executor selling personal property

[artillo]

Jurisdiction

Delaware

My brother and I are the sole beneficiaries of our parent's estate. My brother is the executor. I signed over my interest in the real estate (IE their house), but there is personal property that has not yet been divided Which has not been designated to anyone specifically in the will. We have a potential dispute over a Rather expensive snow blower, which I want and he says he is going to put up for sale because he needs the money. What are my rights as beneficiary? If we cannot agree on who gets the snow blower,

1. does he have the right to sell it if I still want it?

2. If he does sell it without my mutual consent, aren't I entitled to half of the proceeds?

3. If he sells ANY of the other personal property, aren't I also entitled to half the proceeds, even if I didn't want the items?

4. What are my legal options if he refuses to give me my share of the proceeds?

 

[adjusterjack]

What is the status of the probate? Has your brother filed the will with the court and obtained his court papers authorizing him to act on behalf of the estate? Has he gotten a TIN from the IRS and opened up an estate account where any incoming money would have to go until the estate is settled?

If the answer is no, and he's playing fast and loose with the probate laws, then you need to hire yourself a probate attorney and petition the court to remove him as executor and appoint you in his place so you can handle the estate according to the probate law.

Sorry to have to tell you this, but if you aren't willing and able to do that, your brother gets to continue doing what he wants, pocketing the money, and your "rights" get stepped on.

Might have been a bad idea to sign over the house when you did. You gave up any leverage you might have had.

 

[army judge]

Please accept my condolences upon the loss of your parents.

Having lost mine, too, I can empathize with your feelings.

I pray your family can come together and grieve remembering and honoring their legacies.

I wonder what your beloved parents would think about this squabble?

If your parents were still alive, you'd have to buy your own blower.

If its sold, the money it generates will still be shared among the heirs equally.

To give you the blower, is to deny others what is theirs.

Sell all the stuff, take the money, buy your own blower.

 

[artillo]

I should clarify also few other things, the estate is out of probate and closed going on 5 years now, I traded my share of the value of their house out in cashed out 401k money so the house is 100% his and is not an issue. He was renting it out for the past few years but there was still a lot of personal property in the garage which is finally being cleaned out. The personal property is supposed to be split 50/50 between us, I took some furniture, a grill and a few other small items already, but the lions share of stuff is still in his possession, including said snow blower. every year, I have told him I wanted it, and also that he needs to have an estate sale and finally get rid of the rest of the stuff (including thousands of dollars worth of machinists tools and milling equipment). I honestly think he's under the assumption that since I didn't want the other items left in the garage that it just defaults ownership to him, and that he can just dispose of it at his leisure and take all the cash generated by selling it, which feels really wrong. My aunt is the co-executor but she is retired down in Florida.

 

[adjusterjack]

I honestly think he's under the assumption that since I didn't want the other items left in the garage that it just defaults ownership to him, and that he can just dispose of it at his leisure and take all the cash generated by selling it

He's right.

The estate's closed. His position as executor is done so he can't be called executor any more. If you wanted your share you should have gone and gotten it 5 years ago. Instead you abandoned it all. Telling him you want something and not going over to pick it up is meaningless. You sat on your rights and lost them.

My aunt is the co-executor but she is retired down in Florida.

She WAS, but hasn't been since the estate was closed and has had nothing to say about anything since then.