Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Massachusetts

Re: administrator of estate

Your question is confusing and you omit relevant facts, so it's difficult to answer. I also do not usually answer questions posed on behalf of a third party who is the one who really needs to be asking the question. Your husband is risking liability if he does not act properly and doing so without an attorney is foolhardy.

If the only asset of the estate is the $4500, he should be able to get the medicaid/MassHealth lien dissolved. If there was a house that was sold and the state got paid, and the $4500 is what is left over, the lien should be discharged.

Assuming the father died without a will, the net proceeds can be disbursed in equal shares to the heirs at law (his children, if he had no wife at the time of his death). He can be paid a reasonable fee for his services as administrator, and the remainder would be distributed equally. In most small estates, where the administrator is a family member, it is unusual to take a fee, since it will just diminish his share as well as the siblings'. He should get reimbursed for filing fees and costs he paid out of his own pocket.

He will have to file an inventory, if he has not already done so, and a "first and final account" together mith a motion to allow the account. Copies of the account and motion need to be provided to all the other heirs. The siblings can indicate their assent to the account and motion.

This assumes that all debts of the deceased have been paid, including the medicaid lien, or payment has been waived because the estate is so small. This also assumes the estate has been open a year at least and no creditors have filed claims, other than medicaid.

Your husband really needs to see me or some other attorney and bring all the documents.

If he has been appointed an administrator for a small estate, whether there was a will or not, the procedure is much simpler.