Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Massachusetts
Legal Fees
Hi, My grandmother passed away a few years ago leaving her assetts to be divided equally among her six children. Two year later, my aunt passed away (her daughter). My aunt left her share of my grandmothers estate to myself and my two siblings. My grandmothers assetts were divided among her five children but because my aunts estate was not complete, her assetts remain in my grandmothers estate. There was also an excess of 30,000 left in my grandmothers estate for legal fees, etc. Since then there have been numberous legal fees associated with my grandmothers estate that could easily exceed the 30,000 that was left in the account for this purpose. My question is - will they be able to take my aunts share of the estate (what she left to myself and my two siblings) to pay for the excess in legal fees?
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Legal Fees
Functionally, the legal fees should not exceed that estate. Unless there is something odd, after the ceiling is reached there is no more money to distribute or to tap.
Re: Legal Fees
However, is there has been a distribution on the estate, you can be forced to return some of the funds.
Re: Legal Fees
This sounds like a rather complicated situation, and will involve an analysis of the legal instruments, dates of death, and review of the probate files.
At first blush $30,000.00 sounds like a high number for legal fees, but some complicated estates certainly do warrant that amount, and even higher. Beneficiaries under your grandmother's estate could be made to give back a pro rata share if there are insufficient funds in the estate to cover all expenses of the administration.
I would hire an attorney and review all paperwork before handing over any money.
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