Fiancé died intestate

[Samwhoz]

As the title states my fiancé died intestate by terminating his life in the midst of us building our retirement home a little over a year ago. We bought the land together and i sold my home in Michigan and used the proceeds to fund the project. I now have an unfinished house.
He didn't have any children. He had several siblings of whom he didn't have much a relationship with but none of them wanted anything to do with his estate and i hired an attorney who sent all of them disclaimers of which they all signed. Thats as far as i got.
The attorney then said because fiancé had several thousand dollars in debt that we should wait a year. She said once we wait a year it will only take 2-3 weeks to open & close it. Now that the year is up my attorney clearly seems like she does not want to be retained to finish the estate. She hasn't contacted me back after numerous attempts. I need to get this going asap. Its been a year and i dont even have occupancy of the house. Its sitting there rotting without maintence.
I persue'd another attorney and at first seemed hopeful but i haven't heard back from him for 2 weeks. He also said its a diffucult matter and didn't seem knowledgeable on how to proceed.
My question is: 1). Do you think i could do this on my own? I don't know what to do here. Seems i will not find an attorney to handle this case and i really need to finish this house.
2). What else can i do? What legal things needs to happen to get this estate opened & closed.
3). What happens to my fiancé s name on the deed?
4). How do i find out if his debtors filed anything with probate court? If i called probate court would they tell me?

I would most certainly appreciate any advice and answers to my questions.
Thank you!
Sam

 

[retic]

For #3 pull out the deed, see what it says, and then read this:
Jointly Owned Property

Hopefully it says joint tenants with full right of survivorship, which means you own the property now, the land is not part of the estate.

 

[justblue]

As the title states my fiancé died intestate by terminating his life in the midst of us building our retirement home a little over a year ago. We bought the land together and i sold my home in Michigan and used the proceeds to fund the project. I now have an unfinished house.
He didn't have any children. He had several siblings of whom he didn't have much a relationship with but none of them wanted anything to do with his estate and i hired an attorney who sent all of them disclaimers of which they all signed. Thats as far as i got.
The attorney then said because fiancé had several thousand dollars in debt that we should wait a year. She said once we wait a year it will only take 2-3 weeks to open & close it. Now that the year is up my attorney clearly seems like she does not want to be retained to finish the estate. She hasn't contacted me back after numerous attempts. I need to get this going asap. Its been a year and i dont even have occupancy of the house. Its sitting there rotting without maintence.
I persue'd another attorney and at first seemed hopeful but i haven't heard back from him for 2 weeks. He also said its a diffucult matter and didn't seem knowledgeable on how to proceed.
My question is: 1). Do you think i could do this on my own? I don't know what to do here. Seems i will not find an attorney to handle this case and i really need to finish this house.
2). What else can i do? What legal things needs to happen to get this estate opened & closed.
3). What happens to my fiancé s name on the deed?
4). How do i find out if his debtors filed anything with probate court? If i called probate court would they tell me?

I would most certainly appreciate any advice and answers to my questions.
Thank you!
Sam

What state is this in?

 

[Samwhoz]

What state is this in?

Thanks, South Carolina

 

[adjusterjack]

I would most certainly appreciate any advice and answers to my questions.

I'm sure we'd be happy to. However, how the property is owned is critical to any answers you get so, as Retic suggests, get the deed and tell us exactly how the property is titled.

Meantime you can call or visit the probate court and see if there is a probate file with his name on it. If yes, have copies made of every document in the file.

Then come back to this thread for additional conversation.

 

[Samwhoz]

I was having error when trying to reply.
Thank you i am grateful for your reply!
I will recheck the deed but i am pretty sure it not with ' rights of surviorship' because i already had an exisisting will and wanted my 1/2 to go to my children.
If i can come back to give you an update if i don't have anymore site problems.

Many thanks.
Samwhoz

 

[zddoodah]

i hired an attorney who sent all of them disclaimers of which they all signed.

Disclaimers? Or assignments of their interests in your former fiance's estate to you?

The attorney then said because fiancé had several thousand dollars in debt that we should wait a year.

Wait a year before doing what?

Its been a year and i dont even have occupancy of the house. Its sitting there rotting without maintence.

Why are you allowing this to occur? You said that you bought the property jointly, so whatever is or isn't happening with your former fiance's estate should have no bearing on your ability to occupy or maintain the property. How did the two of you take joint title? Tenants in common? Joint tenants? Something else?

Do you think i could do this on my own? I don't know what to do here.

Seems like you've answered your own question.

Seems i will not find an attorney to handle this case

Not if you give up.

What legal things needs to happen to get this estate opened & closed.

Any sort of step-by-step to-do list is WAY beyond the scope of an internet message board.

What happens to my fiancé s name on the deed?

Nothing. The deed by which you took title will never change. The answer to the question you probably intended to ask depends on how you answer the questions I asked.

How do i find out if his debtors filed anything with probate court? If i called probate court would they tell me?

A debtor is a person who owes money to someone else. What you probably meant here is "creditors" (i.e., persons/entities to whom he owed money). Go down to the courthouse and search case files by name. If something comes up under your former fiance's name, ask the clerk to pull the file so you can view it.

 

[Zigner]

I think you may have either (1) received bad advice from the attorney or (2) misunderstood the advice you received from the attorney. I suggest that you speak to a different attorney (or three).

 

[adjusterjack]

i am pretty sure

Remember the TV commercials "Just OK is not OK"?

Well, "pretty sure" is not "sure."

 

[Samwhoz]

Disclaimers? Or assignments of their interests in your former fiance's estate to you?



Wait a year before doing what?



Why are you allowing this to occur? You said that you bought the property jointly, so whatever is or isn't happening with your former fiance's estate should have no bearing on your ability to occupy or maintain the property. How did the two of you take joint title? Tenants in common? Joint tenants? Something else?



Seems like you've answered your own question.



Not if you give up.



Any sort of step-by-step to-do list is WAY beyond the scope of an internet message board.



Nothing. The deed by which you took title will never change. The answer to the question you probably intended to ask depends on how you answer the questions I asked.



A debtor is a person who owes money to someone else. What you probably meant here is "creditors" (i.e., persons/entities to whom he owed money). Go down to the courthouse and search case files by name. If something comes up under your former fiance's name, ask the clerk to pull the file so you can view it.

 

[Samwhoz]

It was both the interest and Disclaimers.
I know i goofed up on the "debtors" i meant to say creditors. My apologies. I was told that if we wait a year that there is nothing the creditors can do at that point. I confirmed that with another attorney. The deed language reads " tenants in common."
I have been having an awful time with this website. I have tried contacting the support to no avail. No one answers the phone either. So pardon me if i am not replying to your messages but i am trying.
Thank you all for your replies i am so grateful!
Samwhoz

 

[Samwhoz]

I'm sure we'd be happy to. However, how the property is owned is critical to any answers you get so, as Retic suggests, get the deed and tell us exactly how the property is titled.

Meantime you can call or visit the probate court and see if there is a probate file with his name on it. If yes, have copies made of every document in the file.

Then come back to this thread for additional conversation.

 

[Samwhoz]

Thank you Adjusterjack, i did call the probate court in our county and the lady there said there is no files on my fiance` and said there won't be any unless the estate is opened. From what i gather if the estate doesnt open for a year the creditors can no longer make claims.
Thanks again,
Samwhoz

 

[Zigner]

SECTION 62-3-104. Claims against decedent; necessity of administration.

No claim may be filed against the estate of a decedent and no proceeding to enforce a claim against the estate of a decedent or his successors may be revived or commenced before the appointment of a personal representative, except as provided in Section 62-3-804(1)(b). After the appointment and until distribution, all proceedings and actions to enforce a claim against the estate are governed by the procedure prescribed by this article [Sections 62-3-101 et seq.]. After distribution, a creditor whose claim has not been barred may recover from the distributees as provided in Section 62-3-1004 or from a former personal representative individually liable as provided in Section 62-3-1005. This section has no application to a proceeding by a secured creditor of the decedent to enforce his right to his security except as to any deficiency judgment which might be sought therein.

(Code of Laws - Title 62 - Article 3 - Probate Of Wills And Administration)

I really think you either received bad advice or (more likely) misunderstood what you were told. Speak to a different attorney.

 

[Zigner]

Its been a year and i dont even have occupancy of the house. Its sitting there rotting without maintence.

As an owner of the house, why can't you get into the house?

EDIT: Let me rephrase the question: As an owner of the house, why haven't you completed the construction?

 

[Zigner]

Thank you Adjusterjack, i did call the probate court in our county and the lady there said there is no files on my fiance` and said there won't be any unless the estate is opened. From what i gather if the estate doesnt open for a year the creditors can no longer make claims.
Thanks again,
Samwhoz

The way I read things is that (most) creditors can't make any claim against the estate before it is opened. I haven't dug deeper, but it would logically follow that the clock on the time limit for submitting claims doesn't start running until probate has been opened.

Speak to a different attorney.

 

[adjusterjack]

The creditors still had to be notified of the death. If they weren't then they may have to be notified now and they will still have time to make claims against the estate.

I agree that some bad advice may have been given or advice misunderstood.

 

[zddoodah]

It was both the interest and Disclaimers.

So...ALL of your former fiance's siblings have assigned their interest in his estate to you? Given that no one has apparently applied to probate the estate, I'm at least a little skeptical that this was handled correctly.

The deed language reads " tenants in common."

If, in fact, all heirs at law have assigned their interests to you, then the executor of the estate should be able to deed his interest in the property to you once probate is complete such that you end up with 100% of the ownership interest.

From what i gather if the estate doesnt open for a year the creditors can no longer make claims.

I agree with the following (based on the cited statute SECTION 62-3-104):

I really think you either received bad advice or (more likely) misunderstood what you were told. Speak to a different attorney.

I'll just note that you ignored the questions I asked about your inability to access, occupy and maintain the property. Since you are a joint owner of the property, it's completely unclear why you haven't been doing those things.

 

[Samwhoz]

The way I read things is that (most) creditors can't make any claim against the estate before it is opened. I haven't dug deeper, but it would logically follow that the clock on the time limit for submitting claims doesn't start running until probate has been opened.

Speak to a different attorney.

Yes they have all assigned thier of their brothers estate to me. Like i said, they don't want anything to do with his estate. As heirs they would have to do thier part in finishing the house, help pay taxes, maintence, pay utilities and have responsibility to his debts. They certainly didn't want to have anything to do with that so they were willing to disclaim. They also had no interest in being PR. All they wanted was to be reimbursed for his funeral expenses of which his 1st cousin & I reimbursed them. This was all done thru the attorney.

Iam willing to be the PR of his estate as i'm pretty much the only one who knows about his financial situation.
Also, i forgot to add in my first post that my fiance` left a suicide note stating he wanted me to have his half of the real estate to go to me and his personal belongings to go to his 1st cousin / best friend.
I have been paying on his storage unit in Michigan since he passed over a year ago. I no longer wish to pay on it but i don't know if i can do that and give his belongings to his 1st cousin or do i have to keep paying on it? Then would like the estate to reimburse me.

Thank you so much for your reply and advice.

 

[zddoodah]

storage unit in Michigan

So...wait. Earlier you made reference to South Carolina. Did he live in SC but have a storage unit in MI?

i forgot to add in my first post that my fiance` left a suicide note stating he wanted me to have his half of the real estate to go to me and his personal belongings to go to his 1st cousin / best friend.

If he lived in SC, this is legally meaningless (because SC does not allow holographic wills). If he lived in MI, then this might constitute a holographic will. Something to be discussed with an attorney if you seek to probate the estate.

I have been paying on his storage unit in Michigan since he passed over a year ago. I no longer wish to pay on it but i don't know if i can do that and give his belongings to his 1st cousin or do i have to keep paying on it?

You do not have and never have had an obligation to pay for his storage unit. However, if you are appointed as personal representative of the estate, you will have an obligation either to pay the rent or to take possession of the storage unit's contents for the benefit of the estate.

The cousin isn't legally entitled to anything unless your former fiance lived in MI and the "suicide note" constitutes a valid holographic will. If, as you've indicated, the surviving siblings have assigned their interests in the estate to you, then you're the only one entitled to anything, but you can give anything you want to the cousin.

You really need to speak to a competent probate attorney in the area where your former fiance lived.