Mother passed, no will, boyfriend claiming he will keep everything. Probate is 11/7

[ellowyn]

Jurisdiction

Virginia

My Mother passed unexpectedly about 3 weeks ago, and she did not have a Will. I am her only child. She was living with a boyfriend of many years, and shared the lease with him. This boyfriend was abusive verbally and physically to her, and the police have many calls on record for showing up to the address, but there are no charges that have ever been filed. The boyfriend is claiming that he will be keeping all of her furniture, including what is in her room. They did not share a room(should be a hint at the abuse). We have no receipts or any paperwork that shows proof that she owned it, aside from it being in her room. There are other pieces of furniture in the living room that is hers as well.

I've never been to a probate hearing and would like to get an idea of what exactly is going to occur. Also how can I prevent him from claiming they are his, and make sure Probate will include them? What do I need to get together to be prepared? I have a court date of November 7th with Probate. We have no attorney and can not afford one.

 

[army judge]

VA has "summary probate" for small estates, as in low value estates.


In Virginia you can use an Affidavit if the value of the probate estate is $50,000 or less (Probate estate doesn't count assets that pass by beneficiary, like life insurance, and retirement, and assets held in joint tenancy).

This procedure is quicker and allows you to avoid the lengthy, expensive probate process.

I suggest you search the court website in the county where mother died to learn how to invoke the small estate process.

Read this:

How to Handle a Small Estate in Virginia

http://www.courts.state.va.us/courts/circuit/resources/probate_in_virginia.pdf

Guide to the Administration of Decedents' Estates in Virginia - The Virginia Bar Association

 

[zddoodah]

I am her only child.

We have no receipts or any paperwork. . . .

Who are "we"?

I've never been to a probate hearing and would like to get an idea of what exactly is going to occur. Also how can I prevent him from claiming they are his, and make sure Probate will include them? What do I need to get together to be prepared? I have a court date of November 7th with Probate.

Probate is a process that could take anywhere from a few months to several years. In the context of any given probate case, there may be dozens of court dates/hearings. Since you wrote that your mother died very recently, I'm going to guess that the upcoming hearing is for the purpose of appointing an executor/administrator of the estate. Is that the case? Did you file to probate the estate? Did the boyfriend do so? If the latter, is the boyfriend represented by an attorney? I'll defer further comment pending your response to these questions.

 

[adjusterjack]

how can I prevent him from claiming they are his, and make sure Probate will include them? What do I need to get together to be prepared?

This is the third site you have posted on (so far). The answer won't change from site to site.

Personal property is presumed to be owned by the person possessing. In the absence of documentary evidence to the contrary, that presumption is difficult, if not impossible, to overcome.

There is nothing you can do to "prepare." You'll just have to take your chances.

 

[army judge]

"We" just means me and my family. I meant just me. All I did was call Probate to make an appointment. The boyfriend doesn't know anything about it I don't believe. I was told by the bank that I had to do probate to take care of her accounts.

Some good news: YOU are NOT responsible for any debts in your mother's name.

Be very careful, opening probate will serve notice to creditors of your mother's death, and creditors will appear like roaches in an unkempt home. These creditors will allege you are responsible for mother's debts, and some will allege debts she never had. This is done to scam money out of you during your time of great grief.

You are not responsible for any debts your mother made.
Don't even entertain those discussions and allegations.

If I were you, I'd avoid even looking at credit card statements.
Yes, it might prove purchases, but it could also reveal unpaid debts.

Bank accounts are another matter, as are debit card statements.
This is why the small estate option i mentioned above might be useful and you MIGHt be able to file an affidavit.

As @adjusterjack suggested, obtaining the property might be difficult using the court's to do so.
You might be required to prove id your mother owned the property, or if it belonged to her batterer.
No one can tell you what to do.
People can offer you insight into the difficulty of achieving your desired end.

 

[zddoodah]

"We" just means me and my family. I meant just me. All I did was call Probate to make an appointment. The boyfriend doesn't know anything about it I don't believe. I was told by the bank that I had to do probate to take care of her accounts.

I'm wondering where this text came from. Anyway....

I agree that you are under no obligation to probate your mother's estate or to do anything with respect to her debts. However, if you receive any assets from your mother's estate without her debts being paid, you could become liable for the debts up to the value of the assets received.

It's also not clear what "take care of her accounts" means. If your mother had one or more checking/savings accounts, then the money in those accounts goes to whomever is the designated beneficiary on the account documentation. If there is no designated beneficiary, then the money belongs to her estate and some sort of probate or other administration of the estate will be necessary.

It's also not clear what you meant when you wrote that you "call[ed] Probate to make an appointment." An appointment for what? Also "probate" is a process and a type of court, so it's not really clear what it might mean to "call Probate." Also, is this what you meant when you referred in your original post to "a court date of November 7th"?

As far as other property, the only thing you mentioned was furniture, which probably has relatively little value. You'll have to make a decision about whether your mother's estate is of sufficient value to justify the time and potential expense of probate or even informal administration of the estate. I suggest you look into whether any attorneys in your area will offer a free consultation. Note that probate attorneys are usually paid a percentage of the value of the estate, so you may not have to shell out any $$ of your own.

 

[txls]

It probably isn't worth fighting over a few pieces of furniture that most likely have very little monetary value, if you have to deal with the abusive boyfriend. Focus on good memories of your mother and move on with a life that doesn't have to deal with him anymore.

 

[ellowyn]

Thought I would actually give an update on what transpired after probate happened.

Probate was very simple and straight forward. She asked how much the total assets were, we paid the fees, and the paperwork was good to go. I asked her about the furniture in her bedroom of the boyfriend's apartment they shared, and she asked if they are married, to which I said no. She then said the furniture is mine and is included in the probate paperwork because it's in her room.
So we went to the apartment and began moving everything out. The boyfriend attempted to stop me saying that he was keeping the furniture. Things got heated and he nearly got physical so I threatened to call the police(again), and he told me he wanted me to. The officer came, saw my paperwork, and tried to explain to the boyfriend that the assets go from the mother to the daughter.
The boyfriend helped us by constantly saying "I'm keeping the furniture" instead of trying to lie with "It was my furniture in the room when she moved in".
He finally blew up and came at me, and the officer took him down, handcuffed him, and took him away with new charges.
So in the end, the assets still ended up being given to me, regardless of him sharing a lease with her. The only way someone could have kept the assets is if they had receipts showing they purchased them with their own money. And considering he is getting $20K from a life insurance policy he put out on her, I think he will be okay. She had no life insurance policy of her own.

So thank you for the advice. Hopefully others will see this order of events and learn from it.
And to those that claimed I was in the wrong and he should have kept the assets that weren't his, or that I should have been shot for legally taking a car title that he told me originally I could take....these sites are not meant for the typical social networking drama and turmoil that is everywhere. People ask for assistance(me), and people with experience or knowledge reply. Anyways....thank you to those that attempted to help!