Estates

Once a life tenant releases their life estate they have no rights in the property and no responsibilities regarding the property. It is up to the fee owner to determine the terms for the continued use of the property. The owner may serve notice for the former life tenant to vacate the premises or the owner can require the tenant to sign a lease and pay rent. It is up to the owner.

Generally in a Will the person leaving that Will specifies what children will be left monies, property or contents of the house. If it does say 'children' then yes, it will include you. If there should be any problem with this and you aren't involved in the Will according to any other siblings say in the matter you can contest the Will. It generally won't come to that because 95% of people are greedy and don't want a long drawn out legal battle on their hands and are willing to settle out of court.

The first thing you need is a solid understanding of how divorce law works in North Carolina. This article describes the basic substance of separation and marital dissolution law in North Carolina. With this information, you can better grasp the overall outline of the separation and divorce process in North Carolina. You will then be able to make more informed decisions about how you yourself should proceed, once you or your spouse decide that you should no longer live together. Without this "big picture," you could stumble blindly through the process, never quite able to recognize whether your expectations for the ultimate bargain are achievable, or at what price. The section is not, however, intended as a complete reference source that substitutes for the analysis of an experienced practitioner of family law. Each case can involve one, some, or all of the issues discussed in this section. At the same time, factual variations in various couples' lives make the principles reviewed here of only general applicability. Divorces can, and do, look as different as the people who are divorcing. Given the countless differences among marriages, this section, and indeed this entire website, cannot replace the advice of a skilled attorney concerning your own family. Such advice is most valuable at the stage when you are planning a separation, so that you can avoid action or inaction that will be more difficult to undo or correct later on. Legal advice remains useful, of course, throughout the process of resolving the various issues discussed in this website. But it should not be legal advice that you seek without already having gained a solid grounding in the law of separation and divorce. The "Big Picture" is broken out into each of the major issues. Just follow the links below to find out more.

If you are an heir, you most definitely can! People who are trusted with executorship can do a lot of damage before you start questioning them, though, so if you are going to question them, do it as soon as possible. Probate Court, at least in Indiana, is informal, so you don't have to hire an attorney. When I went through the type of experience you are facing, I looked up my State Code on the Internet and became familiar with it. The executor of the estate in my case broke just about, if not every, code that was written, but I would not have known if I hadn't read the Code for myself. I gathered as much information as I could about what had taken place between the time of death to the present and then wrote a letter to the executor asking for explanations to a long list of questions and what happened to this, that, etc. It was sent certified mail with return receipt and a copy was sent to the Judge presiding over the case and every interested party (heirs). I made some serious errors, though, and I hope my errors can help you. First, I assume this is a family situation. When executors do not respect you enough to do things right from the start, or feel like they are more deserving than you, or whatever their reasons are, challenging them is likely to do permanent damage to whatever relationship you might have had. Emotions can run very high and the hurt can be very deep. If you challenge them, keep a very cool head and don't make any quick decisions, especially if you get any surprise rulings from the Court. If that happens, take a couple of days to gather your thoughts together and STRATEGICALLY PLAN your next move. Above all, don't let your emotions get in the way of LOGICAL reason! I wish you the very best. Deb

My client is going through the same thing right now. A referee did a "Drive-by" appraisal for a million dollars on a Venice Triplex. I know the Venice market really well and I valued it at $700k. We ended up asking the attorney to contact the referee with some sales comps and data that supported a 700k valuation. They agreed to go by and thoroughly check the place out again and we are waiting for the re-evaluation. Hope this helps. Derrick Ruiz Keller Williams Realty Santa Monica 310-308-3174 derrick@derrickruiz.com

The estate is not settled until the final distribution is made. The heirs shouldn't sign off on the estate until they have received distribution of their shares. If the administrator tries to file a final account prior to distribution, thereby closing the estate, the heirs should object and notify the court that they haven't received there shares in the estate. Nothing should be left "up in the air" once an estate has been "settled". If there are issues remaining now that the estate had been closed you will need to consult with an attorney who can review your situation and explain your options.

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A Last Will and Testament ("Will") can say anything the author wishes, as long as it's legal. Anyone can be included or excluded.

An estate can be two things: all the property a living person owns and all the property a person owns at the time of their death. Once a decedent's estate has been probated the heirs-at-law or beneficiaries under the will become the owners of that property.

They cannot hold things up. If they have a legitimate concern it must be expressed to the court. If they refuse to sign there is generally a procedure by which notice of the final account can be published. It just takes a little longer. You should consult with the attorney who is handling the estate or a clerk at the court.

They cannot hold things up. If they have a legitimate concern it must be expressed to the court. If they refuse to sign there is generally a procedure by which notice of the final account can be published. It just takes a little longer. You should consult with the attorney who is handling the estate or a clerk at the court.

They cannot hold things up. If they have a legitimate concern it must be expressed to the court. If they refuse to sign there is generally a procedure by which notice of the final account can be published. It just takes a little longer. You should consult with the attorney who is handling the estate or a clerk at the court.

They cannot hold things up. If they have a legitimate concern it must be expressed to the court. If they refuse to sign there is generally a procedure by which notice of the final account can be published. It just takes a little longer. You should consult with the attorney who is handling the estate or a clerk at the court.

No. The parties of interest can file a motion with the court to have the administrator removed and a successor appointed. They should be prepared with evidence that the administrator has not performed their duties or caused some other type of problem.

No. The parties of interest can file a motion with the court to have the administrator removed and a successor appointed. They should be prepared with evidence that the administrator has not performed their duties or caused some other type of problem.

No. The parties of interest can file a motion with the court to have the administrator removed and a successor appointed. They should be prepared with evidence that the administrator has not performed their duties or caused some other type of problem.

No. The parties of interest can file a motion with the court to have the administrator removed and a successor appointed. They should be prepared with evidence that the administrator has not performed their duties or caused some other type of problem.

Sure, but the other person doesn't have to keep it and can sell their share either to the executor or to a third party.

Yes. If she reserved any rights in it such as a "life estate" she would need to sign the deed also.

The answer to this may vary by state. The best recourse would be to meet with an attorney. The fee you pay for their time would be small compared to the cost of getting this wrong. With that said, creditors may sue the estate of the deceased person in an effort to obtain payment. They would have to win the lawsuit and obtain a judgment against the decedent and place a lien against the property. Once a lien is placed they could eventually take action against the property. I have 6 years experience as a mortgage underwriter and have yet to see a lien placed on residential property by an unsecured consumer creditor.

Your parents own the property. What they do with it is up to them. Your power of attorney doesn't stop them from doing what they wish, or what they are convinced to do by someone else.

I may be able to find out but please confirm who you are and the reason why. Joan is a realative of the family.

That is a matter that must be negotiated between the fee owner and the life estate owner. Since the owner of the life estate has the right to occupy the property for the duration of their natural life free of any charges for rent, a fair value must be negotiated with that person. There is no set rule regarding this issue.

Not without breaching their duty to the estate. There are ways they can do that, one of them is if the third person declines to receive their share.

A court appointed executor must settle the estate with as much expediency as possible. When the executor acts in an unreasonable manner a complaint an be filed with the court. The court will hear the evidence and if it decides the executor is not performing their duties appropriately it can issue a court order to compel the executor to act. If the neglect continues the beneficiaries can request the executor be removed and a successor appointed.

You should speak with the attorney who is handling the estate.

Perhaps. You need to review the Will to determine if authority over the burial was given to the executor of the estate. The executor must be appointed by the court in order to exercise any authority granted in the Will.

If there was no will or if burial was not mentioned in the Will then you should consult with an attorney who specializes in probate in your jurisdiction.

well by the willful law of 1655 the survivor would own the house based on the fact that he would be very sad that the person has died ___ The situation depends on how the property is jointly owned and on the country or state. For example, in England there are two different kinds of 'joint ownership'.

In this specific case, yes, but it can vary. If it can be proven that the daughter had lived only seconds longer than the mother the estate would go to daughter's and thence to her heirs. In this case, two weeks, it would become part of the daughter's estate. However this can have a devastating effect on the estate, subjecting it to inheritance taxes twice, or Generation Skipping Tax. The Uniform Simultaneous Death Act provides that if two individuals have died within 120 hours, each is considered to have pre-deceased the other. About half the states have enacted this either explicitly or by adopting the Uniform Probate Code. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simultaneous_death A will can specify a longer time for simultaneous death to be considered.