Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Georgia

You can sit around and speculate, and post online, and probably watch the estate assets disappear until it is too late, or you can go in the morning and hire a lawyer to look into things.

You do not indicate where your aunt resided at the time of her death, whether there is an estate opened for probate or whether the executrix or anyone else was a joint owner on the bank account.

The fact that there hs been no payout is not necessarily indicative of wrongdoing. Final approval must be received from the federal/state tax authorities and then the account must be confirmed by the clerk or a judge in some states.

I agree with Attorney Ashman. The time you spend posting here is a waste. You need to first contact the probate court in the county/state where your aunt lived at the time of her de3ath and see if an estate was opened. If not, the executrix has no power to do anything. If there is an estate file, make a copy of any relevant documents like the will, inventory and accounting, if any.

Take the will and any other documents to a probate attorney in the county/state where your aunt resided. Pay the attorney for a consult to review the documents. If no estate was opened, then you can compel the executrix to produce and probate the will and apply for letters. There is value in probating an estate as notice to creditors will provide a cutoff point for filing any potential claims. Further, your aunt did have assets in the form of cars.

The rule regarding bank accounts is that any money in the account goes to the other surviving joint account holders at death. That money does not go into the estate and it is possible that if your aunt only had the funds in her bank account, which she shared with the executrix. In such case, then those funds went to the executrix and there is no money in the estate. This could explain why the executrix asked for payment for the cars. The money would be needed to pay estate expenses. Even if there are no debts, there are still costs to probate the estate, pay the executor's commission and pay any estate attorney, if there is one.

If it turns out as I have suggested, then this is not necessarily the executrix's fault. Your aunt should have done better estate planning. However, if the facts are otherwise and it the executrix is not doing her job, then she can be removed. If she is squandering estate assets, then she can be surcharged and stopped. She can also be held personally liable if she has made improper distributions. So that is why you need to see probate atttorney now.