Q: In Mom's will she left me her car, my sister took 4,000 out my share to pay for it. Isn't it illegal for her to do that?
I asked why I was charged 4 the car, mom didn't sell it to me. She said because it was part of the estate. The blue book is less than the 4,000 she took and shouldn't I have been a choice first?
A:
I suspect that there are more facts then what you have written. You might need to talk to an attorney to figure this out because one has to consider all the facts.
Suffice it to say if the estate was otherwise solvent, then the specific bequest of a car would go to you and you would still be an equal beneficiary of the residuary assuming the Will gave you an equal share of the residuary. You would be correct that the PR would not have any power to reallocate the distribution to "fix" it to what the PR thinks is fair or intended by your mother.
But one has to also know what debts and tax liabilities were facing the estate. A PR does have the right to ask for contributions from the distributees to help resolve tax or debt issues. Also if the car had a secured loan of $4,000 which the PR paid off from other funds, the PR may have been correct to charge you for the advance the estate made to pay off the secured car loan.
Again, until one reviews ALL the facts, one can't correctly answer your question. Make an appointment to talk to an Attorney in your area.
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