What is the document called that can be filed to force an executor to come up with the will within 30 days?
My brother is the executor of my Dad's will, the assets exceed $100, 000, and he is avoiding my phone calls.
Answers:
you should consult an attorney in your state - the law in each state is different.
There is something very seriously wrong. Nobody can become the executor of the estate until a will is produced and "admitted to probate," i.e., aproved by the court. If brother really is the executor, he will have a piece of paper known as "Certificate of Letters Testamentary." That's the legal proof that the Court has approved his acting as executor of the estate.
If brother is taking Dad's assets without having the will probated (and you, as a sibling, would have to have received legal papers notifying you of when the court hearing was to confirm brother as executor) then he's looting the estate. The "document" in this case is a criminal complaint for larceny + arrest warrant. You can file a civil suit, too, but what he has taken is probably gone with the wind.
If he IS the legitimate executor, you might need to start full bore litigation, but most likely that will pour the entire estate into the hands of the lawyers. However, you could bring proceedings to compel an accounting.
You could also pull the court file, identify the bonding company that wrote the executor's fidelity bond, contact their claim department and tell them about your concerns that your brother is mishandling the estate and abstracting assets.
THAT will produce a reaction right quick, and it won't be very brotherly. But maybe he has it coming. As a beneficiary of your father's estate, you are entitled to a full accounting for the assets of the estate as well as the steps taken to find assets.
Good luck. It's unfortunate the estate does not have enough in it to warrant digging very far or very hard, because lawyers are not going to be standing in line to get involved, and that may be what your brother is counting on.
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