Do you by chance have that stature article for NC?
My father passed 20 years ago and my mom passed last Christmas. My oldest sister who is 15 years older than the rest of us siblings was named executor. My mom said it was because she was the oldest. However, this is also the same sibling that never shows to any family events and is quite cold with all of us, even my mom. She is quite a bully and likes to boss everyone around. ( She didn’t speak to any of us for 10 years, but suddenly reappeared when my moms health started going bad in 2008.) In 2009 was when she was named executor. She supposedly filed at the court this past Jan, and told us that that would take 90 days to see if any creditors came forward. There was some stock my mom held with the utility co. and the court said they would pay from that first if any came forward, and release any left over. My mom also owned land which was deeded to us in 2009 as well, with mom having a life time right to live there. My sister (the executor) has not updated us since 2 months in (Febuary-March). She gives the excuse that she works 12 hour days and is so busy. She never answers any requests for info, and more importantly she ignores requests for keys to my mother’s house so the siblings (all together) can go in and clean out her fridge, freezer and decide on her personal goods. (At my moms death she demanded all the keys to mama’s house.)Her house with food and all has been locked up tight for a year now. That is disgusting and unsanitary. However, she does have time to text us about anything else she wants to talk about. On a side not, there is a back up executor in case she didn’t want to do it, and anytime that has been brought up to her, she gets mad and says SHE is the executor. However, if you obviously don’t have time to do it, than let someone else so it can all be taken care of. This is a simple estate. Also I need to know how it differs since my mom deeded up the land part back in 2009. Is it already considered our property at her death? etc
Any help or advice would be very appreciated. Thanks!
What happens if the deceased person rises from the grave and becomes a zombie? (Ok, now that that’s out of the way…)
When providing an accounting of the estate, is it ever the responsibility of the heirs to submit information, or is the onus solely on the executor himself? If the former, who gets held accountable if the executor fails to inform the heirs of this requirement and misses a deadline? This is actually a pertinent question for me this month…need answer kinda fast.
I don’t mean to vigorously defend your sister because it sounds like it’s entirely possible she’s not fulfilling her duties quick enough. But you also seem to have a lot of hostility toward your sister and are interpreting some things excessively negatively. I mean, you even found a way to make it sound like a bad thing that when your mom got sick, the sister returned to her life after an extended absence.
She needs to do her job, but being an executor is hard unpleasant work. As someone who used to work 12 hours a day, it doesn’t leave you wanting to run home and deal with your dead parent’s estate.
Likewise, administering a deceased family member’s estate is an important obligation to your mom and to the state. I can see how it might seem controlling to want exclusive access to the estate’s property but what’s the alternative? She is the executor and she’s responsible for making sure that property gets to the right heirs.
I think you’ll have more success with a little less hostility.
IANAL, but if the house was truly deeded to you all prior to her death, your sister had ZERO right to demand all the keys, and you have every right to have the place rekeyed so you can get access to it.
You may wish to check with the county tax registrar to see if that deed was ever even registered. If not, you’re looking at a lot more by way of headaches in terms of proving it was already handed over to you (and the other siblings).
You can petition the probate court to have your sister’s executorship set aside. It’s a hassle and I don’t know what all is involved, but clearly your sister has not been doing her job. While we never went that route, one of my brothers threw many, many tantrums when my other two brothers were settling Mom’s estate (and doing a perfectly competent job of it), and threatened to have the exectorship overturned. He lived a thousand miles away and was just blowing hot air, so it never went that far.
I’d strongly suggest a meeting with a lawyer to find out your options. If nothing else. the fact that she hasn’t done anything with the house means that she is probably not seeing to it that maintenance and taxes are taken care of (which of course are everyone’s responsibility), and also she’s denying you access to YOUR OWN PROPERTY.
OK - reread, and you say that land was deeded to you, not the house. Still, the house is at least partially yours, and your sister’s neglect is doubtless causing the house to decrease in value. She needs to be set aside as executor.
Note: The OP was originally posted to a thread about an unrelated case from 2009 in General Questions. I have split it and succeeding posts off into a new thread in IMHO, and provided a title.