Q: My father recently passed away. We believe he made no will. I have two other siblings that live in another state. I am
the only child of my father's that lives in the same state as him, which is NY. I have hired an estate attorney and recently applied through the surrogates court to become the administrator of his estate. I have the key to his house. My two siblings whom live in a different state want the keys to his house. My lawyer told me to not give my siblings the keys to his house but I do not understand why the lawyer is instructing me not to give them the keys. My sister's are threatening to sue me and press criminal charges against me for not giving them copies of the keys. My siblings tell me they have just has much right to my father's house keys as I do, so I don't know why my lawyers told me not to give them the keys. I gave all my father's keys along with his wallet to my lawyer to hold onto. I also still get mail at my fathers house and his address is listed on my car insurance and car registration. Up until last month his house was listed as my primary residence through the DMV even.
A: Your attorney is probably right, he's being cautious, that's a good thing. Considering your siblings and you are acting hostile (i.e. "press criminal charges.") It's best that you only speak to them through your attorney and that your attorney potentially advise them to get counsel as well to go through, at least this is what I would recommend so that there is less likelihood of miscommunication or misunderstanding. Perhaps you should all be given administrative powers over the estate and workout an agreement to act as co-administrators in which each of you are to provide complete transparency and also has a means of dispute resolution for decision making or breaking up any deadlocks. Good luck to you.
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