You can always decline an estate, but there may be much better ways to put property in the hands of your step-sister to avoid significant taxes. I assume your step-sister is from a union of your father with another mother, because if she is your mother’s daughter and your mother died intestate,... View More

Yes, the children of the pre-deceased siblings are heirs: they take the share of their deceased parent. Section 3-110 does not apply to this scenario and you misunderstand it. Section 3-110 simply states that anyone who dies within 30 days after the decedent shall be treated as if they died before... View More

Once an estate is opened, it is public record, and all proceedings and filings, including the Will, can be copied and obtained (they are available online, for download, through the Register of Wills' website, which has an estate search option you can search by decedent's name and county... View More

You will need to speak with a lawyer and provide more details if you have them. For instance, has an estate been opened, and where? I cannot answer for Jamaica, but in the United States when an estate is opened the will must be filed and it, along with all other filngs in the estate (the... View More

Yes, Y is a creditor of the estate and may file a claim for funeral expenses paid. Y should submit a formal claim together with the invoices/receits showing the amounts incurred. If the Personal Representatve fails to pay or denies all or part of the claim, Y can petition to court to order the PR... View More

Yes. Make a lower offer. If refused, when the house is put up for sale, bid on on it like anyone else. You may end up being the higher bidder, but don’t bid more than you think it’s worth.

The property is owned by the estate, not by you or your sister, despite the fact that the Will or the law of intestate succession directs the property be deeded to you both at some point in the future. Until that happens, you are occupying estate property. The PR of the estate, your sister, has... View More

The personal representative of a estate is give certain authorities in the will. It is common for the PR to have authority to enter into contract and collect rents on property in the estate for the benefit of the estate. If you are not on the deed and are not the PR your rights have not fully... View More

No, a court cannot subdivide a house. What you can do is petition a court to “sell the house in lieu of partition,” a legal action that results in the court appointing a trustee to list and sell the jointly owned property and divide the proceeds among the owners in accordance with their... View More

Who is the personal representative of your mother's estate?

Heirs to an estate can, by mutual agreement, settle property distributions under the Will, even if the settlement changes what each heir is supposed to receive under the Will. A lawyer can help you work this out. It is not difficult.

There is nothing that prohibits the sale of real estate by the Personal Repesentative of the estate, so long as the sale is either based on fair market value, or if not, then if all the heirs and other interested persons agree (typically, "other interested persons" means creditors if... View More

No chance the mortgage company can foreclose and sell that fast. It takes at least 90 days of no mortgage payments to trigger the foreclosure notices, and if the PR communicates to the mortgage company the death of the borrower and that an estate is open and the house will be sold, then they will... View More

It’s been a pretty hot market this past year around here, so you’re going to want to get a fair appraisal done to at least know what the house is likely able to sell for. I think what you’re saying is that the house was already deeded by the estate to the three of you, so now you all own 1/3.... View More

Managing a decedent's estate is not like following a recipe to bake a cake. If you are not going to hire an estate lawyer, then you need to download and read all the brochures on estate administration available on the Register of Wills website, as well as make appointments with the ROW to... View More

There are three types of deeds in real property in Maryland: 1) General Warranty Deeds; 2) Special Warranty Deeds; and 3) Quitclaim Deeds. The first is rarely used in Maryland. It promises that the transferor's title was good from all claims before him. The second type merely warrants that the... View More

Use Kelly Blue Book, www.kbb.com, private sale value.

There is no waiting time. Once you are appointed as PR your obligations are established by the Statutes and court rules. A PR runs into trouble when they wait too long, allow bad things to happen to the property, let others live in it, don't pay the mortgage, etc. But a PR may sign a contract... View More

The answer depends on the jurisdiction. Your question appears to be posted from Pennsylvania but asserts that it is about Maryland property. What may really matter is where your girlfriend was domiciled when she passed. The difference will be the taxes, and the difference will be significant. Since... View More

The answer will depend on the jurisdiction and the terms of sale. Usually, a sale must be approved by the court before it is beyond redemption. In some jurisdictions, all that was sold was a tax certificate that entitles the buyer to a high interest rate. In any event, the death before the sale may... View More