Garland, TX asked in Probate for Massachusetts

Q: We live in Texas. My wife’s mother, residency in Massachusetts, passed away in Florida, over 4 years ago.

She had a checking and savings account. The savings acct was put on hold pending probate. My wife was a signer in checking acct. one and a half years after death my wife and her two brothers had a service and wrote a check out checking acct.

Recently the mothers pensioner said they have been still paying pension and pulled money out of Bank One checking. My wife just gets a $900 overdraft charge from the bank, that she does not use, demanding payment for money she didn’t take. Over three years and no probate.

What does my wife do? She can not be responsible for an overdraft she did not authorize and for an acct that is not hers, can she??

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1 Lawyer Answer
Lillian J. LaRosa
Lillian J. LaRosa
Answered
  • Probate Lawyer
  • Woburn, MA
  • Licensed in Massachusetts

A: If she was a Massachusetts resident and the sum of money in the estate in question was under $25,000 then a Voluntary Statement could be filed with the Probate Court for the area where she lived and this would hopefully enable you to deal with the bank and pension payment issue. However, sometimes entities are uncomfortable with a Voluntary statement only, because in reality a fiduciary is not thereby appointed by the Court. If there was a Will you would need to file same as well. If the estate was over $25,000, then you will need to file a Late Petition for Probate .

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