co-exectuor of estate-PA

[de_novo]

My aunt is the co-executor of my grandfather's estate and we believe that she is trying to keep all assets to herself. I know that to make sure everything done is legal, we need to hire an estate attorney. However, my parents and myself do not know what is in the will since she and her attorney has not let anyone see it since he passed away. Furthermore, I received a letter from her attorney stating that I am prohibited from setting foot on the residence and it was cc'd to the local police department. I need to go up with my parents to remove some items from the residence (estate), but am now faced with possible legal action if I do this. What can I do to not only help my parents out, but to also make sure they aren't being swindled out of their inheritence?

 

[lwpat]

Sounds like you need to let your parents handle this. They can hire someone and you can wait outside the property. Who is the other personal representative? You need to contact the probate court and get a copy of the file. They will mail it to you for a small fee. They should not remove any items without the written permission of both PR's.

 

[de_novo]

Thank you for the advise. The time for my parents going up to the residence is passed and I decided to stay away and to get them help moving things out. However, since this happened, another issue has risen. My aunt (co-executor) sent a letter back in April stating that my siblings and myself were able to go to the residence and take whatever we wanted since they had already chosen the items that they wanted, as long as the house was unlocked. In the letter, it explicitly stated that they co-executors DID NOT have to be present. My sister, along with my parents, went up there to claim the items of importance and my sister took a hope chest that had been agreed upon by all parties to go to her. She took the item after the house had been unlocked by the other co-executor and left because she did not want to become involved in any type of altercation. My aunt then came to the house the next day while my mother was there and yelled that my sister was a thief. Since that day last week, my sister has received a letter from the estate attorney stating that my sister must send my aunt (the co-executor) all items from the chest via UPS. We know that there are heirlooms in the chest, and so does she, but had no qualms about this beforehand.

My question is two-fold. First, does my sister have to comply with this directive, even though she has a letter from my aunt explicitly stating that she could take whatever she wanted WITHOUT the presence of either co-executor or the estate attorney?

Secondly, if she must comply, can she be reimbused from the estate for the shipping cost?

 

[lwpat]

Aren't families wonderful. You asked for advice and then decided to completely ignore it. Now you are on your own.

 

[de_novo]

I'm sorry, maybe there has been a misunderstanding. I did not ignore the advice and I was the only one that was given the directive to stay away and I did so. My parents do not have representation at this time and I just wanted to know what might happen to my sister in this situation. From her understanding, she was allowed to go and have this item and any others. This all happened while I stayed out of this mess and I am just now finding out about it. Any further advise would be greatly appreciated.