Q: How a beneficiary requests a copy of an inventory of estate's assets form/filing.
My husband’s father, a resident of Elkhart City, passed away in May. He did not leave any paperwork designating an executor/administrator/personal representative to his estate; although he did have a will.
My husband has three siblings (all are adults). All four of them are in agreement to allow the only sister to petition to have the decedent’s estate administered without court supervision and act as the personal representative for probate purposes.
After his sister is appointed as the personal representative, my husband wishes to request a copy of any forms that may get filed pertaining to the inventory of the estate’s assets, any modifications to that inventory, and any final version that may be filed with Probate court.
Would he make a written request directly to his sister, or to the court directly? Is there a form we could download? We live in California, if that makes a difference.
Thank you.
A:
After her appointment as Personal Representative, your husband's sister will typically file an Inventory with the Court, which is public record. As Personal Representative she should provide copies of the inventory, asset info, etc... to beneficiaries. However if the estate is unsupervised, the Court will not be overseeing the Personal Representative to ensure she is properly administering the estate.
If for some reason the Personal Representative refuses or fails to provide the requested information, you can always request the estate be supervised. Once the estate is supervised the Personal Representative has to seek approval from the Court before selling, transferring assets or paying expenses. I would try to work with the Personal Representative directly prior to requesting the estate be supervised as a supervised estate will typically take longer as everything has to be approved by the Court.
If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me at 317-565-1818.
-Will
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