Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Georgia
My grandmother had a will that stated if her house sold for at least 75,000, that the executor was to split the money amongst her and 10 more heirs, but in different amounts 9 (i.e., some $10K, others $5K, some others only $3K, etc.) However, the house sold for only 10,000 and after other expenses, there was about $8000 left in the estate account. The probate lawyer suggested the executor split the money by percentage according to how the original amounts were intended, but to make things simpler and more fair, the executor got all the heirs to agree in writting that they will take EQUAL SHARES of the proceeds instead and be satisfied.
My question is if the original executor heir passed before she got the chance to disburse the funds to everyone as agreed, is the contingent heir executor bound by the new written agreement signed by her and the 9 other surviving heirs, OR can she try to get another lawyer to rebuke that written agreement and revert it back to the original terms stated in the will, (which she'd have a motive to do because she was stated to receive a higher percentage than some other heirs according to the original will, but now she would receive less if split equally).
2 Answers from Attorneys
Since no one here has read the signed agreement there is no way to answer you. As a general rule, people are bound by the contracts they sign. To get an answer that would mean anything a lawyer would have to read the will, and the agreement, so you need to call a lawyer for an appointment. I see you are in East Point, as am I, so feel free to call for a consultation. That cost will be minimal.
I would think that if the executor and the heirs all signed that the successor executor would be bound to follow that. That said, there is nothing which generally prohibits the successor executor and the heirs from making a new agreement. As a practical matter, how likely do you think that will be if some heirs are going to get less? While her motives may be strong, everyone else is not going to go along with it. We are not talking about a lot of money here to go to all this work. However, any attorney needs to see the agreement.
Your grandmother should have included a mechanism in her will to distribute the assets if the house sold for less. And why is there such a discrepancy? That is a big difference between $75,000 and $10,000. Either the house badly deteriorated after your grandmother made her will or something else important happened.
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