Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Michigan
personal representative took all money
my sister as executor tried to avoid probate by not telling the realtor that mom had died. She also sold all of mom's possessions & kept the money. $20,000 in credit card debt showed up in mom's name after she died even though mom was 93 & lived in nursing home for 3 years and had no debt then. sister took mom's credit cards when she put mom in nursing home. mom's neighbors said she had been stealing money from mom for years mom was too afraid of her to do anything. I told probate lawyer it was not moms debt but she as executor said it was so the credit card co filed claim. my sister sent a copy of a letter she claims to have gotten from from cc co. saying that she had paid them their money from estate but cc co says they never sent such note & it was signed by someone who never worked for them. smells like fraud to me but no one seems to care. she told probate lawyer she paid by money orders and can't find her receipts. cc co has 35 days to sue estate. she also says she paid things that mom never owed or was billed for so all money is gone. why is this not a crime and why doesn't she have to show receipts for anything. this is fraud. why is this allowed and what can be done?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: personal representative took all money
It smells like fraud or at least gross negligence. You will need a lawyer to sort this out.
The personal representative is not personally liable for debts of the estate, but is liable for its assets and has an absolute duty to the heirs to collect and distribute the estate to them according to the will or the laws of intestacy. My guess is that you will never recover this money, but you absolutely won't unless you talk to a lawyer.
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