UPDATED If you’ve probated a will I have a question for you

[Linda_Runs]

Grandma left a will.

She left me some money which has pissed off several aunts and cousins.

One of the pissed of aunts is the executor and she hired a probate lawyer.

The court date came and went and she didn’t bother to tell me about it, which I believe by law she has to, but now I come home to a pink slip from usps saying I have a certified letter from the attorney she hired.

Any clue what it is? I suspect it’s a check for my portion of the estate but the court date was July 3rd and I can tell based on online info about it that she was named the executor. Could that happen this soon? Or is it something else?

She hasn’t responded to texts since June 11th nor emails or phone calls so I can not ask her.

And yes. I’m aware that no one here is psychic and can tell me what’s in that letter but I’m assuming if you’ve probated a will you might have a better idea on what it could be.

Generally I work in family law, but I do some estate law too. Unless you are a beneficiary, she has no legal obligation to contact you or tell you anything about the Will - at least in the jurisdictions that I have worked in. Probated Will are public documents. You can draw the file from the courthouse and read it.

As for the USPS pink slip, that could be anything really, so just pick it up and open it.

I am named in the will as a beneficiary.

She has a legal obligation to inform you of your inheritance. Given there is animosity between you, this should be done officially, in writing. This would be the case in all jurisdictions probably. Remember, inheritances are usually the second or third last division of an estate. Funeral expenses, wages owed, secured creditors, all state and federal taxes and unsecured debts come before you would get any money. Usually one year is considered enough time, but an executor can ask for more time, or just take more time, if they need it.

[mojogirl]

How many posts have you made about this? I think it's disgusting that you've been so obsessed with this will and the money and granny has barely been gone 2 months.

[Anonymous 4]

I usually agree with you. But might it not be true that she both misses her grandmother and is looking forward to receiving her inheritance?

How many posts have you made about this? I think it's disgusting that you've been so obsessed with this will and the money and granny has barely been gone 2 months.

[Msprekteacher]

When ai inherited my check came from the executor of the will and the copy of came from him also if memory serves.

Grandma left a will.

She left me some money which has pissed off several aunts and cousins.

One of the pissed of aunts is the executor and she hired a probate lawyer.

The court date came and went and she didn’t bother to tell me about it, which I believe by law she has to, but now I come home to a pink slip from usps saying I have a certified letter from the attorney she hired.

Any clue what it is? I suspect it’s a check for my portion of the estate but the court date was July 3rd and I can tell based on online info about it that she was named the executor. Could that happen this soon? Or is it something else?

She hasn’t responded to texts since June 11th nor emails or phone calls so I can not ask her.

And yes. I’m aware that no one here is psychic and can tell me what’s in that letter but I’m assuming if you’ve probated a will you might have a better idea on what it could be.


——————————————

It was a copy of her will along with paper work from the lawyer stating they are representing my aunt as the executor. And then a copy of the court paper work stating my aunt is the executor (which was mentioned in the will)

I think based on the fact that I now have a copy of the will that things SHOULD go smoothly from here and that they can’t really f**k me over. The court, the lawyer, all 5 aunts, and my other two cousins all should have gotten the same stuff.

[MonkeySeeMonkeyDo]

I usually agree with you. But might it not be true that she both misses her grandmother and is looking forward to receiving her inheritance?

How many posts have you made about this? I think it's disgusting that you've been so obsessed with this will and the money and granny has barely been gone 2 months.

Honestly I’m not even looking forward to the money, I’d give anything to have my grandmother back. I still cry every day because I miss her. I AM worried about my aunt screwing me over though and I think it’s s valid fear and I don’t feel there’s any reason why I can’t ask questions here.

[MonkeySeeMonkeyDo]

I usually agree with you. But might it not be true that she both misses her grandmother and is looking forward to receiving her inheritance?

How many posts have you made about this? I think it's disgusting that you've been so obsessed with this will and the money and granny has barely been gone 2 months.

Honestly I’m not even looking forward to the money, I’d give anything to have my grandmother back. I still cry every day because I miss her. I AM worried about my aunt screwing me over though and I think it’s s valid fear and I don’t feel there’s any reason why I can’t ask questions here.

[mojogirl]

I usually agree with you. But might it not be true that she both misses her grandmother and is looking forward to receiving her inheritance?

How many posts have you made about this? I think it's disgusting that you've been so obsessed with this will and the money and granny has barely been gone 2 months.

I have no doubt she misses her grandmother. She'd have to be a sociopath not to and I don't think she is. But if memory serves even the very first post about her passing mentioned the will and her inheritance and it's been a regular barrage of posts since then solely about the money.

[Anonymous 4]

But I would see nothing wrong with you looking forward to receiving it. And I also think it would be understandable for you to be a little worried about whether or not your aunt is going to screw you over. I would try to just put it out of your mind, though. Chances are, she won't invest the time or money to try to screw you over.

I'd look at the inheritance this way: Any money that does make it to you is more money than you had before. It's "gravy" per se. If it doesn't make it to you, you didn't lose anything because you never had it to start with. KWIM? I hope it does make it to you, though.

I usually agree with you. But might it not be true that she both misses her grandmother and is looking forward to receiving her inheritance?

How many posts have you made about this? I think it's disgusting that you've been so obsessed with this will and the money and granny has barely been gone 2 months.

Honestly I’m not even looking forward to the money, I’d give anything to have my grandmother back. I still cry every day because I miss her. I AM worried about my aunt screwing me over though and I think it’s s valid fear and I don’t feel there’s any reason why I can’t ask questions here.

[Anonymous 4]

I see what you're saying. But didn't she also make at least one additional post about missing her grandmother, too?

I usually agree with you. But might it not be true that she both misses her grandmother and is looking forward to receiving her inheritance?

How many posts have you made about this? I think it's disgusting that you've been so obsessed with this will and the money and granny has barely been gone 2 months.

I have no doubt she misses her grandmother. She'd have to be a sociopath not to and I don't think she is. But if memory serves even the very first post about her passing mentioned the will and her inheritance and it's been a regular barrage of posts since then solely about the money.

[Valentina327]

Grandma left a will.

She left me some money which has pissed off several aunts and cousins.

One of the pissed of aunts is the executor and she hired a probate lawyer.

The court date came and went and she didn’t bother to tell me about it, which I believe by law she has to, but now I come home to a pink slip from usps saying I have a certified letter from the attorney she hired.

Any clue what it is? I suspect it’s a check for my portion of the estate but the court date was July 3rd and I can tell based on online info about it that she was named the executor. Could that happen this soon? Or is it something else?

She hasn’t responded to texts since June 11th nor emails or phone calls so I can not ask her.

And yes. I’m aware that no one here is psychic and can tell me what’s in that letter but I’m assuming if you’ve probated a will you might have a better idea on what it could be.


——————————————

It was a copy of her will along with paper work from the lawyer stating they are representing my aunt as the executor. And then a copy of the court paper work stating my aunt is the executor (which was mentioned in the will)

I think based on the fact that I now have a copy of the will that things SHOULD go smoothly from here and that they can’t really f**k me over. The court, the lawyer, all 5 aunts, and my other two cousins all should have gotten the same stuff.

Yes everyone gets noticed that is a blood heir (Direct descendants like her children. Next in line by blood) or a legatee (Someone who is to inherit from the estate, not necessarily in line by direct descent).

You can be both, like in the case of your aunts, or just a legatee as in your case. She has attorneys, and I don't think her attorneys would allow her to open herself up to being sued by telling her that she can omit paying you. That's what they're there for, to watch.

They have to go to court to open the probate. The executrix has to open a trust account, send in bank statements every month showing and defining bills that have been paid for the estate, and any sale of real estate has to get deposited into that trust account.

You won't be paid that fast. The attorney has to post a public notice for 6 months (that's what it was here in Illinois) so that any creditors can come forward to get paid is grandma owed them money.

Taxes also have to be settled, so she won't disburse until everything is liquidated (property/stock/retirement accounts) and she's been able to file and pay taxes for the estate. She's also got to pay taxes for your grandma personally for her last year in addition to the estate. The estate is its own person.

If it's after tax time when everything is liquidated, then you have to wait until next year to file taxes. I ran into this with my aunt's. I had to wait until the next cycle, so this stretched out about a year and a half. I ended up disbursing pretty much immediately after I filed which was a mistake.
I got bit on the ass for a few dollars because the IRS recalculated something on 2 years worth of filing a fewmonths after I already disbursed. I didn't plan on an adjustment.

So, this is a very complicated process and a lot of work for the executrix. It's not a fast payout either. I sent out one update and gave a partial disbursement at Christmas the next year as her final Christmas gift, since I had to hold for tax cycle.

If you're really worried about it you could have an attorney send a letter to her attorney asking for a status update in a few months. There's a lot going on, so it's not like she's going to divide everything up next week.

My aunt wrote out a nephew and he hired an attorney who wrote to my attorney, who in turn sent him a copy of the will demonstrating he was out.

After all of this is done, her attorney has to go back to court to have the probate closed. When it's opened the judge gives you a date to return to close it. The attorney goes back and represents to the judge that everything has been done according to the will and asks for the case to be closed.

The attorney is liable if he goes into court at the end and knows that you didn't get your disbursement. They put together a package for the judge, which includes the disbursement checks. I had to give mine copies of the canceled checks from everyone. No attorney is going to lose their license to practice for your aunt to screw you out of a few sheckles. I think you're safe, but you can always hire someone to do a check in for you.