responsibilities of administrator, etc.

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debby

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If a parent was made administrator of their son's estate (there was no estate or no will) only to have the legal power in court to order more forensic testing on the son's blood and other specimens to determine the cause of death--is that parent also responsible for doing the son's taxes that were not done the previous year? Are there any legal responsibilities that the administrator must perform?

Also, on the court order to the medical examiner ordering more testing must it actually say "chain of custody" in the order to be shipped by "chain of custody?

Thanks so much--this site is so great!!

Debby
 
I'm not completely familiar with your issue. To begin, the "chain of custody" is a term typically used to describe criminal law and the preservation of evidence. In order for an item to be produced in court with sufficient "reliability" that the item is, in fact, the item that was seized, there must be a "chain of custody" of the item established, showing who had the object since the time it was taken. For example, if a gun is seized by a drug dealer by a police detective, the detective would seal the gun in a plastic bag and sign his/her initials. That bag might be tested by a lab and the technitian would then sign his her initials. Then the gun is returned to the evidence clerk and his/her initials are signed on the gun. Each would testify that they had control of the gun at all times while in their respective possessions and sealed the gun in the evidence bag upon completion of inspection of the gun. The chain of custody is preserved in this fashion, showing each person having control of the gun and ensuring that the evidence wasn't contaminated or replaced. I'm not sure how this applies here.

The administrator of an estate is typically responsible for making sure that the estate's business is completed. If this means reviewing the taxes, then yes, the administrator can use the money in the estate to perform an accounting and complete the business of the estate. It doesn't matter whether the estate is for the son of the administrator because Dad "wears the hat" of the administrator of the estate in this example, not "Dad" (unless it may be the estate of a child.

The above answer is general and may or may not apply to your situation. It is difficult to tell without discussing all the facts.

Thanks for your comments about the site. :)
 
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