Executor not taking fiduciary responsibility

[venom]

I am a beneficiary of my fathers estate along with my one brother(the executor) and my sister.

The will has been probated since Sept. or Oct. of 2002, at first I never thought that it would ever have to come down that the probate be contested as to the naming and choice of executor , as I had good faith in the performance of my sibling as executor, unfortunately this has not and is not the case. I realize that one has 60 days to contest the probate, but I never received a copy of the will sent to me certified mail within 60 days.

There has been a partial disbursement of funds , from the sale of my fathers home, of which I have never signed nor been asked for any kind of release bond.

The house was sold after years of the executor NOT paying the mortgage with estate monies , and on the verge of being forclosed by the lender. There fore it was sold pretty much as is in a fire sale type of deal, which I believe witht the downturn of the market at that time ,had the house been sold in a timely manner, another 75,000 may have been realized...does this qualify as not protecting the assests of the estate in a prudent manner?

Also concerning the house, there was a last minute scramble to find the papers to the deed that my fathers ex-wife had signed relinquishing her claim to the house following the divorce. Apparently, she had been trying to contact the executor for months trying to get a copy herself as , the house and it's non existant payments were still on her credit record hampering her efforts to buy another dwelling....the executor was aware of her trying to reach him, but refused to take her calls or to inquire as to what she wanted,despite the severity of the situation. Then when it was realized by the executor that he had never gotten the original document back from the title company , and it was likely destroyed, we were forced to go to the ex-wife and ask her to sign another deed , which she did, but at the cost of 10,000 dollars additional. When the house was sold she received the 10,000 , and I informed my brother the executor that i felt it was his responsibility to pay for that 10,000 dollars because he neglected his duties and failed to follow up accordingly with any and all paperwork pertaining to the estate and the house. He informed me that "oh well thats just what happened and we are all paying 1/3 of the 10k." I think thats bullshit, as it would have never happened had he been vigilant in his duty. Is this legal ? and do I have recourse to sue for monies lost due to this plus interest?

Various other portions of the estate were allowed to be repossesd by the bank after the timely payments on properties were not made , despite the continuos contact by the creditors to the executor.all told properties in excess of 25k.

Also, some monies from the sale of the house , were kept by the executor as he stated that he had paid for some bills out of his own pocket/account.....is this legal and what accounting is required for this? I know for a fact monies were taken outof my fathers account before he died to have a tree removed from the executors yard(3k)...is this legal? and what accounting is to be made for that?

There is much more to this sordid tale , but this is just the beginning.

thanks.

 

[lwpat]

There is much more to this sordid tale , but this is just the beginning.

Unfortunately yor story is all so common. You and your sister need to have a meeting with a probate attorney. The executor has not performed his duties and you need to file with the ocurt to have him removed and a full accounting. The money removed prior to death may be questionable depending on the exact situation, POA or joint account and state law all come in to play. In certain states a joint account holder can be made to return money to the estate where they took out the funds prior to death.

 

[venom]

Thanks for your response !

I have contacted the probate court in the county of jusrisdiction , to check if he has tried to signify the estate as closed, and he has not.

We never received a final accounting or even a initial accounting during this whole process,despite repeated attempts to contact him via phone , mail ,and personal contact.

Now the questions that I have that i wish answered before I coinsult an attorney are ;

1. Can we sue for monies lost plus interest , due to the new copy of the title deed from his ex wife ? ---- 10,000. Also what about recovering the additional lawyers fees charged to the estate ,plus interest? The estate attorney is most definitely NOT my attorney and I would never have hired that putz anyway.

2. How do i go about demanding and attaining any and all copies of any transactions pertaining to the stocks and bonds still held by the estate, with out having any legal power myself? I wish to sue for any loss in principal ,that may have been left in investments of questionable safety , or for loss of capital pertaining to his failure to sell said stocks at a considerable profit. what can i do to make sure that monies have not been stolen and used for the executors personal gain?

3. Am I able to sue for loss in value for a 35k truck owned by the estate and sitting there for the last 2 years depreciating in value due to lack of action on the executors part? Truck is now approximatly worth 15k.-galves book value

4. Am I able to sue for not protecting assets of the estate due to another vehicle owned by the estate getting towed for parking tickets, and subsequently being sold by the city , because of the executors inaction?
vehicle was worth approx 6k - galves book value.

5.We wish to sue for the full value of land property lost ,plus interest, due to the executor not making payments on time to the title company, these lands were willed to the decedents , yet we were not given any opportunity to assist in payments , nor were we afforded the common decency to be notified of pending foreclosure on said lands -- 15 acres worth approx. 30,000.

6. what about monies taken out of the final sale of the family home, by the executor , to re-imburse himself for supposed expenditures on his part ? there has be no documentation of said expenditures despite numerous requests....the monies were NOT taken from an estate account , and taken from the executors own bank account..and were taken back from the final proceeds of the house.

7. What about furniture and the like appropriated by the executor and his wife , under the guise of safe keeping ? They took anything worth anything out of the house and are probably sitting on it as we speak....i do not wish any of this stuff, but I due wish recompension for their theft of it.

8. what can be done about filing possible criminal charges due to the financial skullduggeryu thats going on , and where do we start?


I realize these are lots of questions , and as you say this is an all too common occurence, but what can we , the beneficiaries, due as lay people to force the executor to act , or to bring some kind of forebearance on him?

Should I be filing a complaint with the probate court to attempt to block the estate from being classified as settled?


Money is tight , and we would appreciate any and all help in this truly indecent and immoral situation.

thanks.

 

[venom]

Master of the obvious

Unfortunately yor story is all so common. You and your sister need to have a meeting with a probate attorney. The executor has not performed his duties and you need to file with the ocurt to have him removed and a full accounting. The money removed prior to death may be questionable depending on the exact situation, POA or joint account and state law all come in to play. In certain states a joint account holder can be made to return money to the estate where they took out the funds prior to death.

No shit Sherlock !!!

And in other breaking news : Water is,in fact,...wet.