Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Mississippi
Protest of Estate Administrator
My wife's father died in July of 2004. We were not notified of his death until October. He had no will, and really no assets that we can find. In July, we went to court of a income trust he apparently set up. A local hospital is attempting to recover the money. The attorney for the hospital said it would take 90 days to advertise for other creditors. He said nothing else would happen until then. We now have a letter and court papers naming someone with the hospital as temporary administrator. Since the hospital has a ''claim'' on the trust, we feel the person named is not a ''Third Party''. We actually would like to have a family member named as administrator.
What is the proper way to contest this administrator?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Protest of Estate Administrator
In estate matters, the Chancery Court rules require that you must be represented by an attorney. Thus, you need to first hire a lawyer. Then, you would have to file a petition to remove the administrator. In the petition, you generally must demonstrate that the current administrator is somehow unfit or improper.
Though it appears improper or strange, what has occurred with the estate, and the hospital being the administrator, is not uncommon. Where no family members take charge with matters, creditors will generally address matters to get the estate going so that they can get paid.
The hospital attorney is also correct about the 90-day time period. However, if you want to incur the time and expense of hiring a lawyer and getting involved, the hospital may be agreeable to stepping aside as administrator. It all depends on what you want to do and how important it all is to you.
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