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Thread: Clearing Out Parent's Home

  1. #111
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    Quote Originally Posted by Simplemind View Post
    It was very clearly stated in our trust paperwork that I had a legal responsibility to take action and get the most value for everything I was selling. If I didn't my siblings could take action against me. I took that seriously. My sister wanted to drag her feet and do the estate sale ourselves. I knew it would never ever get done. All items in the house were vulnerable while the house stood empty. Even though they weren't thrilled at paying for somebody else to do the sale I still convinced we ended up with more than had we done it ourselves. My brother would not come out to assist, my sister lasted two hours and left in tears, my DH and I lasted day and night all four days.
    In our case, there is a trust and a will, set up by my folks years before they passed. I have never seen copies of either so have no idea what exactly is specified. I am working on getting a copy of the will through the county but the trust paperwork is solely in my sister's hands.

    My sister has to be aware that as an executor, she could be legally liable for the estate losing value but thinks that neither one of us would ever take action. Maybe knowing my sister has written the attorney might send the message that she might not be off the hook if she messes this up.

    Quote Originally Posted by iris lilies View Post
    How much is coming out of the estate to maintain this property? It HAS to be costing something.
    @iris lilies, minimal utilities are still on: gas for heat, electric and water. Landscaping company maintain the lawns and yard during the summer months, however they might be doing snow removal as well. There's been one round of property taxes paid last year and 2018 taxes are due this spring (2 installments). There are two plots, one on which the house sits and the small side yard which is smaller so taxes are significantly lower on that one.

    The seller's marked in the area last year was pretty good but there are rumblings that this year might not be so good.

    I don't understand why sister is sitting on this, willing to pay the costs. Besides being the executor, she is also a beneficiary so she's opting to get less for herself. Furthermore, when she was in charge of our parents' finances (she had financial POA) the first thing she did was review and slash the costs. Stressed out about Dad running out of money. And yet, she's willing to pay to sit on the house? Boggles my mind. There's something else going on and I suspect it has to do with the issues between her and my youngest sister. Youngest sister has complained about the estate being "held hostage".

  2. #112
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    I can liquidate and have a entire house empty in a few weeks. If people can’t do it timely they need to hire someone.

  3. #113
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    Quote Originally Posted by Teacher Terry View Post
    I can liquidate and have a entire house empty in a few weeks. If people can’t do it timely they need to hire someone.
    AT this point, there's still so much left in the house and considering the lack of action taken, sister will need to hire someone to help empty it. We could have had the house completely empty by now, even if not on the market, had we continued working through last year. I was planning to spend a lot of time working with sister on this only to have her put the brakes on the whole operation. So now, once she gets moving, she will need various services to empty, clean and sell what's in the house. I have come to realize that this "we have to do this ourselves" insistence only gives her room to stall when she wants to, or change her mind when she wants to.

    As it is, I have spent close to two years helping her clean out this place and this is where we are at after all that work.

  4. #114
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    S, that’s sad and I understand why your other sister is running out of patience.

  5. #115
    Senior Member Simplemind's Avatar
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    I would also assume that she will collect a fee as executor/trustee. The longer she stretches this out the higher the fee will be for her unless you challenge it showing she wasn't doing anything to earn it. The attorney advised me to record time/effort and charge $30 an hour. I had that available at any time my dad or siblings wanted an accounting of what was going on. After all was said and done, the attorney sat down with my siblings and said when he advised me he had no idea how much work it was going to take. Had he known he would have advised 1% of the value of the estate per each year until everything was sold. That ended up being considerably more than the rate of $30 an hour BUT thankfully my sister and brother knew how much work my husband (who didn't get paid) and I did and didn't contest it.

  6. #116
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    Quote Originally Posted by Simplemind View Post
    I would also assume that she will collect a fee as executor/trustee. The longer she stretches this out the higher the fee will be for her unless you challenge it showing she wasn't doing anything to earn it. The attorney advised me to record time/effort and charge $30 an hour. I had that available at any time my dad or siblings wanted an accounting of what was going on. After all was said and done, the attorney sat down with my siblings and said when he advised me he had no idea how much work it was going to take. Had he known he would have advised 1% of the value of the estate per each year until everything was sold. That ended up being considerably more than the rate of $30 an hour BUT thankfully my sister and brother knew how much work my husband (who didn't get paid) and I did and didn't contest it.
    I knew she could collect a fee but wasn't aware that there could be an advantage to getting a higher fee the longer this goes on. Perhaps now with my other sister writing the attorney, he might get an inkling that nothing is being done and that might come back to bite when the final accounting is done. Whether I contest it will depend on the final outcome and fast this resolves.

    Right now we are facing down record cold in the next couple of days, both youngest sister and myself are worried about how the empty house will fare during that time. Not just frozen pipes but also the risk of break-in from anyone desperate to get out of the cold. And btw, both of us has expressed these concerns earlier to no avail.

  7. #117
    Senior Member beckyliz's Avatar
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    She may be allowed a fee, however, she's also a fiduciary, which means she has a duty of loyalty and a duty of care to the beneficiaries. Presumably, that includes wrapping things up as soon as possible in the most economical way.
    "Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal. But accumulate for yourselves treasure in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, your heart is also." Jesus

  8. #118
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    Well, another update. This one may be good in some ways but not in others. Youngest sister who wrote attorney outlining her concerns received a response from him. Basically she was copied on the letter attorney sent to executor sister advising that he received this letter from her sister, which was attached, and he recommended she see him to review the estate.

    Neither youngest sister or myself have yet heard from executor sister but imagine she's pretty mad, but I fervently hope she takes her attorney's advice and meets him. I have my concerns she might double down instead, in which case I will be the one to take legal action.

    The good news is that executor sister might just get moving, the bad news that likely the relationship with youngest sister is negatively impacted possibly beyond any hope of reconciliation. They have had some issues in their relationship that have been brewing for some time and certain things occurred between them shortly after my father's death that youngest sister and her husband considered going too far. I have stayed out of the whole fray but have been there for youngest sister to cry and vent.

    Looks this is now for the Family Relationships forum rather than Organizing.

  9. #119
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    That’s sad but at this point I don’t blame her for wanting the estate settled.

  10. #120
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    Quote Originally Posted by Teacher Terry View Post
    That’s sad but at this point I don’t blame her for wanting the estate settled.
    I don't blame her either, both of us have waited long enough. To be honest, I had been considering what actions to take in order to speed things up, including possible legal action. However, my primary concern was the repercussions to relationships, I have to consider that. Youngest sister has a history of not wanting to rock the boat, she often had trouble standing up for herself and sticking with it in the face of pushback from family. She also tended to side with executor sister in conflicts, leaving me the odd man out. It's bad enough to risk the relationship with one sister but I could not bring myself to risk both. That she did this, by herself, is a huge change for her.

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