Arlington, TX asked in Estate Planning for Texas

Q: 3 siblings fixing estate for sale, one worked most wanting pay per hour after-the-fact, retroactive. Is this legal?

My husband and 2 siblings are equal-share inheritors of mother's estate per will. The estate is in Houston TX. We are updating the house for sale. One sibling lives in Houston and the other 40 miles away. We live 234 miles away. I had shoulder surgery which has prevented us from being able to go as frequent. The sibling that is closest and has done much work complained about our availability and wants my husband to pay him at a rate per hour for the work he has done. He wants this pay retroactive, since the day we started working on the house. This was not discussed or agreed to between them. He brought this up this week. He is asking retribution only from my husband and he does not want the pay to come from my husbands portion of the estate. We have no way to track the time he invested. Legally, 1. Is he in the right to request retroactive payback?, 2. Is this payback supposed to come from the sale of the estate? If he insists, would we have legal grounds to contest his claim?

Related Topics:
1 Lawyer Answer
Nina Whitehurst
PREMIUM
Nina Whitehurst pro label Lawyers, want to be a Justia Connect Pro too? Learn more ›
Answered
  • Estate Planning Lawyer
  • Crossville, TN

A: The sibling that did the work essentially volunteered his labor. Neither your husband nor the estate is obligated to pay him for it after the fact. It might have been different had he asked in advance to be paid for labor that he planned to perform, but that was not the case. Had he asked in advance, the executor might have decided the estate would be better off hiring a professional, but by not asking in advance he did not give the executor the option. If the sibling that did the work IS the executor, then he will have to submit his claim to the court for approval. Arguably the work is outside the normal duties of an executor and will be rejected by the court. If he is not the executor, he could try to submit the claim to the court but chances are the claim will be rejected for lack of prior agreement by the executor and lack of documentation.

Justia Ask a Lawyer is a forum for consumers to get answers to basic legal questions. Any information sent through Justia Ask a Lawyer is not secure and is done so on a non-confidential basis only.

The use of this website to ask questions or receive answers does not create an attorney–client relationship between you and Justia, or between you and any attorney who receives your information or responds to your questions, nor is it intended to create such a relationship. Additionally, no responses on this forum constitute legal advice, which must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each case. You should not act upon information provided in Justia Ask a Lawyer without seeking professional counsel from an attorney admitted or authorized to practice in your jurisdiction. Justia assumes no responsibility to any person who relies on information contained on or received through this site and disclaims all liability in respect to such information.

Justia cannot guarantee that the information on this website (including any legal information provided by an attorney through this service) is accurate, complete, or up-to-date. While we intend to make every attempt to keep the information on this site current, the owners of and contributors to this site make no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information contained in or linked to from this site.