Q: Bus. partner died in November. No will. No family. Bus. over 1 million in debt. Need to close. Can I w/o judge approval?
Nobody has opened his estate and I do not want to be involved with administration obligations which will end up being very costly. Can I close business without an estate judge approval and reopen another one with me being 100% shareholder in the new one with the assumption that if one day somebody/his estate claims 50% in the new business that I can then show that I had to close the original business to protect his estate since it is liable for 50% of the 1.2 million $ debt?
A: One would need more facts to provide you with a useful answer. Are there business assets that you would use? Did the other shareholder personally guarantee the debt? Did you? Where there other assets owned by your former business associate? As you may suspect, perhaps the best and most prudent course of action would be to open an estate.
A: I think you should consult with a probate attorney who also has experience with bankruptcy/creditor issues outside of probate to give you a good overview of the legal issues involved.
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