341 Wednesday and missing information...

[ichb]

Hi everyone,

As the title says we have our 341 on Wednesday. We, or rather, my husband is an heir to his mother's estate. Not expecting too much money $20,000 on the high end, if/when the house sells. Our attorney knows this and has asked us to get an accounting of the estate. Well, there are five siblings and for some reason the busiest of them all has been named conservator (or something to that effect), probably because she lives closest to the property in question.

There is no will. Probate has not been started as far as we can find out. The house is not yet up for sale. Mom passed in January of 2007.

Our sister for some reason has not gotten us any information on the situation and we cannot get her on the phone or through e-mail or through any of the siblings.

I wrote to my attorney to tell him that we won't have the requested information and he said we will talk to the trustee during the 341.

Here is MY issue with all of this. Not knowing what will happen with our case is driving me insane. As you all know this is a stressful enough time without some weird wrench thrown in the works. Does anyone have any idea what the likely outcome of this situation is? I'm hoping it won't cause our 341 to be continued and that we can still be discharged. I'm ok with the case staying open until the money is disbursed to the trustee.

BTW other than this amount we have no other assets.

Thanks in advance for any words of encouragement or concern.

[BKParalegal]

The trustee will not continue your 341, they will just send a formal request to you to provide the information. If your sister still is not forthcoming, the trustee may step in and file something like a Motion to Compel and name your sister as the third party.

Good Luck

[Priceless ProSe]

Not expecting too much money $20,000 on the high end, if/when the house sells.

There is no will. Probate has not been started as far as we can find out. The house is not yet up for sale. Mom passed in January of 2007.

Our sister for some reason has not gotten us any information on the situation and we cannot get her on the phone or through e-mail or through any of the siblings.

How long have you been trying to get in touch with the family in charge of the estate? Funny things happen to family when money is involved. Do they know of the BK? Possibly they are concerned that the estate will be involved and they might lose something, make sure you adress thier concerns when you talk to them (assuming they have concerns of course).

Lastly, If there was no will, and the money you would/will get from the estate will be taken by the trustee, why would you guys want to recieve anything from the estate? Why not make a written agreement with the family in which you agree to take a few "family hierlooms" (read: only worth something to you, worthless in actual value) and they keep everything of actual value?

Its a shame your attorney hasnt given you more help in this matter.

[berrymom31]

Really, work something out with your siblings where they get the money and then laaaaaaater......they can be nice to you in monetary terms

[BKParalegal]

Doing that would be an illegal transfer or assignment prior to filing if not disclosed, which puts her/him back to square one.

[ichb]

No worries, the family knows about the BK and they know it is illegal to withhold that money for that reason. We live in VT and something like 9K will be exempt anyway after we exempted other stuff. Besides the attorney already knows and I don't want to do anything that will screw with our future.

I should mention that the family member in question is ill right now (flu or something) and has a severely handicapped child so it's not as if we are angry with her but really would like to get this part taken care of.

We'd like to be back to being family and not calling only about this paperwork.

Thank you for all your support!

[FreshLikeADaisy]

Ichb, you've gotten really great advice already, I just wanted to add that if you have listed the [possible] inheritance on Schedule B as an asset, and exempted as much as possible from it in Schedule C, you're good to go. Whether the trustee closes your case on time or not, you should still receive your discharge in a timely manner. If the trustee does decide to enter into legal action with your sister, that will be a sideline that -- amazingly enough -- won't really involve you. If it happens, you may even end up getting more info on it from the sister than the trustee!

But if you've declared it (and exempted as much as possible, at the same time) you're well covered, as far as the open declaration of the inheritance goes. Now it's just a wait, and if/when you ever do receive a check from the inheritance, be sure to notify the trustee immediately via certified mail, especially if you've already received your discharge and you're no longer in regular contact with your bk atty. It is possible that you will receive a check for the entire amount owed you, and find yourself having to cut a check for another amount to the trustee that is the difference between the payout and what you actually exempted. But notify him ASAP so that you avoid any appearance of trying to conceal the payout when it comes. Not that you would, you just don't want it to look that way.

Here's hoping your mother-in-law secretly stashed a bunch of gold coins and bearer bonds in the basement... good luck to you!!!

[Priceless ProSe]

9k is exempt then that is what I would personally take, the family can use the rest. All I am saying is, theres nothing that can force you to take an equal share of the pie, wait maybe there is, ignorance is bliss.

So what if you did disclose to the trustee that ur settling now for 9k with your relatives for your piece of the inheritence. They can buy you out now for the 9k, and our logical explanation is that with real estate the way things are you might never have gotten more than 9k, plus your taking the money now and who knows when the house will sell because of familial bickering/positioning, one in the hand right?(does this make any sense?)

[Priceless ProSe]

No worries, the family knows about the BK and they know it is illegal to withhold that money for that reason. We live in VT and something like 9K will be exempt anyway after we exempted other stuff. Besides the attorney already knows and I don't want to do anything that will screw with our future.

I should mention that the family member in question is ill right now (flu or something) and has a severely handicapped child so it's not as if we are angry with her but really would like to get this part taken care of.

We'd like to be back to being family and not calling only about this paperwork.

Thank you for all your support!

Maybe the lesson we all learn from stuff like this is to draw up a concise "will" so that our kids wont have to deal with things like this.

I believe in making the world safe for our children, but not our childrens' children because I dont think children should be having sex- Jack Handey

[FreshLikeADaisy]

Priceless, it makes sense to me but technically speaking the inheritance belongs not to Ichb, but to the bk estate. Therefore, it is *possible* that if Ichb decided to settle with the family for anything less than what would eventually be received, the trustee would look upon it very poorly. It would be an "insider" transaction to begin with, and could possibly be construed as asset hiding -- even if that wasn't Ichb's intent. All because the inheritance -- paid out or not -- belongs not to Ichb, but to the bk estate.

Unfortunately, trustees have historically been MORE than willing to wait for the full piece of the pie.

[Priceless ProSe]

Priceless, it makes sense to me but technically speaking the inheritance belongs not to Ichb, but to the bk estate. Therefore, it is *possible* that if Ichb decided to settle with the family for anything less than what would eventually be received, the trustee would look upon it very poorly. It would be an "insider" transaction to begin with, and could possibly be construed as asset hiding -- even if that wasn't Ichb's intent. All because the inheritance -- paid out or not -- belongs not to Ichb, but to the bk estate.

Unfortunately, trustees have historically been MORE than willing to wait for the full piece of the pie.

Hehe, exactly why you should never take my advice and "run with it", unless you are really fast and actually plan on running.

But in my own defense I have some really good medical advise, not too bad in the real estate, and commercial fishing crabbing as well. (oh and I can build and program PCs, wait why am I on a BK forum!)

[FreshLikeADaisy]

Maybe the lesson we all learn from stuff like this is to draw up a concise "will" so that our kids wont have to deal with things like this.

Even the clearest, most concise will still has to go through probate. If the named executor doesn't feel like doing that, or is unable to for whatever reason, it creates a limbo situation just as Ichb describes where nothing moves forward and nothing gets resolved.

It is possible to force probate, or to have a third-party administrator appointed by the court. Also, the executor can decline his/her appointment, and another be named by the court. All this depends on state law and can vary from place to place, but in the end many families prefer to wait it out if at all possible, instead of taking it to court, to avoid the strife that such internecine legal action can bring. It all depends on the family and how well they can work with each other. Also, you really don't want a court appointed administrator or executor if you can help it -- they cost a FORTUNE. So waiting it out may actually be best all around.

As Ichb said, it may not even be something this sister can help -- if she's ill and has a child needing full-time special care, she may not even realize that this amount of time has elapsed.

Hope this helps.

[FreshLikeADaisy]

Hehe, exactly why you should never take my advice and "run with it", unless you are really fast and actually plan on running.

But in my own defense I have some really good medical advise, not too bad in the real estate, and commercial fishing crabbing as well. (oh and I can build and program PCs, wait why am I on a BK forum!)

Oh, please don't take it that way!!! I'm the last person you have to declare your value to! You have no idea the amount of respect and admiration I have for those with the chutzpah to go pro se and put in the work and study required. You're already way up on MY list!!! Your questions are always insightful and well-written, and for what it's worth, you're not in the habit of asking what you could easily look up yourself. To me, that's absolutely bonus.

Plus, you have no idea how many times *I* have been corrected... As a friend of mine says, we are all students, and we are all teachers. I always thought that was a wonderful way of looking at it.

Good luck to you!!!

[Priceless ProSe]

Oh, please don't take it that way!!! I'm the last person you have to declare your value to! You have no idea the amount of respect and admiration I have for those with the chutzpah to go pro se and put in the work and study required. You're already way up on MY list!!! Your questions are always insightful and well-written, and for what it's worth, you're not in the habit of asking what you could easily look up yourself. To me, that's absolutely bonus.

Plus, you have no idea how many times *I* have been corrected... As a friend of mine says, we are all students, and we are all teachers. I always thought that was a wonderful way of looking at it.

Good luck to you!!!

Ah I like to poke fun at myself, wasnt anything you said. thank you though

[MajorMike]

Really, work something out with your siblings where they get the money and then laaaaaaater......they can be nice to you in monetary terms

wow, again, being underhanded and illegal....you amaze me....and I thought things would change...
I'm so done with this......I can't even bear to read your posts anymore.