Family inheritance questions

[LtScott14]

My Aunt passed on and I was asked by the family to be the executer of her estate. I now am receiving calls from long lost relatives asking about a coffee table, dresser, personal owned items that I feel the family should pass down to the direct family members.
No will in place, but I was named as a power of attorney to sell her home and set up an estate to help out her family.
What do you say to the vultures looking for a free meal? Any ideas?

 

[indykid]

Being in a similar situation, I am telling relatives that things pass down as on a genealogical tree. Direct family members get first say-so. If there is an item that no one in the immediate family wants, if they agree, then the item can go to the next claimant.

Makes a person really sad to see the vultures come out like this. I was a little luckier, there is a will, and one direct descendant was specifically written out. Without the will, this person would have gotten an equal share.

Good luck, and my sympathies on the passing of your Aunt.

 

[jsharmon7]

Well what can you tell us about your aunt? Did she have children? Did she have sisters or other family that she was especially close to? Does she have debts that need to be paid first? I think once all the debts are settled I'd ask if there were any special items any close family members wanted, and then sell the rest. Take whatever money you get and divide it up to those closest to her such as brothers or sisters. As far as distant relatives, how distant and what do they want? If none of the immediate family has a problem with it, and it's not a big ticket item, I'd let them have it.

 

[4sarge]

My Aunt passed on and I was asked by the family to be the executer of her estate. I now am receiving calls from long lost relatives asking about a coffee table, dresser, personal owned items that I feel the family should pass down to the direct family members.
No will in place, but I was named as a power of attorney to sell her home and set up an estate to help out her family.
What do you say to the vultures looking for a free meal? Any ideas?

If there is/was a will then you are legally obligated to follow that legal instrument. If Not, I'd be very careful to follow the law and seek legal guidance if needed. Nothing worse than Money Seeking Relatives to cause unneeded legal problems for you personally

 

[LtScott14]

Appreciate the response. Some of the lost relatives haven't been around for years. 3 girl cousins, 1 boy cousin all older siblings. A couple feel they are more entitled than others prompting a executer to look real hard at decisions. Upon looking at some of the past Christmas cards, can't find any of the lost relatives and she really didn't speak much about them that I recall. Why do people think they are entitled?

 

[Cemetery-man]

The first person you should contact is a lawyer. Hire him put it in his hands. I just finished (after 2 years) up with a trust that I was trustee/executor and believe me, there is nothing worse than family members! They will come out of the woodwork and all with the same story that this or that was promised to them. Even with the trust, we had family trying to sue us and the estate on a regular basis.

Having a trust/will, our lawyers told us that if it isn't documented in writing then it belonged to the estate and had to be auctioned at an estate sale and everyone would have an equal chance to purchase the items. After everything is sold, inheritance, county, state taxes paid, lawyers, etc. etc. then the remainder was divided as mentioned in the trust to the beneficiaries. If there is no trust/will I imagine the next of kin would get everything.

Also make sure you leave money in an account after everything is over to cover income taxes, and others that will pop up for a couple of years. I don't envy you. It was a total nightmare and we were working with an supposedly ironclad trust and a good law firm. Don't sell yourself short. Charge the full executor fee entitled to you because believe me, you're going to earn every penny.

 

[Que]

Whenever a person passes leaving their estate intestate it is very difficult to determine what should be done. As 4sarge suggested, seek out an estate attorney, because if you don't follow state law, this could become a very sticky situation for you.

 

[Cemetery-man]

if you don't follow state law, this could become a very sticky situation for you.

It's pretty much a guarantee!

And even if you do follow the law to the letter they will still try to get something. As mentioned several times above, make sure you hire a good estate attorney! That can't be emphasized enough. He/she/they will save your butt!

 

[Jack Ryan]

My Aunt passed on and I was asked by the family to be the executer of her estate. I now am receiving calls from long lost relatives asking about a coffee table, dresser, personal owned items that I feel the family should pass down to the direct family members.
No will in place, but I was named as a power of attorney to sell her home and set up an estate to help out her family.
What do you say to the vultures looking for a free meal? Any ideas?

"I don't recall you being mentioned by Aunt ---- in connection with the item you've described and you are not mentioned in the will."

You don't need to give a lawyer any of her estate either. They are no better than the rest of the leeches trying to latch on to her lifes savings. If she wanted them to have it she would have called up the lawyers and given it to them like the rest of the people she never heard from when she was alive.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

Handling an estate no matter how big or small is something that needs to be done with the assistance of a legal representative. My wife has lost three immediate family members over the last 4 years and all were handled properly against the advice of everyone else......It seems everyone knows all about it, yet they are all wrong almost always. Every time was different and different rules applied......get an attorney/lawyer.

 

[csnoski]

First off, sorry for your loss. I handled my mom's estate, but she had a living trust and I only have one brother. Cut and dried.

That said, I did a lot more reading than I needed to and I know that Indiana has and Intestate Law and it spells out %'s by type of relative. You know, children, parents, bros and sis, etc.

Not knowing the size of estate or the nature of items being sought, I would suggest reading these over first.

As far as lawyers, I had a friend (now ex...seems it's true about doing business w friends) that was a lawyer and the one thing I found when going to Lake Co courthouse is that they try to make things difficult when you are not a lawyer and lawyers get better 'service' when you are at a county counter.

Read over the law and then perhaps consult one on an hourly basis for things you don't understand or don't wanna take the time to do so. The IH-6 (Ind inheritance tax) is levied on the recipients....children are taxed at a lower rate than siblings, etc etc. I'll poke around for a website from INdiana. Good Luck, the paperwork was a pia.

 

[csnoski]

Indiana Code 29-1-2

 

[E5RANGER375]

5 page essays always seem to scare people away

 

[hornadylnl]

If there's any contention regarding who gets what, put every last item up for public auction. If it's that sentimental to them, they should be willing to pay market price for it. If they stand to gain cash from the estate, they aren't really paying the full auction price anyway. If they are unwilling to pay for what they want, then you know they're wanting something for nothing.

If there's no will, divide it up to according to Indiana law that was mentioned above.

I did 80+% of the work for both of my parents. I still divided up everything evenly with my brother and didn't take an executor's fee just because it wouldn't have been worth fighting my brother over it. About the only time he came around to help is when there was stuff he wanted to take.

My grandfather is getting up there and may not be around much longer. He had 5 children, one of which is my deceased mother. My brother and I split her 20% share of my grandfather's estate. My grandpa isn't dead yet and already people are talking about which things they want. Most of them never come around to see him or help him out but I'm sure they'll all find the time to come when it's time to give things away. I'm afraid it's going to get stupid and I'm glad I'm not the executor for his estate. When everybody shows up to get what they want, I'm going to look for a single metal spoon that my grandmother used to dip ice cream for us as a kid. I just hope I can find it as it has more sentimental value then any other material possession that they have. I'll leave and let the sharks fight over everything else.

 

[edporch]

My Aunt passed on and I was asked by the family to be the executer of her estate. I now am receiving calls from long lost relatives asking about a coffee table, dresser, personal owned items that I feel the family should pass down to the direct family members.
No will in place, but I was named as a power of attorney to sell her home and set up an estate to help out her family.
What do you say to the vultures looking for a free meal? Any ideas?

I'm sorry about the loss of your aunt.

I've been through the estate of my dad and later my mom.

Start by securing EVERYTHING of your aunt's.
I would advise you to start by making sure NOBODY but you has a key to her home or access to anything that was hers.
Things will "disappear" over time if you don't, and nobody will have "any idea" where the stuff went.

Then as others have said, see a lawyer that you trust and go from there.

 

[jwdecour]

Sorry for your loss. This can be very trying times not only for your loss, but also because of the drama that comes with dealing with people who were not around until they thought it would benefit them.

 

[J D]

Sorry for the loss of your Aunt. If you think there's going to be trouble with upset relatives either direct or indirect I've seen this work very well with personall property. Bring in an appraiser and assign real world values to the personal property. Divide the property up amongst the family members as you see fit deducting the value of the item from any future cash payments as the estate is settled. Those without claim to the assets may buy them from the estate if none of the direct family is interested. Don't be afraid to consult an attorney as these things get ugly really quick.

 

[hornadylnl]

This is why I'm glad I have only 1 child. She will have nobody to fight with but herself.