Duluth, GA Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

You do not have to have the consent of all of the heirs in order to have an administrator appointed for an intestate estate, although if you do you can make things easier and less costly by requesting a waiver of bond and the grant of certain powers as part of the Petition for Letters of Administration.  In general, heirs to an estate are not responsible for estate debts or estate administration expenses. However, if this is a Georgia house, then under Georgia law the heirs to an intestate (no Will) estate such as your mother's can become personally responsible for at least certain expenses which come up after the owner's death and which are directly related to ownership of the house. The court case which created that rule involved condominium association fees; it's not currently clear how far that would extend. It might help if you explain to Sister X that she's only costing herself money by delaying and not returning the Petition for Letters of Administration, and that she can be held personally responsible for a share of expenses related to the house if she does not sign the Petition and get it back to you. Once the Administrator has been appointed, the heirs are no longer responsible for paying expenses, however. At that point, the estate's other assets should be used to pay the expenses. If there aren't enough other estate assets, then the house should be sold as soon as possible, and any equity should be used to pay any unpaid estate debts and expenses at that point. Other heirs cannot prevent your sister from receiving her share of any remaining estate assets after the estate administration is completed just because they contributed assets to the estate. The heirs who do contribute assets can be repaid from the estate's assets before the assets are divided up, however. If the proposed Administrator is not already working with an estate attorney, please get one involved as soon as possible. A recalcitrant heir is bad news and makes the process much more difficult, and the Administrator should be very careful anyhow in order to avoid himself (or herself) becoming personally liable for estate-related debts or expenses by paying debts and expenses in the wrong order of priority, or distributing assets to heirs before all debts and expenses are paid in full first.

If anyone who does not receive an interest in your home is living there at the time of your death, then the Executor of the estate or the beneficiaries of the home will eventually be able (and likely willing) to make that person move out, whether he's your stepson or someone else. If you don't want this to happen, and if you want to provide some protection for your stepson after your death, then you should address those wishes in your estate planning. There are options. Contact an experienced estate planning attorney to discuss them.   Best wishes to you.  

In order for a person's Will to be made legally effective and actually allow the transfer of assets in the person's probate estate to the intended beneficiaries, it has to be admitted to probate in the appropriate county. In this case, if the aunt had her principal residence in Georgia, the probate court for the county where she had her principal residence is the appropriate county to start with. The Will has to have been admitted to probate and an Executor appointed by the court. There is also "filing for informational purposes only;" that does NOT appoint an executor. It's not clear what you mean when you say the Will has been filed briefly with the court. The Executor of the estate has to notify any potential unknown creditors by publishing a "Notice to Debtors and Creditors," and to clean up all outstanding items such as final income tax returns for the years the aunt was alive and pay her debts. The Executor also has to determine a proper fair market value for her probate assets as of the date of her death. Only once all debts, taxes, and expenses of the estate have been paid can any assets be distributed to the nephew under the Will. In order to transfer the property to the nephew, the Executor then has to execute a deed (which can be called an Executor's Deed, an Assent to Devise, or a Deed of Assent) to actually transfer the property to the nephew's name. Just having the nephew start living there and paying expenses does nothing except put him at risk for all kinds of problems. If the nephew wants to be able to keep this house, he needs to ensure that the estate is dealt with correctly. If he really has no funds, then he may be able to get some legal help through a legal services clinic. Some probate courts in Georgia (DeKalb and Fulton, and I think others) have programs operated through the courts themselves, where volunteer attorneys come and help with these kinds of issues. But in general, he may need to get an attorney to help him. It does not have to be expensive; many attorneys can provide help on an as-needed basis for fairly inexpensive fees.