Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania
My mother had a will (brother exectutor) will probated, paid inheritance tax, filed 6.12 rle and closed estate even though property has not been sold yet with the understanding that rule should not have been filed until after the sale of the home. We are now ready to sell home after a few years has passed since date of death which is deeded in mother & father' s name, how will we be able to be reinbursed for our exspenses (around 40k for taxes, funeral, home repairs, etc.) and then divide the home sale with no estate bank account and the estate being closed. Should we reopen estate and/or bank account in the estate in order to collect the proceeds from the home sale and divide the money 50/50 after the exspense reinbursement or see if the title company can cut the checks to the 2 siblings
2 Answers from Attorneys
The estate should not have been closed with the rule filed, even if you had an understanding, until all of the estate debts had been paid and assets had been disposed of. It is unlikely that a title company will issue proceeds to any payee other than the estate unless the property had already been transferred to the heirs. Division of the net proceeds should be according to the will. Another inheritance tax return will have to be filed showing the sale.
Consult an estates lawyer to counsel you and to assist with completing this transaction and dealing with the estate and inheritance tax issues that have been created.
THIS RESPONSE IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE, SINCE I DO NOT HAVE ALL OF THE INFORMATION THAT WOULD BE REQUIRED, AND I DO NOT HAVE A REPRESENTATION AGREEMENT WITH YOU.
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I would agree with Attorney Jacobson. Your post suggests that you did not have a lawyer when you probated the estate and that things have been handled badly.
The estate should never have been closed without things like funeral expenses being paid for. These are responsibilities of the estate and if they were paid by you (not sure why) then you should have filed a claim for reimbursement.
I would make a copy of the estate file and pay to consult a probate attorney and have him/her review the file and opine as to what should be done now and whether its best to sell the home and divide the proceeds among the heirs as per the will or whether the estate should be re-opened. The title company probably is not going to issue checks to all the siblings unless they are heirs of the property.
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