Estate Law
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Answered in 6 minutes by:
2/17/2014
Richard, Attorney
Category: Estate Law
Satisfied Customers: 65,713
Experience: 29 years of experience practicing law, including tax and estate planning.
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Just because your older brother is named the executor of the estates, the estates and their assets are not his personal piggy bank. Your older brother, as executor, has a fiduciary duty to each beneficiary and each beneficiary is entitled to a copy of the full inventory of assets and periodic accounting of every dime in and out of the estate. If the executor fails to produce the inventory, periodic accounting, or fails to timely administer the estate, including distributing to you your share of the sale proceeds, you can file a petition with the probate court to have him removed as executor for breach of fiduciary duty. And, there is any misappropriation of estate assets or funds, you can also ask the court to award actual and punitive damages against the executor. To further protect your proceeds from the sale, you should contact the closing attorney or title company, whichever is handling the sale, and insist on the closing statement that the funds from sale be distributed directly to the beneficiaries in the applicable percentages rather than directly to the estate in care of your older brother. As long as these proceeds are not necessary to pay bills and expenses of the estate, your older brother should have no issues with this.
Thank you so much for allowing me to help you with your questions. I have done my best to provide information which fully addresses your question. If have any follow up questions, please ask! If I have fully answered your question(s) to your satisfaction, I would appreciate you rating my service as OK, Good or Excellent (hopefully Good or Excellent). I thank you in advance for taking the time to provide me a positive rating!
Just because your older brother is named the executor of the estates, the estates and their assets are not his personal piggy bank. Your older brother, as executor, has a fiduciary duty to each beneficiary and each beneficiary is entitled to a copy of the full inventory of assets and periodic accounting of every dime in and out of the estate. If the executor fails to produce the inventory, periodic accounting, or fails to timely administer the estate, including distributing to you your share of the sale proceeds, you can file a petition with the probate court to have him removed as executor for breach of fiduciary duty. And, there is any misappropriation of estate assets or funds, you can also ask the court to award actual and punitive damages against the executor. To further protect your proceeds from the sale, you should contact the closing attorney or title company, whichever is handling the sale, and insist on the closing statement that the funds from sale be distributed directly to the beneficiaries in the applicable percentages rather than directly to the estate in care of your older brother. As long as these proceeds are not necessary to pay bills and expenses of the estate, your older brother should have no issues with this.
Thank you so much for allowing me to help you with your questions. I have done my best to provide information which fully addresses your question. If have any follow up questions, please ask! If I have fully answered your question(s) to your satisfaction, I would appreciate you rating my service as OK, Good or Excellent (hopefully Good or Excellent). I thank you in advance for taking the time to provide me a positive rating!
Richard, Attorney
Category: Estate Law
Satisfied Customers: 65,713
Experience: 29 years of experience practicing law, including tax and estate planning.
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