Q: Can I sell deceased dad's jewelry to pay probate court costs to petition the court to be Administrator?
My father died in January with no valid will. I need to petition the court to be made Administrator and I have my petition papers for probate court ready to be filed so I can sell his only real asset - his car. As I thought about it, he also had some jewelry, not much, but some. I have no idea what the jewelry is worth. But that’s all he had. I need to liquidate the jewelry to get money to pay the probate court costs as my father had only a very small amount of cash. Can I sell the jewelry prior to filing in probate court in order to pay the court costs, or do I have to hold on to the jewelry and pay the court costs myself?
A: There are far easier ways to accomplish your goal than what you laid out. That said, you cannot sell any assets until they are in your name or you are in charge of the estate.
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