Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

Why do the beneficiaries need to know the identity of the attorney NOW? You do not indicate where the estate is pending. Laws may differ in each jurisdiction - some require notice of the filing of the will and probate petition. Presumably, if a lawyer has been hired he or she will be contacting the heirs/beneficiaries.

However, wills and estate files are a matter of public record. If a will has been filed, then any of the beneficiaries can contact the probate court and review the estate file. If an attorney is in fact representing the estate the attorney's name and contact information will be on the probate petition or other legal documents (inventory and so forth).

Understand that while the attorney represents the estate, as a practical matter, the personal representative is the one who hired the attorney. The attorney is not the attorney for the beneficiaries nor there to answer questions about estate procedure/probate. If the attorney does answer any questions by the beneficiary, the attorney may end up charging the estate, which means that every dollar spent on legal fees comes out of your share as a beneficiary of the estatre. Many attorneys will not even answer questions by the beneficiaries and direct the beneficiaries to speak to the personal representative.

Frankly, I don't see what the big secret is in regard to estates and I do not understand why personal representatives are not more forthcoming with the beneficiaries. Silence breeds mistrust and I think a lot of misunderstandings could be eliminated if there were more communication, not less.

However, you cannot force people to be more open. If your sister is not communicating with you or any other beneficary of your mother's estate, then you need to keep tabs on what your sister is doing in terms of probating the estate. As a starting point, you need to see what is in the estate file. Allow at least 30 days after your mother's death to pass before you start looking at the court as the death certificate will be needed to probate the estate. If over 6 months have passed and nothing has been done, then that is another problem. It is a crime to conceal a will and the probate court can compel the personal representative to produce the will. If your sister does not want to administer the estate, then the successor named in the will or any other interested person can do it.

If your sister is not communicating but is otherwise doing her job, then I would just periodically monitor the court file. Depending on where the estate is probated and the complexity of the estate, most estates can be administered within 1-2 years of death. It takes that long as final approval has to be obtained by the taxing authorities; some states have inheritance tax even if there is no federal/state estate tax.

The job of the personal representative, in a nutshell, is to figure out what the decedent owned (both probate and non-probate assets), pay any just debts from the probate assets and to distribute what is left. As I said, if your sister is doing her job, then you probably do not need to obtain your own lawyer and just monitoring the estate file will be enough. However, if you have questions about your sister's actions in handling the estate, then you need to get your own probate attorney. If you have questions about the probate process, it might be a good idea to pay for at least a 30 minute consult with a probate attorney who practices in the county/state where your mother's estate will be pending. You can then find out about the probate procedure and any other concerns you have.