And Speaking of Will and Estates . . .

[Adverse]

Is there ever an instance where large distributions of cash or personal property by a decedent prior to death to only one of several heirs might change the distribution of the estate after death?

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Yes, I think so -- in the instance where there can be shown that this particular person had "undue influence" over the deceased. This is similar to where a will is changed shortly before death at a time when there is a question as to whether the deceased did not have capacity, e.g. he/she did not possess all his mental faculties. Usually in these cases the single party has far more access to the deceased than the other parties and then exerts "undue influence" as a result of being in such a close position.

 

[Adverse]

Thanks for the reply. I've been away from home or would have replied sooner.

Let me continue.

If a person had been a deceased person's agent (POA) while they were living, and then at the time of death had been appointed Temporary Administrator of the estate prior to the approval of the Executor, and during this time came into knowledge that one of four sibling heirs had received significant amounts of money from the decedent, and the other heirs had not, and there was a question as to whether these were loans which had not been repaid, should the Temporary Administrator report that suspicion to the Executor or the decedent's attorney?

I might add that this person (agent and Temporary Administrator) is also one of the sibling heirs.

TIA

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I'm not sure what a POA is but are you meaning to say they had power of attorney? The bottom line is that if there is a fiduciary relationship that exists, that person must do what is reasonable under the circumstances to protect the interests of the estate. If there is evidence of wrongdoing discovered by a fiduciary, which a temporary administrator may well be, then it should be reported.

However, what benefit does this person have as an heir by not reporting it since it would likely reduce their share if they didn't report the alleged malfeasance?

 

[Adverse]

Originally posted by michael:
I'm not sure what a POA is but are you meaning to say they had power of attorney? The bottom line is that if there is a fiduciary relationship that exists, that person must do what is reasonable under the circumstances to protect the interests of the estate. If there is evidence of wrongdoing discovered by a fiduciary, which a temporary administrator may well be, then it should be reported.

However, what benefit does this person have as an heir by not reporting it since it would likely reduce their share if they didn't report the alleged malfeasance?

I can see that I am not saying exactly what I want because you are reading wrongdoing into my question or think I am saying the one with Power of Attorney and the Temporary Administrator received funds, which is also incorrect, so let me state it again.

If a person had power of attorney and then became temporary administrator and that person is also one of four sibling heirs, and that person has knowledge that one of the other heirs received large sums of money that the other heirs did not (no suggestions of wrong doing here at all) and that disposition of funds has never been explained to the other heirs, is there an obligation to pass that information on to the attorney for the estate or to the Executor so that they may do with it as they wish?

Let me just say it this way--One of four heirs got, say $50,000, from the decedent to buy a house and for other personal uses and nothing has been paid back and no gift tax was ever paid. Should that knowledge be passed on to those trying to settle the estate?

 

[Michael Wechsler]

The answer would remain the same. If there is activity that a reasonable person would question, a fiduciary to the estate would likely have a duty to report such actions that would bear investigating. Let me put it this way -- if the transaction in question involved money that would come out of your pocket, would you think it substantial enough to report it?

 

[Adverse]

Originally posted by thelawprofessor:
The answer would remain the same. If there is activity that a reasonable person would question, a fiduciary to the estate would likely have a duty to report such actions that would bear investigating. Let me put it this way -- if the transaction in question involved money that would come out of your pocket, would you think it substantial enough to report it?

Thanks.

The amount in question is about 10% of the present value of the estate and there are 4 1/2 heirs (22.5, 22.5, 22.5, 22.5 & 10%)

As you can no doubt tell from this thread the answer to that is, "Yes". If it were a non-family member and not an heir there is no doubt that I would ask that they step up and explain the situation, and, I kinda suspect that if it were I who had received the large "gift", then the other heirs might want me to fess up, but I have tested the waters on this issue with my brother and I know what is going to happen if I pass the information on.

Because of litigation in another matter, the estate has an attorney and an Executrix, whom I met for the first time this week. I have turned everything else over to her, except for this information, which can be dealt with at some time in the future. As things of this nature seem to spread easily and as my brother is close to the heir am I referrring to, I am sure she has heard about it already and I am going to give her a chance to step forward and offer an explanation before being asked to do so.

As this is my first experience at this sort of thing I have discovered that when a family member administers an estate, or receives a parent's Power of Attorney, they become a lightning rod for all of the suspicions and insecurities of the other family members. As I have few cards in this situation I am going to save this one to play at a later date.