Wills and bequests
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Wills and bequests
My wife is the executor of her father’s estate. There is very little in assets, $5000, that we can see. However, we did find out that he had left instructions with his landlord at his death to distribute contents of a safe deposit box to herself and one other person $10,000. The landlord told us that she was supposed to keep this from my wife. Now we are at a point to file his taxes for last year and there is not enough money to pay them. Should we notify these parties that the $10,000 belonged to the estate and it should be returned to pay expenses Also, if bequests were not in the signed Will do they have to be followed as written?
Asked on March 5, 2019 under Estate Planning, Georgia
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
Only bequests in a valid (properly signed and witnessed) will are enforceable: no other instructions as to what to do with assets after a person's death have any power whatsoever. What your father-in-law told his landlord is irrelevant: the contents of the safe deposit become the property of the estate, to be used for estate expenses and debts, and also to (if anything is left over after expenses and debts) to be distributed as per the terms of the will.
The money in the box must be returned to the estate. If it is not, your wife, as executor, can file a lawsuit on behalf of the estate against the landlord and the other person, to recover the money from the box.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.