Q: My mother died without a will her estates in probate &no one is supposed to remove any property but my sibling did.
Should my other siblings and I call the police,press charges or file a report?The same sibling petioning to be administrator although he isn't yet still had his lawyer draw up papers stating anyone who takes property from the estate will be ineligible for inheritance.could this effect his chances of being administrator? Thank you
A: That's the problem when someone dies. The legal owner of the personal property has died, and until a personal representative is appointed by the court to represent the decedent's interests, there is no owner. If you're not an owner, you can't call the police to report the theft of property. Regardless, your brother will be held to account for the property taken if he's successful in his petition to become the administrator of your mother's estate, and even if he's not successful in his petition, whoever is successful will have the right to demand an accounting of him, and he'll either be forced to return the property to the estate or his share of the estate will be reduced by the fair market value of the property which he has received. Merely taking the property from the decedent's home will not render the beneficiary ineligible to receive an inheritance from the estate. It might have an impact on eligibility to become administrator if he is challenged and not forthcoming as to what he took. Perhaps he took it for safekeeping? Although probably not.
David Ostrove and Nina Whitehurst agree with this answer
A: file or have your attorney file a petition with the superior court, notifying the Court of what has taken place and requesting that the court order that the taken item be replaced and that the taker be properly sanctioned.
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