You need to find a probate attorney who does litigation AND does defense work as well.
Most probate guys do not do litigation. It’s speciality work. If other family who have “standing” or think they should be or were named as a heir for your moms estate & are actually challenging the will &/or you as Executor / Administrator of mom’s estate, you have to have your own atty that does litigation to represent you. And you want one who has a partner that does civil defense work if they don’t do that.
If they actually have filed a civil, what is it abt?…. removing your from Adminstration of estate &/or seeking $/property from you? What harm did you supposedly do (this will be in the paperwork)?
Probate isn’t necessarily difficult in my experience but it is very very specific for time frame AND formatting AND requirements for filing documents, Notices, requests, orders. Rarely DIY to get properly done.
Please pls pls find an attorney & let them deal with this asap
As an aside, I’ve been an executor x 3 and found that challenging a valid will entered in probate court (PC) tends not to happen. It usually is a bluff or is crosstalk by family who are under the illusion that there is serious $$$$ when in fact $$$ has been spent over time for care & costs of living and now there r $ debts. That the assets that a will written back in 2005 was based on simply no longer exists….. that challengers are clueless that “Wealthy Aunt Jane” actually died with a termite damaged house valued at 150k, 10k in savings, gave her good jewelry away ages ago and 185k in debt. Civil suit based on illusion assets tend to fall apart once discovery happens but will cost everyone attorney fees.
If you know they actually will follow thru on challenging you and have actually filed a civil suit against you, follow your attys advice.
If you are living in the home that is an asset of the Estate, please clearly speak with your atty as to what $ in the “Estate Of” bank account can be used for. Usually Estate funds can pay for property taxes, property insurance, regular maintenance (like yard service), necessary repairs. But utilities, cable, phone, internet, groceries, are all on whomever living in the house to pay out of their own pocket. You cannot be using estate funds to pay your own debts or your costs of living. Unless the Estate has $$ and the will specifically has a fee structure that the Executor is paid from or can draw from; or your state has a set % paid from Estate assets allowed, you are likely to be doing & paying for the whatever’s needed to complete Executorship from your own purse and out of a sense of familial responsibility. When the final distribution is done & approved, it’s mainly then when the Executor gets compensation /reimbursement
I’ve sat in PC more times than I can count and Executor using estate $ to pay their own bills - even if Exec didn’t understand that was a big no - is reason for changing the Executor / Administration of the estate to a Dependent Administration requiring judges signature before any $ used. Legal bills if this happens will get seriously high.
Now if there is no valid will, that imo is a whole other hot mess. That’s lineal heirship territory & imo must be done by an attorney who specializes in lineal. It cannot be DIY due to how Notices and Call Outs to establish heirs has to be done. Your state laws on lineal & property rights very much determines the outcome. I’m in Louisiana and we’re French law based which gives standing to all heirs even illegitimate or punitive. No way to ever DIY a lineal.
If Medicaid was involved in paying for their care, that’s a whole other layer atop all this. Even if a home was TOD unless in a handful of states that allow enhanced benefit deed.
Igloo, as always, very insightful and helpful advice, especially addressing the important issue that typically probate attorneys aren't involved in probate litigation. The issue of allowable expenses is equally important .
Jackirae, assets that transfer directly don't have to be probated, but there may be other assets that aren't directly transferred, and would require probate.
What can be done with paperwork can be undone by more paperwork.
See a lawyer, probate can take years, so you will want to settle out of court with the help of your attorney, imo.
What has your question to do with elder abuse? Care to explain? (Not a requirement.)
If the lawsuit involves preventing you from receiving funds in order to live that are due to you, promised to you, ask your attorney to petition the estate, through the courts. imo.
I hope it's an estate valued for a lot of money because usually in these cases the lawyers are the winners when a will is contested. Most contested will cases are rarely won. Just being left out of a will is not a legally contestable action. Yet many lawyers will take the case anyway.
You will have to respond to the suit with a lawyer. If you are the executor of the will the money will likely be paid for by the estate to defend the will as written. See a lawyer at once.
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Most probate guys do not do litigation. It’s speciality work. If other family who have “standing” or think they should be or were named as a heir for your moms estate & are actually challenging the will &/or you as Executor / Administrator of mom’s estate, you have to have your own atty that does litigation to represent you. And you want one who has a partner that does civil defense work if they don’t do that.
If they actually have filed a civil, what is it abt?…. removing your from Adminstration of estate &/or seeking $/property from you? What harm did you supposedly do (this will be in the paperwork)?
Probate isn’t necessarily difficult in my experience but it is very very specific for time frame AND formatting AND requirements for filing documents, Notices, requests, orders. Rarely DIY to get properly done.
Please pls pls find an attorney & let them deal with this asap
As an aside, I’ve been an executor x 3 and found that challenging a valid will entered in probate court (PC) tends not to happen. It usually is a bluff or is crosstalk by family who are under the illusion that there is serious $$$$ when in fact $$$ has been spent over time for care & costs of living and now there r $ debts. That the assets that a will written back in 2005 was based on simply no longer exists….. that challengers are clueless that “Wealthy Aunt Jane” actually died with a termite damaged house valued at 150k, 10k in savings, gave her good jewelry away ages ago and 185k in debt. Civil suit based on illusion assets tend to fall apart once discovery happens but will cost everyone attorney fees.
If you know they actually will follow thru on challenging you and have actually filed a civil suit against you, follow your attys advice.
If you are living in the home that is an asset of the Estate, please clearly speak with your atty as to what $ in the “Estate Of” bank account can be used for. Usually Estate funds can pay for property taxes, property insurance, regular maintenance (like yard service), necessary repairs. But utilities, cable, phone, internet, groceries, are all on whomever living in the house to pay out of their own pocket. You cannot be using estate funds to pay your own debts or your costs of living. Unless the Estate has $$ and the will specifically has a fee structure that the Executor is paid from or can draw from; or your state has a set % paid from Estate assets allowed, you are likely to be doing & paying for the whatever’s needed to complete Executorship from your own purse and out of a sense of familial responsibility. When the final distribution is done & approved, it’s mainly then when the Executor gets compensation /reimbursement
I’ve sat in PC more times than I can count and Executor using estate $ to pay their own bills - even if Exec didn’t understand that was a big no - is reason for changing the Executor / Administration of the estate to a Dependent Administration requiring judges signature before any $ used. Legal bills if this happens will get seriously high.
Now if there is no valid will, that imo is a whole other hot mess.
That’s lineal heirship territory & imo must be done by an attorney who specializes in lineal. It cannot be DIY due to how Notices and Call Outs to establish heirs has to be done. Your state laws on lineal & property rights very much determines the outcome. I’m in Louisiana and we’re French law based which gives standing to all heirs even illegitimate or punitive. No way to ever DIY a lineal.
If Medicaid was involved in paying for their care, that’s a whole other layer atop all this. Even if a home was TOD unless in a handful of states that allow enhanced benefit deed.
important issue that typically probate attorneys aren't involved in probate litigation. The issue of allowable expenses is equally important .
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There are a lot of issues in this situation.
See a lawyer, probate can take years, so you will want to settle out of court with the help of your attorney, imo.
What has your question to do with elder abuse? Care to explain? (Not a requirement.)
If the lawsuit involves preventing you from receiving funds in order to live that are due to you, promised to you, ask your attorney to petition the estate, through the courts. imo.
”What can be done by paperwork can be undone by more paperwork”
And yes you will have to hire a lawyer too.