the estate, that does not necessarily mean they have anything other than a property lien on the house that's burned down. If there's children involved, they get first priority before anyone, WELL HELLO GRACE, LONG TIME NO SEE, I'VE BEEN UP TO MY EYEBALLS IN LAWSUITS, ACCOUNTING, TAX DEADLINES AND MECHANICS LIEN FORECLOSURES!!! But I'm back for a little while.......

HIYA! Glad you're back?? Guess you saw who is MIA............ LOL LOL

Where'd that dog go? all done barking?????????