My Mom recently passed. My estranged brother is fighting the probate of her Will. She had named me Executor. How do I pay her bills; Taxes, utilities, maintenance ect if I am no longer Power of Attorney and not yet named Executor? Anyone have any experience? Yes I do have a lawyer. I am looking for anyone with personal experience.
I am hoping Mstrbill is around, or Igloo or Margaret , a few others who are more knowledgeable on this subject, but the honest truth is that your Lawyer is your touchstone now. I only required an hour and one half with an attorney, but she was the best money I ever spent. I wish you a happy and speedy settlement of this. I wasn't even AWARE that a legit will with an assigned executor could be contested; I did know the will itself could be, but the executor thing surprises me. I hope you will update us if you come up with answers that can help others on forum with same problem in future.
What does your lawyer say about her bills. Maybe you will need to pay out of pocket and be reimbursed later when things are straightened out. Maybe your or his lawyer can be made Executor. That way brother will think things are more fair. Why is he contesting.
If its going to cause you financial difficulty to pay out of pocket, this maybe something ur lawyer can use. That the house will need to be shut down. That if taxes are not paid, the house could be lost. And by brother holding up everything, this would happen if an Executor is not put in place.
However, because Sascha has got the details wrong, it may be that communication with her lawyer is not too good, and that also applies to how to deal with the bills. (Or his? I knew a male Sascha.) I can only guess (and my first guess would be that the lawyer should inform the creditors), but a guess isn’t really what you need. If Sascha is in Australia, there should be a Community Legal Service that could talk the issue through, and arrange for an interpreter if necessary.
This is a really difficult situation. These cases can take years to come to court, and then they are often settled on the court steps. It may stick in Sascha’s throat, but good advice might be to negotiate a compromise. For example, if the properties definitely need to be sold, it ought to be possible for the proceeds to be held ‘in escrow’, ie in a trust fund, subject to specified estate debts being paid. NOT subject to the lawyer’s fees – that just encourages more litigation.
Sascha really needs good legal advice that is well understood. Best wishes, Margaret
I see you are from NJ. I live in the SW part of the state. When Mom went into a home and Medicaid and her SS were paying for her care, I stopped paying her taxes. And as a NJite you know that was a lot. For Mom 6k a year. I was told by the Township Clerk that by State law the County cannot take a house for unpaid taxes for two years. In some instances, it has taken them up to five years. Personally, I would not pay the taxes. For me, Moms house finally sold and I received enough money to pay off the taxes and the last water bill I chose not to pay. I paid out of pocket no more than I had to.