Q: Should I file to have the Administrator removed or Accounting and Compel Final Settlement? Can I recover attorney fees?
I live in Va. My father died in Al. in 2010 unmarried and without a will. He was a teacher age 59. He owned 2 homes his primary residence in Al and another in Fl along with 13+ acres of land. These are all listed on the petition of administration that I received from an attorney in 2010. The letter was to appoint my brother the administrator since he lived in the state. There are 3 of us listed as heirs.
Since 2010 I haven't heard anything. I contacted the probate court and ordered the paperwork they have on file. I received it today and in there was an order setting bond and the actual surety bond itself issued by a large insurance company for the amount of 255k in the name of the administrator.(Was that a check?)
Finally, I've been told that since the estate has been open for over a year that there should've been annual accounting/expenses filed with the court. When I received the papers from the probate court there were NO accounting reports in there. Should there be?
A:
A beneficiary has a right to request an inventory and accounting at any time. Given the amount of time that has passed, it might be prudent to file a petition to compel an accounting and final settlement of the estate. Most probate courts would require you to retain an attorney to file these petitions. Many courts will award attorneys fees, but you would probably need to front some of the costs in order to retain counsel. Finally, if you wanted to start with a "free" option, you may just want to call the estate attorney. Good luck.
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