Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Massachusetts

Re: selling a home from the estate before probate ends

The legal fees for probating the Will are expenses of the Estate for administration. You should bill the estate and attach copies of the Attorney�s invoices with your bill. You can get permission to sell the home before probate is finished, however, you will need to get a tax clearance from the State and both Federal and State Estate Tax Returns will need to be filed. If you want to buy the home from the estate (take your half and buy your sister out) you will need to agree with her on the fair market value of her interest less half of any administrative costs and taxes to the estate. You should retain an attorney to assist with this if you have not done so already.

Please feel free to contact me if you have more questions.

Re: selling a home from the estate before probate ends

Legal fees for Probate are billed to the Estate as costs of the Administration. Those which you have advanced from your own funds should be billed by you to the estate as a claim against the estate to reimburse yourself.

You should retain an atorney to probate the estate as there are State and Federal Estate Tax returns to be filed. And any sale of the realty before Probate is complete would require negotiation with both taxing authorities for releases of their automatic liens. You could also negotiate with your sister to purchase her interest in the realty if you choose to keep the property, but that would require determining the FMV of her interest after all tax liens etc.had been paid. Retain an attorney if you haven't already done so.