Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Virginia
Settlement by appointed commisioner
I recently was involved in a legal situation whereby my sisters took me to court to take possesion of my home(which was a life estate from my father) due to me not following to the letter of the will.(Maintain home as permanent and legal residence) The house was partitioned and sold, and proceeds from the sale were equally distributed amongst all parties, by a commissioner appointed by the judge. I have requested that this commissioner consider the reimbursement of monies I spent on certain things such as my fathers funeral, a 2nd mortgage on the house (line of credit which I paid after my fathers death. The commissioner disallowed any of these items stating I was not getting any reimbursement for those items, but I did receive some reimbursement for utilities, etc from the time I had to move out of the residence.
I would like to know , how can I get these issues in front of a judge, and can I recoup any of those expenses I paid out over the years?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Settlement by appointed commisioner
It is not clear to me to what extent that has
already been decided, because I don't know what
the commissioner did. Normally, the job of the
commissioner is just to sell a house in partition
in such situations. So I don't know if the
commissioner was empowered to decide all issues
about the estate. It may be that the court
will treat the question as already decided.
You should expect the other people to argue that,
but they may be wrong. A decision made in one
context might not cover a similar decision in
a different context.
So, it sounds to me as if you are a creditor of
the estate. If you have advanced expenses for
the estate, then I would submit bills and then
file a lawsuit against the executor for payment
of those bills, exactly the same as if you were
a stranger who was owed money by the estate.
Go to the clerk of the court of the general
district court and ask for a "Warrant in Debt"
form and ask how to fill out the form correctly.
They cannot give you legal advice, but if you
stick closely to only asking about the form,
they will probably tell you what everything on
the form means. Start by asking" Which parts of
this do you need me to fill out, and which
parts will you fill out?
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