It all depends on how the deed was written. If the deed gave the co-owners survivorship rights, the surviving owner would own it all regardless of what the Will said (because there would be no interest to pass through the Will as it would have automatically gone to the survivor). However, if the... View More

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answered on Jan 10, 2024

It's not inherently illegal for a lawyer to be named as a beneficiary in a client's will or life insurance policy, but this situation can raise questions of undue influence or conflict of interest. If your father's mental capacity was in doubt, there could be grounds to challenge the... View More

Yes. The sister can petition the court to remove the Personal Representative, who is not doing the job properly. There is no reason to pay a mortgage if the estate is insolvent. It just means the house must be sold. The bank will get all its money at settlement, if the price is high enough. The... View More

"inheritance" doesn't mean the bank loan is forgiven. It must be either paid off from Estate funds, or refinanced by the person inheriting the property. A "quitclaim" deed (one without the usual warranties of title) means the mortgage lien/loan obligations of the dead... View More

You should retain an attorney to handle the estate. They will have more resources to track these people down. It may require hiring an investigator.

Thanks for your post. One beneficiary/heir buying out the other(s) presents a fairly common scenario.

When an estate has enough other liquid assets, then to eliminate transfer taxes it often makes sense to distribute the real estate entirely to the child who wants to acquire it and... View More

Ordinarily, you are required to make a court appearance and produce the original will to be appointed as the personal representative of a decedent's estate. The fact that you don't have the original, but do have a copy, tells me that you may be trying to do something without an attorney... View More

Hi and thanks for posting a real estate question.

The first variable is whether your father's wife is still living. This appears to be a life estate to your father's wife, with the life estate ending if the life tenant moves out or remarries.

You describe a position... View More

Have you checked with the executor to see if he has a copy of the Will, or any correspondence regarding being named executor? Do you or anyone you know have access to the shop where the Will supposedly was stored? Do you know who he named as beneficiaries under his will?

The purported... View More

Retain counsel. Petition for Order to Sell or, in the Alternative, Replace PR for Self-Dealing.

Unfortunately, this may be a situation in which you need to get an attorney. The truth is that getting an attorney is costly, but not getting one is even more costly. There are certain legal matters that can be handled without an attorney, but based on what you have said so far, this likely is not... View More

If these bills are Medicare or Medicaid-related, and are requesting reimbursements for benefits paid through those programs, then maybe. Otherwise, creditors have an outer deadline of 6 months from the date of death to file a formal claim in the estate (not simply mail bills--the claim if a formal... View More

You need to discuss your situation with a lawyer. There are way too many unanswered questions. Is the home free & clear? Are there other heirs? Will the two heirs share it equally and get along in it? Do you want them to have the house or the proceeds from the house?

The short, and... View More

Taxes are imposed on the gross estate. There are exemptions, credits and deductions that are/may be applicable. You absolutely need to pay a CPA to do these taxes for this size of an estate, as well as have estate counsel for the estate administration (or trust distribution). There are too many... View More

In a word, yes, even where a Will waives bond the Register can still require a nominal bond to cover anticipated inheritance tax and other court fees.

Wills almost always waive the bond requirement for monies going to people who may inherit. However the government doesn't... View More

Your use of pronouns "someone", "you", "he" and "I" is beyond confusing. It is unclear who these pronouns are referring to, other than the "I."

I'll take a stab: the owner of the company died without a will, and you are... View More

If there is no Will and no surviving spouse, parents or children / grandchildren, the nieces and nephews of the Deceased (children of the deceased sibling) receive under "representation". For example, if there were 4 siblings who either survived or who died with their own issue, then the... View More

Your question says you are in DC, but it is posed as a Maryland question, and I am going to guess the estate is filed in PG County, because, even though it's called Orphan's Court formally, in Montgomery, the hearings are in the Circuit Court by the Circuit Court bench, so laypeople never... View More

If the property was an asset of the estate, then the elective share applies.

In Maryland, the way you get Letters of Administration is by filing a Petition for Probate. That opens an estate. If the assets are all in non-probate assets, they get listed separately in the Information Report.