Most of the Estates are settled in a rather informal way. This happens in those relatively simple situations where the line of succession is clear, where no conflict is brought up among the heirs (and where not many heirs are involved), where the Estate value is moderate and financial status is not complicated.
But not every Estate settlement is this peaceful, and there are situations when getting a lawyer is the best option.
What is a complicated Estate case?
Here are some indications that the Estate might be more complicated than usual, and looking for an Estate lawyer might become an essential first step.
— It is not unusual for the Estates of relatively significant value to be complicated financially. Shares of companies (minority and majority, public and private) and companies’ past due debts, problems with the management, credit lines, mortgages (hypothecs) and reverse mortgages, problems with real estate property sale and possible claims of the buyers, investment and bank accounts, including those abroad, trusts, tax issues — all these might get even a diligent liquidator (executor) in trouble. A simple and honest mistake might lead to huge losses and lawsuits coming from creditors and angry heirs.
— An Estate can appear essentially insolvent, while this might not be immediately visible. Some careless actions on behalf of the Estate by the liquidator or some heirs might entail their personal responsibility to pay the Estate’s debts.
— The deceased person might have given significant amounts of money to some of his heirs before his death, which might lead to other heirs’ demands that the Estate now claim this money back or set it against someone’s share in the Estate value. Such a situation can easily lead to a litigation.
— Heirs might become not satisfied with the liquidator and try to remove him from the office.
— Heirs became stubborn and uncooperative, particularly when it comes to discovery of the Estate assets.
— If the testator’s property before his death was under control of a mandatary (via a PoA, tutorship or a Protection mandate), obtaining a full report might become a problem if there is a suspicion that certain assets were misappropriated or dilapidated.
— Creditors might claim certain property titles and rights for themselves, legatees by particular title might disagree about the sources of payment. For example, if one heir inherited a certain amount of money, while the bank accounts value were left for another, this might end up in a serious conflict, for example. Or, as another example, an old painting which the deceased’s niece was going to get, suddenly appears sold or donated a couple of weeks before the testator’s death. Or if one heir receives a house, while another one should receive a lump sum, but the Estate does not have this lump sum to pay without selling the house. Add there come hypothecary claims against the same house on behalf of the bank and some loan shark.
— Some unresolved legal proceedings, conflicts, contracts and obligations of the deceased person might now fall upon the Estate. For example, a buyer of the house (sold by the Deceased) comes now with a latent defect (vice caché) claim, pretending that certain information was not provided — and the liquidator does not know the story of the sale well enough.
— Testator might have stipulated a trust creation for some minor heirs or a life-long right of use for his widow, thus potentially expanding the liquidation time and adding a source of a conflict between the liquidator, the trustees, the beneficiaries’ legal tutors and the beneficiaries themselves.
— Assets of the Estate might be found in different jurisdictions (countries, states, provinces), adding the issue of international private law and different domestic laws (including those of taxation, Will probations, legal devolution, rights of spouses and direct descendants, limitation and prescription rules, etc.) to all the problems mentioned above.
And so on.
If you find yourself in the presence of a complicated Estate, the best option possible is to consult a lawyer before making mistakes which would cost you much more.
Allen Madelin Lawyers work on daily basis with Wills and Estates issues, consulting the clients and representing them in Courts. For details, please contact us by phone: 1 514 904 4017 or by email: [email protected].
