OT:Inheritance, freind getting shafted by bro/sis., how to ensure it's fair split?? Options

[Mueller]

Got a close family member that lost his parents not too long ago (old age, lived a great life)


His brother has taken over as the excective of state (correct term???), he has a few sisters(4) as well....

Problem is is that the brother and 2 sisters are gaining access to the bank accounts, the property and no one but them is really knowing how much and where the money is going (in thier damn greedy hands)

Parents net value supposed to be in the low 7 digit area, the brother and sisters have for years sucked money from thier parents and had them buy homes for them in the LA area, my friend works his @ss off and never asked for money from his parents...


The reason I'm pissed off is that my friend works 2 jobs to make ends meet, is getting up there in age (55) and won't put up a fight to get what should be fairly coming to him. The
Will is being read this weekend, but we have a feeling he'll get just a "token" amount in the $50K range when his other siblings will be walking away with close to a million or so when all the property is sold off and the multiple bank accounts have been cleared out.

We know the Will mentions a specific bank account for each sibling, the issue is is that the mother had multiple accounts for herself that keep popping up yet no mention of what to do with the funds...so, good old brother and sister will be keeping it for sure....


He won't put up a fight and it just irks us to no end seeing his own brothers and sisters screwing him over (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/headbang.gif)

This is in California if that makes a difference on whether or not we can make waves on his behalf.....

[Mark Henry]

Here it's called being the executor.

I don't know how it works in Cali but here there are set rules, upon death all accounts are frozen (except to pay "real" bills that must be proven) and the will needs to go through probate. Probate is a legal process that the courts do to say the will is legal, up to date and that the correct executor is assigned. The executorships is a paid position (about 4% plus expenses of the total estate) but is classed as taxable income. All of the funds (property and possession must be assigned a dollar value and liquidated) must have a full accounting as to all expenses and disbursements. In the end he will have to sign off on the inheritance and in a case that misdeeds are suspected a forensic accounting can be demanded before he signs off. The executor is 100% liable as to the final accounting, if any misappropriation is found they can be in deep doo-doo.

About the only area that you could steal is personal possessions, if they had any valuables your friend should make a list and ask what became of these items. Basically it is theft if items were taken without permission, but sometimes this can be hard to prove.