[m-w] Re: Latest
- From: Dan Martin <danandkatrinamartin@xxxxxxx>
- To: m-w@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:51:03 -0500
I just don't have answers to many of your questions.
I did make contact with these people after Sandy mentioned that there
are such businesses:
http://www.rogerhowardappraisals.com/contact.htm
They can do it if we go that way.
I did not have any discussions about any of this with Karen or Sandy
when they were here.
I did have a discussion with Sandy when we were up there, no decisions
were made.
I let the insurance expire on the van.
I have done nothing with the van other than charge the battery.
I was told that the executor could sell it.
Joe is a old friend of Lucy's, that is about all I know about him.
I have the receipt for the property tax last year, no property tax is
owed.
I have been paying the home owners insurance and utilities.
I have canceled the paper and deposited the refund into the bank
account that my name is on.
I assumed Mike would be named the executor as well.
Dan
On Jun 17, 2009, at 1:19 PM, Kathi Pieper wrote:
I received the email from Mike advising how long probate takes and
how much it costs. I replied to everyone, I think, that the
information I found indicated that if there was a will and not a lot
of debt that needed to be dealt with that the process is fairly
straightforward and should not be very difficult to achieve. From
what I understand, Mom had no debt. So that leaves assets to be
inventoried and dealt with.
I do not know what was discussed/done when Sandy and Karen were in
Houston, even though I have asked several so far. I don't think
anybody should be going to the probate office until all agree on how
the estate is going to be handled - sell the house? how are contents
being handled? what is being done with the van?, etc. I don't think
agreement will be reached without communication.
I also received the note from Mike advising that he is somewhat
irritated at the lawyer's behavior and I replied directly to Mike on
issues in that email. I will share below most of the contents of
that email.
First - Who is Joe the lawyer? Are we paying him? If we are paying
him, he is working for the six kids and should only be communicating
to us. Is he a probate attorney? It is not seeming so since Mike
indicated that Joe wants to put the house in either Mike's name or
all of our names. I contacted an attorney here who is not familiar
with Texas law but did state that he felt it would be almost
impossible to change the deed on the house until this goes through
the probate court and obtains a judge's order transferring the house
to the 6 of us (or permitting us to sell it and divide the proceeds
among all). From the discussion - there are two ways to structure
the ownership of the house - separate share of the property that can
be sold, or interest in the property that can only be sold as part
of the whole. I'm sure there is a lot more detail on that.
The attorney advised that there is no question who the house belongs
to - effective the moment of Mom's death, we all equally share in
the ownership of the house and things should not be done without all
parties agreement. So, if there are property taxes to be paid, we
are going to have to pay them out of the estate. The discussion of
costs during the probate process need to be discussed.
Who should be the executor of the estate? I don't know. I do know
that I want detailed, equitable explanations of any and all
distributions, making certain that everybody is being dealt with in
the same fashion and shared equally by all. I was less than
thrilled with the lack of detail that accompanied the funds that
have already been distributed and have some questions on it. I am
not saying that I don't think it was done right - just that I am
more detail oriented than that. I don't have the college degree or
background or experience with such matters, but do like details and
explanations. With all that said, I would vote for me to be the
executor or have an attorney who corresponds with all of us and not
just the executor - which is very typical and has not happened this
far. From what I have been told, only two trips to the courthouse
should be necessary - at the beginning and at the end - so it could
be done by anyone.
I also mentioned to Mike that I would offer to do Mom's taxes. I
may be oversimplifying it, but she only had some interest income and
Social Security so I don't think it would take but a few hours.
So, that is today's two cents from me. I don't think there should
be any question in anyone's mind on what Mom's wishes were. She
plainly stated what she wanted and I guess skipped the step of
naming an executor. I assumed Mike was the executor and that is was
stated in the will, but I guess the reference to Mike was as a
beneficiary. One might surmise that it was Mom's wish that Mike was
executor since she did that beneficiary form - whatever. I don't
care who it is but I do want to be kept informed and I want details.
Waiting to see if I hear from anyone this time
Kathi
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