Q: My father died on June 12. no will, no trust I Stepmom is administrator but is not turning in all assets.
Father had 3 businesses a house on land. Bank accounts only in his name. She is not legally doing what she is suppose to do. She is selling estate assets. Below cost or giving away . Has already done a quick deed to her son my half brother for the house. 4 dependents of my dads have gotten nothing. Her inventory list in probate is a joke there is one item on it. What can I do?
A: You should probably consider filing an injunction to prevent the administrator from dissipating assets. If necessary to prevent irreparable harm, injury, or damage, you could file an emergency petition to get into court more quickly. It is likely in your best interest to hire your own legal counsel to ask the court to protect your interests and to prevent the dissipation of property.
A:
I assume this woman was legally married to your father. In that case, she is entitled to the spousal elective share. I say that simply to say that the formula for that, in most cases, means that the spouse receives all or the majority of any probate estate.
As the personal representative, she is required to comply with the law and notice requirements. Presumably, she timely sent you a copy of the inventory. You may contest that by filing a motion with the probate court, which will cause the court to hold a hearing on it. Just know that, depending on what ends up being the actual total value of your dad's estate, everything may end up going to her anyway.
In most cases, probate administration is unsupervised - meaning that as long as the proper documents are timely filed, and no one with standing (e.g. heirs - that would include you) challenges any of the filings, the court otherwise does not involve itself. They will not independently investigate what she is filing; that is your job.
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