My wife's birth father died in Feb. after being in the hospital after a severe stroke. No great loss. He was abusive to his wife and daughter (my wife). Cashed out their bank and retirement accounts before he left, never paid a penny of child support, basically a real POS. Any way, he leaves his house and a few other possessions for my wife and her sister. Sister is the executor since he always favored her. Turns out she is totally incompetent. Keep in mind she is a doctor. Hires a family friend for a lawyer that has had his legal license suspended twice. He screws everything up as expected delaying sale of the house which also carries a mortgage for about 100k. House is worth maybe 300k-330k. Then the doctor hires some idiot to hook up the dishwasher in the house that the father in law had unhooked obviously because it leaked. Guy turns the dishwasher on as he leaves the house not waiting to see if it is working properly. It is not. House floods. No insurance since the house was unoccupied. Likely 20K in damages at least. Handyman says not his fault since he was just told to hook it up not watch to see if it works. No business license, no insurance, not bonded, worked for cash, no record of him ever being there, another "family friend". Now the doctor genius is refusing to take any blame for hiring this idiot that flooded the house and wants us to pay half of the repair costs in cash, from the proceeds of the house sale, or have me travel 8 hours with a truck full of tools to repair it myself which I am capable of doing but don't want to since it is not my screw up. It gets better. Now the MIL and stepfather in law are pissed at me because I informed their darling daughter the doctor how stupid she really is and they also think I should go there and fix her mess. Not happening. Meanwhile the mortgage, insurance, utilities, yard maintenance carry on while being unable to sell this place. In the end, after legal fees, realtor fees, repairs and maintenance which none of the in-laws have the brains or energy to handle my wife will end up with about enough money for a movie ticket . I think the doctor has already cleaned out whatever money he did have in the bank since she had power of attorney as well. At this point the best thing that could happen is a nice housefire and be done with the entire nightmare. I never thought the old prick could make our lives miserable from beyond the grave but here we are. LOL. Just my rant for this morning. Hope you guys are having a better week than me.
Ever Receive an Inheritance?
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SS427Rick
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Nope, he had a 15 year old truck. That's it. If there is any money left it is hers.Hold on there!
Just doing some quick math, per your figures, there's still $$ left over.
Plus, there could be something cool up on jackstands in the garage.
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And get all your "Stuff" sorted out, or at least in some order. Some folks leave messes behind for the kids; mostly those of the pack rat variety. If you punch out early w/o warning, that's one thing.
A valid will does not avoid probate btw. Let 's not "aside'" a very technical issue. Non-probate transfers ( things you have named a beneficiary for - IRA, 401k, insurance and assets titled with surviviorship or TOD/POD) and assets held in trusts ( all of which have beneficiaries) do not go through probate.
The goal of most estate planning can be, in fact, to minimize the amount of assets that go through probate. Hence the popularity of "living trusts" .
Again, all trust must have beneficiaries, so those assets transfer outside probate. Probate is a public process. Anyone can go to the county office building and request a copy of the estate assets going through probate.
All of which may be different in Canada. ( we even have some differences amongst our 50 states)
FYI. PS not an attorney but have been teaching estate planning at the state school for a number of years, and practicing for over twenty.
Enjoy Mexico Rick!
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$300k house - $100k mortgage - $20k repair = $180k. I wouldn’t walk away from $90k. Thats tax free by the way.
I received a small inheritance from my grandparents. Luckily my father was the executor and had his act together and did everything properly and efficiently. He elected not to take an executor fee. He didn't need the money and wanted to avoid any family members complaining about it. It actually went smooth with the kids and grandkids who all got a small amount, but you hear plenty of horror stories out there. Many family members get along fine for years until someone dies and there is a will and money involved.
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My brother passed about 10 years ago. His wife passed this year. I get notification I'm an executer. They never told me. Their daughter was not old enough at the time of the will, now she is. She requests that I relinquish executer rights, which I gladly do. Knowing the history of their business and 50 acre property, I know this is going to be a mess that's not worth any percentage. Now my niece informs me there is over 500K in debt she now has to deal with. Why do people just leave a big mess for their relatives. Glad I bailed...
I'm glad I'm an only child and my mom is an only child too. It means there won't be much problem when she passes (my dad passed last year). She's spending her time cleaning out the closets and organizing family photos and stuff these days.
SS427Rick, sorry to hear of your family "fun".
SS427Rick, sorry to hear of your family "fun".
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Rick - Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt (and a whole lot more)! Totally broke up the remaining family, I got about $20K in bills while my siblings got $60K in their pockets! When I look back, $20K is a cheap fee to not have to deal with those narcissists again! I also got sued in the process because of something my father imagined (looking for attention), narcissism is the gift that keeps on giving!
I hope the two sisters were not close. Money, is like getting between a husband and wife spat and never ends well and destroys friendships. My wife was the executor for her Mom's estate and both her sister and her brother in law are lawyers. They played well and being an exec her sister trusted my wife as she should. It is a lot of work getting an estate ready to be dissolved including the many hours I worked on the property. When my Mom died my oldest sister (6 kids) who also kept my Mom out of a nursing home and was given extra room to do it her way but overall did a nice job for the other siblings and my Mom. However at least in my case the inheritance it is very much like getting something for free and what cost nothing is usually worth nothing. So I blew it with a smile buying cars and boats and today I am no richer or poorer however my family is intact which is most important.
I'm confused - no person is responsible for their parents' debts.
The estate bills and expenses as well as money owed like taxes, payment owed to others will be deducted first to any payee. However in that case when dept is higher than estate value the estate is dissolved and all moneys go to the creditors. Once the estate is zero it ends and no one is responsible to pay bills out of their personal pocket.
No they are not close. My wife noticed long ago that any time the sister did something remotely nice there was some devious angle to it that benefited her. At one time SIL didn't talk to us for years then suddenly starts calling, sending Xmas cards etc. We then find out she would be going to school in the city near us for 4 years and she assumed she would move in with us and live here for 4 years along with her dogs and cats. I put a stop to that plan pretty quickly.
You need to check with your state laws. Even though my wife was the executor and power of attorney our case was still reviewed by probate to make sure everyone is paid and things are in order. Sounds to me that I would do what it takes to get the most cash out of the settlement and in your pocket. If you work she can put you on a salary to make sure you are whole for your time and labor. No one works for nothing although I did but then again the other party threw extra cash to us for what we did.
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Very long story that I file under "You cannot make this sh!t up", short version - it was property of mine that my father damaged shortly before he passed away (to "stick it to me") then convinced my siblings to not give me any of the estate - so they did not. There was no will (I know that would be your next comment) and under our State Law in that case the estate is to be divided evenly between surviving relatives, which it was not!
I got the bills, my siblings took the cash. Families do strange things when money is involved.
You should have got a lawyer
This BS is just a preview of what will happen when the MIL and step FIL pass away. They have a lot of properties, businesses, lake properties, big house in Arizona etc. Now throw a useless, lazy entitled step brother into the mix along with the sister in law and it will be like hungry buzzards circling a carcass. The wife's siblings are already fighting over that and the in-laws are still very much alive and active.
Best you have a very accurate will or trust defined before they leave this world.
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Agreed and personally I would convey these feelings to the MIL and FIL even if it leaves a bad taste in their mouths. Sometimes one just shouldn’t hold back their beliefs. At very least it will have them wonder about the possibilities.
This reminds me a story my neighbor told me. He has 6 siblings. His mother passed first followed by his father. As his father was laying in the funeral home two of his sisters went to the family home and placed posted notes on the items they wanted. Neighbor said they picked it clean. Later after they removed their items and threw what they considered trash my neighbor found a vintage Cartier cigarette case in the trash which was worth $500.00
Sorry to hear of this trouble you are going thru.
My father has told me a couple times his only goal in life is to leave me with his funeral bill. They are maintaining a pretty good coarse to do so, even after receiving a very sizeable inheritance themselves. Even though they probably dont deserve it, I will drive to western OK to spread their ashes on a lake beach where we did have good memories.
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