Blog & Resources

From our “Ask a Question” mailbag: My father recently died a resident of Chester County, PA, but he owned a nice parcel of land in Susquehanna County, which has a Marcellus Shale gas lease. I found a buyer at a great price, as I am worried that the recent drop in oil prices could reduce the land’s value.

My brother was left out of the will, for very good reasons. He contacted the buyer and told him he plans to challenge the will. Now, the buyer might try to back out, as he doesn’t want to get stuck in litigation. My brother is full of bull: he never will challenge the will, as he knows it is bulletproof, but he knows he can draw this out and cause me trouble. What can I do?

Normally, your brother has one year from the date of the will’s filing to bring his Will Challenge. So, if you do nothing, then you just have to wait for the year to expire.

From our “Ask a Question” mailbag: My mother named me the Personal Representative of her estate. I am happy to serve, but I have a family and a job, so I just don’t have the time to do all the work. I want to hire an estate attorney to help me, but I am unclear as to how they are paid. Do I have to pay the attorney from my own money?

Every Personal Representative in New Jersey has the right to hire an attorney to assist them. These attorneys are paid out of the estate’s funds, not out of the Personal Representative’s pocket. An experienced probate lawyer will have a staff available to economically help you with the probate process, the sale of estate assets and protecting you from personal liability.

From our “Ask a Question” mailbag: My son is a special needs child and I have formed a Special Needs Trust in my will for his care. How do I fund this Trust without paying the Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax?

If you are unable to fund the trust until your death, then the only way to fund the trust without paying the 4.5% Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax on transfers to children (or to trusts for children) is to use life insurance.

Thanks to a skilled lobbying group, life insurance is exempt from the Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax.

From our “Ask a Question” mailbag: My sister and her husband are always broke. They asked my father for a loan to help them pay off a bunch of debts and he gave it to them. They were supposed to repay him monthly, but only sent him one or two payments over the years. Now that he has died, I am the Personal Representative of his estate and I asked for them to repay the loan. Suddenly, they claim these loans were “gifts”. What can I do?

One of your jobs as Personal Representative is to gather together all the Estate’s assets. Any loans your father may have made are an asset of his Estate, so you have the power (and obligation) to collect the debt.

From our “Ask a Question” mailbag: My uncle left my brother and I each half of his estate, which included all his personal property. I found out that the executor gave much of the personal property to a non-heir. The executor is now listing as an estate expense the transportation costs and storage fees to get the property to this other person. Can I object to those charges?

Pennsylvania Executors are given a great deal of flexibility to manage the estate with little oversight, which in general saves estates money. When the executor behaves badly, though, the probate system is not alerted.

As an heir of the estate, you are given power which counters the Executor’s power.

From our “Ask a Question” mailbag: My father named me the Executor of his estate. I filed his will with the Register of Wills in Chester County, paid the Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax, and took care of all his bills. There was very little money left for my sister and I, and I divided that between us. How do I now “Close the Estate”?

You will not find anything in the packet of information from the Chester County Register of Wills about how to “Close the Estate,” because it never really happens. The term refers to when the final assets of the estate are distributed, which normally means that the Executor has run out of things to do.

From our “Ask a Question” mailbag: My mother died four months ago as a resident of Camden County and my sister and I cannot locate her will. We thought it thought it would be in the safe deposit box, but it was not. I cleaned out all of her papers in the house. Now, I think I may have accidentally thrown out the will. What can we do?

If your mother’s will cannot be located, then your mother is considered to have died “intestate,” meaning without a will. When someone dies without a will in New Jersey, the New Jersey Rules of Intestacy apply. These rules dictate who is eligible to serve as the Administrator of the estate and how your mother’s assets will be divided up. If we can find a copy held by the lawyer, it is possible to file the copy, but I would need to know more facts.

From our “Ask a Question” mailbag: My father-in-law died in Lehigh County without a Will. My wife has one brother who is younger than her. Who is responsible for his funeral bill, as the funeral director is billing us?

Typically, when a person dies the family will make arrangements with the funeral director to pay the bill themselves and then are reimbursed by the estate. Often, the funeral director will not take on the expense of the funeral without knowing they will be paid. Your question makes it sound as if you did not agree ahead of time to be responsible for the bill. If so, then you are not responsible to pay the bill, though I am sure the funeral director would prefer that you pay that bill.

From our “Ask a Question” mailbag: I am the executor of my father’s estate in Lehigh County. My sister and I do not speak, so the process has been terrible. She refuses to sign the family settlement agreement I sent her, and instead has petitioned the Orphans’ Court to make me account. Do I need to respond?

Yes, you must respond to the petition. As a beneficiary, your sister has every right to ask that you file a formal account with the Court. She does not have to show that you have done anything wrong, only that she is a beneficiary. She may have done you a favor, because it is clear that she was never going to sign your family settlement agreement. This would mean dragging the estate administration on potentially for years. Now you get a court-mandated end date.

From our “Ask a Question” mailbag: My aunt’s will names me as her Personal Representative and divides the estate between all of her nieces and nephews. We are not a close family and there have been disputes in the past. I am worried that my cousins will be angry that I was named the Personal Representative and may cause trouble. Can they sue me as the Personal Representative?

If you agree to be sworn in by the Surrogate as the estate’s Personal Representative, you will then have a fiduciary duty to all beneficiaries to act in their best interest. You will be given broad powers and be largely unsupervised by the Surrogate.

To counter these broad powers, the beneficiaries are given the right to petition Surrogate’s Court to review every action and expense. Should the court find that any action of yours reduced their inheritance, the judge could choose to surcharge you (fine you) to make up for any loss.