Can’t do that. Still have to dispose of her car and whatever cash assets remain. And I’m the only one left to do it. You can bet that since my mother passed (2 days before my sister), I’ve made sure to get my dad in to update his will, and I damned sure have a copy of it. And on a not so subtle note, I’d really like to get this wrapped up before 1/20.
Can you apply to the court to be appointed administrator (not executor), advising the court that you’re the closest surviving relative and the law firm will not release the will?
I have no idea if that’s doable in your state, and not meant as legal advice.
I think someone , somewhere, misunderstood something and it very well may be the person you are in contact with at the bank. The entire purpose of “payable on death” or “transfer on death” designations is that they bypass probate and therefore there is no need for an executor. When the account owner dies, ownership automatically transfers to the beneficiary, just as if it were a joint account with the right of survivorship. ( The different is the POD beneficiary doesn’t have access to the account while the owner is living) If you needed to be the executor or administrator to get at the account, there would be no point in even making the account POD.
Perhaps it has to be the executor who triggers the transfer of the account? The bank may require the person initiating the account transfer to also show the “Letters of Administration” appointing them as executor. Just a guess on my part. One reason for that is that the executor has the responsibility to make sure everything is done legally. There can be cases where the beneficiary is not the one who actually gets the account. For instance, in community property states, the account may actually be considered as jointly owned no matter if just one name is on the account. So if one spouse dies, the account should go to the other spouse regardless of who is listed as beneficiaries on the account. If the bank just let anyone with a death certificate initiate the transfer and the beneficiary was not the spouse, then there could be some complications if the spouse was supposed to get the money.
I have no useful advice. I just wanted to say this sounds incredibly frustrating.
Fwiw, i was advised that the estate isn’t closed until a year after it’s filed as closed. So, in theory, i guess creditors could still sue it. My mom’s estate should be closed in another month, at which point i will open up the Google doc where we kept track of which sibling got what and paid what, and we’ll even it up. (In the interests of filing that, “it’s closed” document that sits for a year, we distributed all the assets, and paid the lawyers and accountants out of pocket. So those sibs who paid the final fees will be reimbursed by those of us who didn’t.) I’m expecting the law firm to send us a letter saying, “all done” and to charge something for that.
Just to be clear, are you also the only heir to your sisters estate, or are their others such children or siblings who will be due part of the estate? Obviously you don’t know what the will says, but are there others who are likely beneficiaries, other than yourself?
FYI, here is information from the NM MVD that might be helpful regarding the car and transferring title without probate. IANAL, perhaps Section F or G may be applicable, depending on your situation.
She had no children, our one brother is in jail for life, and she was not on speaking terms with him, our other brother never kept close with her, due to a 21 year difference in age. Only other potential beneficiaries are two nieces, both progeny of the brother in the slammer.
Thanks for the link, I’ll check into those. Section G says it has to be executed in the jurisdiction where the vehicle is currently recorded, but I assume that could be done via mail/email. It does say, under section G, that it can’t have been willed to anyone else, which it possibly could be, won’t know for sure until I see the will.
Did you ever resolve this? I was thinking of you when i signed a will yesterday, and mentioned your story to the attorney who drafted it. She thinks you must not actually be named as the executor.
Also, she scanned all the documents we signed, but handed the originals to us, with instructions to keep them in the house, not a safety deposit box, and to tell the heirs and exactly where they are.
Have been meaning to get back here and update on this. After more (somewhat heated) calls to the law firm, finally talked to one of the principals, who said I needed to send them a copy of her husband’s death certificate. Sent that to them via email, had the electronic copy of the will sent to me the next day via email, and got the paper copy in the mail a few days later. All this chaos could have been averted if they had only told me that’s what they needed to start with.
Long story short, I was named as executor in the will if her husband could not act, and everything was left to me, under the same conditions. It has made life a lot easier dealing with all her accounts and the like - just find the proper person to send to, send death certificate, will, and a photocopy of my passport for ID, and things get done. Yeesh, what a nightmare it’s been when the solution was simple to start with.
Thanks for checking back - Dopers (and the Dope) are great!
Yeesh. I’m glad you got that straightened out.
Me, too. And the great thing, since taking my new job, work 4 10 hour days, have Fridays off, so can take care of things with entities that aren’t open on the weekends! Got bank accounts closed, insurances cancelled, now working on credit cards, cell phone, etc. Should have it all wrapped up by the end of the year, other than getting her car sold.
I’m glad it worked out for you.