Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

This is a question her children should be asking. Her estate is their business.

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.

* If the answers to your question confirm that you have a valid issue or worthwhile claim, your next step should almost always be to establish a dialog with a lawyer who can provide specific advice to you. Contact a lawyer in your county or township.

* Another reason for contacting a lawyer is that it is often impossible to give a good answer in the Internet Q&A format without having more information. The unique circumstances of your situation and things that you may not have thought to mention in your question may completely change the answer. If you want to be sure that you have a complete answer to your question and an understanding of what that answer means, establish a connection with a lawyer who practices in the area of your concern.

I agree with Attorney Jacobson. Its unethical for a lawyer to discuss someone else's estate with you simply because you are a neighbor unless you are the personal representative of the woman's estate or have a valid power of attorney over one of the children.

The children should get together and discuss this and determine which of them should be the personal representative of their mother's estate. That person should consult a probate attorney who practices in the county/state where the mother resided at the time of her death. The children should determine what probate assets there are, whether there are any non-probate assets (joint checking accounts, jointly owned real estate or life insurance are all examples of non-probate assets). The children should also determine what potential claims or liaibilities there are. They should pay the attorney to review the situation and determine whether there needs to be an administration of the estate or whether it is something they can handle on their own. The child who is to be personal representative needs to know the duties and responsibilities that come with being a personal representative if probate is needed.

If there are few probate assets, most states have a simplified process that can be utilized. For more extensive estates, then it may be necessary to administer the estate. The personal representative's job, in a nutshell, is to figure out what the deceased owned and what she owed, pay any claims and distribute whatever probate assets are left to the heirs, which in this case would be the 3 children.

No attorney here has seen the deed to the housing unit if there is one. Just being on an occupancy agreement does not mean that a person has a right of ownership. Assuming that there is some kind of right of ownership in the co-op, then the mother's interest may pass to all three children if the unit was solely owned by the mother. If the mother and child owned the unit jointly with a right of survivorship, then the unit may have passed solely to the surviving child. If the mother and child owned the unit jointly but without right of survivorship, then only the mother's interest passed to all of the children equally. In such case, the child who wished to own the unit may have to buy out the shares her siblings but the child who owns half would keep her share.

The question of whether the unit would have to be sold depends on what other debts there are in the estate. There may be other ways around this; for example, as long as funds are added to the estate (like a loan) then bills can be paid. The heirs can then pay back the child who loaned the funds.

If you wish to help the child, then you will advise the child only to seek out a probate lawyer.