If you are a beneficiary, you have to be notified of the filing of an inventory and the final account, giving you an opportunity to object, and the Court would schedule a hearing on any and all objections. Other than that requirement, the fiduciary has no obligation to communicate directly with... View More

She can largely protect the equity from non-mortgage debts by executing a transfer on death designation affidavit. Some exceptions exist. But, in practice, this would protect the house from credit card and medical debt.

Interesting question. You certainly cannot be responsible for repaying any money that you spent on behalf of your mother for her expenses like medical expenses, nursing home bills, taxes, insurance, etc. One tricky question is whether you are liable to the estate for payments that you made to... View More

If the will cannot be found, and if he did not have a surviving spouse, then his estate will be divided among his natural and adopted children, but step children don't share. If the will can be found, and if it nominates you to be executor, and if the will is submitted to the probate court,... View More

No news is bad news. You need to communicate with the executor to see where the process is. The executor may be strategically waiting to open the estate. Or, there may be nothing going through probate, so it wouldn't matter what the will says. If the executor is being evasive (like... View More

If the seller can't close before Nov. 30th, then that is a breach of contract and you can terminate. They will likely ask you to sign an extension, but you aren't obligated to do so.

If the seller is able to close by then, you can still terminate the contract if you want. This... View More

Ohio law only cares if they were married at the time of his death.

Ohio law tends to favor a surviving spouse. She can definitely transfer a car to herself as long as it's not worth too much. Regarding his personal items, it he didn't have a will then you may have a claim against her for a portion of the personal items. The problem is that the cost of... View More

If you already have a will, you can execute a codicil with the same formality that amends your existing will. Or, you can make a new will...which may be easier. I suggest being specific in the will and also communicating to your kids how this will play out. Knowing in advance can drastically... View More

If your boyfriend's assets went through probate, then you may be able to get reimbursed for the funeral expenses. You should probably have an attorney check the house title to see whether the house has been probated. This would be a good indicator as to how the assets have been handled and... View More

If he is incompetent, then you can apply to be his guardian and take control over his finances. You could also notify his bank that you believe he's incompetent or under undue influence. If he's competent and not under undue influence, then your options are very limited.

You do not own it so you cannot sell it. In order to own it, someone must open a probate estate ... but whether you own some of it or all of it will depend on the language of the Will. And if there is no will and your siblings had children, some of the ownership will pass to them.

You... View More

You need an attorney. This happens more often than you think and a number of factors can influence the strategy moving forward. For example, if no assets need to go through probate, then it doesn't matter as much. But, if a significant bank or investment account needs to go through probate,... View More

You have to do two estates, unless the property was titled jointly with survivorship rights or if there is a Transfer on Death Affidavit recorded with the county. If it requires two estates, depending on the county where the decedents lived and how long ago they died you may be able to do a Real... View More

If property is owned as "joint with rights of survivorship" it passes to the wife outside of probate with a simple form, and the Will has nothing to do with it. JTROS property is not a probate asset.

If the property is merely "joint" (in Ohio, that means owned as... View More

A husband cannot sell real estate unless a wife also signs. It doesn't matter that only his name is on the mortgage. So you can prevent the sale, unless he sells it for a price to which you will agree, and you agree on how to split the sale proceeds. If you are splitting up by divorcing,... View More

If the account was "Joint with Rights of Survivorship" as most "joint" accounts are, the account goes directly to you. It does not go through probate and therefore is not controlled by the Will. All you need to do is take an original death certificate and a photo ID to a bank... View More

We would first need to know more information.

1) How large is his estate?

2) Do either of you live in Ohio?

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answered on Sep 12, 2020

It depends on what the will says. Usually, there is a provision saying that if someone predeceases the decedent, that their share goes to their children evenly. That's the default rule anyway in Ohio if the will is silent on that. If either of those are true then you should be sharing evenly... View More

If your lease requires you to pay the electric that you use, then you are obligated to pay whatever the proper billing for your usage works out to be, regardless of the mix up. If you don't pay, landlord can subtract from your deposit, sue you for any additional amount, or file to evict you.