Distribution of inheritance

Get Legal Help Today

Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save

secured lock Secured with SHA-256 Encryption

Distribution of inheritance

My father passed away a year ago. He
had a will naming my half sister as
personal representative of his estate.
She hires an attorney to take care of
everything . I was left in inheritance
and have not received what was
stated in the will and she’s saying that I
have to pay 3500 for a guardianship
that she is started before he passed
and not only that but a portion of his
final arrangements funeral home
tombstone things of that nature. I
believe that my father had life
insurance to take care of these. She is
trying to say that I have to pay for those
items out of my inheritance. My
question is do I have any legal
recourse to get the rest of my
inheritance that was stated in our
fathers will ?

Asked on May 27, 2016 under Estate Planning, Indiana

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 7 years ago | Contributor

No, the beneficiary does not have to pay these expenses: the estate does, before it  is distributed to the beneficiaries. Example: say the estate is $100k and there are $10k of expenses and two equal beneficiaries. What your sister is incorrectly stating (UNLESS, that is, the will specifically says this--if the will directs the following to be done, the will needs to be followed, but only if the will does this) is that you basically divide the estate 50-50, to $50k/$50k for the two beneficiaries, then one of the beneficiaries (you) pays out $10k, so you get $40k, the other benficiary gets $50k. 
However, what really would be done, unless the will directs otherwise, is the estate pays $10k; then the remainng $90k is split 50-50, to $45k/$45k for the two beneficiaries.
If you believe your sister is not administering the estate or distributing the assets correctly, you could bring a legal action in chancery or surrogates court to force her to apportion the money and expenses differently. Of course, since you will have to pay for an attorney, unless you feel competent to do this on your own, it may not be worth doing this, since the legal costs will eat into the extra money you'd get and possibly make it not economically worthwhile.


IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.

Get Legal Help Today

Find the right lawyer for your legal issue.

secured lock Secured with SHA-256 Encryption