My maternal grandmother died in December 2004. My mother (her daughter) passed away in 1997. My three uncles (her sons) planned and paid for my grandmother's funeral. One uncle stated I was responsible for my deceased mother's portion of the funeral expenses but the other two uncles never mentioned this. I did not feel it was my obligation, nor did I believe it to be my legal responsibility. One uncle was assigned executor of my grandmother's very small estate. My only involvement in her estate was limited to signing on my mother's behalf for the sale of the mobile home in VA (apparently DMV required this given the lack of a will) which I received no compensation for. I was not informed of any transactions and did not receive any copies of sales (such as the mobile home) or payments of her debts. Two years after her estate was resolved (2007), the uncle serving as executor of her estate informed me that my grandmother had a small amount of stock (less than $14,000 total) and that after consulting with his lawyer that I was entitled to my mother's quarter of the shares. I told him I did not want any part of it, and he stated his lawyer said I had to be in order to transfer the assets. The uncle then informed me that I owed for my deceased mother's portion of the funeral as well. He brought out a box of receipts and tallied it up that I owed each uncle approximately $200 ($600 total). Since I was not involved in the decision making process with regard to my grandmother's funeral, nor was I privy to any information or decisions with regard to her estate, what are my legal obligations? Please advise.
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Not until 2007 did my uncle reveal the existence of the stock, which I have always found suspect, as he had access to all of her paperwork even before her passing. My question is - given the fact that the estate was settled three years ago, before I even knew of the stock and it was transferred to me (it is in my possession now), am I obligated to essentially "pay back" my uncles? I did not realize I could "renounce" the inheritance or else I would have done so simply on principal. I buried my own mother, they should bury their's! It is too late now, it is in my name. If he had come clean with the stock from the beginning, then it could have been liquified in order to pay off any debts. However I suspect he sat on it and hoped there was a way to divide b/t himself and the two other uncles without my knowledge. That would have been fair in any other instance but since he appears to have been being shady it is laughable now b/c it seems to have come back to bite him in the derrier. Not to mention one of the uncles was trying to get me to pay my dead mother's portion of funeral expenses before the lady was even buried and two years before this whole stock issue arose! I apologize - it's emotional. But simply put, the stock was given to me two years after her estate was settled, do I have to pay them? It is an assett revealed after the fact so it makes it a unique situation. Again, zero involvement with the estate and funeral and no copies of sales, debts, etc. re: her estate have been provided.
