Posted: 5/14/2008 6:17:59 AM EDT
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My uncle passed away last fall. He had no wife or descendants. One of my uncles I had assumed was the administrator for the estate. Now I had found out that my uncle never had a will and one uncle was just assuming the position. It is also possible that the one uncle discovered a will and destroyed it since he may not of liked the outcome of it. They have all ready sold off around $40,000 worth of shop equipment and old tractors. My opinion is that the value was closer to $100,000 but it was cold weather the day of the sale and effected turn out. The one uncle is now demanding from my father that equipment that once belonged to my uncle and some that was never owned by him be brought over to the estate for an auction. Now some of the equipment was once owned by my uncle but was traded to us for its value in Soybeans. It was a barter and no paper work was done. We have had possession of the equipment for several years before his death and has been on our property the whole time. Most are old farm tractors that that have no title card or any thing to prove ownership. Two other tractors where given to my brother and myself several years before his death. I have done several thousand dollars worth of work on the tractor since. The administrator has no idea as to what the now passed uncle owned because he was demanding that equipment that was never owned by the him be brought over also. Now my uncle was partially crippled and for the most part home bound. Over the years both my brothers and sisters have ran errands for him including groceries on a regular basis. My uncle had a print out of the checks that have been written to us. Implying that this amount will be taken out of my dad's share since it was paid to us kids. We always gave the receipts to him and he would write us a check, normally with $5 added for gas. I know that there should of been something in writing but after all it is family. I want to contact a lawyer and place his estate into Probate, My father does not want me to do that because he is afraid that when everything is said and done there wont be anything of the estate left. Is there any other type of recourse than Probate? Are there any laws that have been broken by my uncle that I can use for leverage? Can it even be placed into probate since it has been 6 months since his passing? At very least the uncle is going to be informed that if tries to take anything off of my property or my fathers property that he best have proof of ownership and the sheriff with him. |
, but you need to get a hold of one in Minnesota, where you are from, assuming that's where your uncle died.
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I AM NOT YOUR LAWYER. THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE. That said, get a MN probate lawyer. Beyond that, I can offer you some reassurance. Whenever someone dies, there almost always has to be some kind of court involvement in settling and closing the estate. That's the "probate" process, and it applies whether there's a will or not. Even if there wasn't a will designating an administrator, the court may have appointed him. If he was appointed, he will typically have requirements to account for the disposition of the property. If he was never appointed, and just took it upon himself to do everything, then he "done stepped in it". That's the situation where you're really going to need a lawyer. |
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Correct. Check with the local (County) Probate COurt to see if letters of Administration were issued. If not, your uncle has "stepped in it." He cannot legally sell anything titled to the deceased without legal administration. Let the court know. In addition, a court usually requires that all relatives sign off to let the executor get a letter of administration, which ensures to the extent possible that everybody is considered and notified. Get a probate lawyer. Don't do anything or hand anything over without proper documentation from the uncle and legal advice. While your father is correct that the estate will be diminished by fees, you will be ripped off also if no legal consultation is made. |
Yeah, get a probate lawyer in your state. No one else can give you any advice you can depend on. |
I am happy that there the answers so far have been in the good advice catagory. Not one "Draw Down"tm yet. Does the letter of admin have to be in the county that he was a resident in? |
| Probate is a pain, but it's not nearly as bad as many people say it is if you start the probate process correctly. Get a probate lawyer (it will run you about $5k - 10k total depending on the size of the estate) and let him do his thing. All estates need to go through probate. Many don't, but until the estates do, they're not technically closed. Until the estate enters probate, any sale of the estate's property is technically invalid because there is no authorized agent to sign for the estate. |
Tell him, "No". There's no will, so he has no authority to demand anything. Instead, demand from him a full accounting of everything that has been taken or sold, and inform him that the police will be called and various theft charges will be preferred if he doesn't come up with every scrap of information. Call a lawyer. The best defense is always a good offense. And this is why you write a will or put everything into one or more living trusts today instead of waiting for tomorrow. |