My youngest sibling is the executor of my mother's will. As far as I know, this is a simple will and was notorized and not filed with a court. She did not read the will after Mother passed, nor has or will she provide us with the actual accounts and monies owed during the past 4 1/2 years. The five year anniversary is coming up. She was also to put the house up for sale immediately after, and did not do so. Now we owe more on the house than it's actual value. She erased important documentation and has also said that she has lost important papers. What can we do about this? She has been neglegent in her duties, AND I think there has been a misuse of funds. Property that belonged at my Mother's house is now at her house, that should have been sold with the house, when it sold (and hasn't).

What State or Country?

You say notarized so I'm guessing this is in Florida - ?

I don't understand why the Will wasn't admitted to probate if here were assets and debts. How does your sister explain that?

You should have forced the estate into probate years ago. That's what you need to do now. Get an attorney and have the will submitted to your local probate court. Then demand an accounting from the sister.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

... You say notarized so I'm guessing this is in Florida - ?
...

---

I don't believe Florida is the only state in which wills are supposed to be notarized. Quite a few, I'd imagine. New York doesn't?

According to Wikipedia, 19 of the 50 states allow holographic wills. The other 31 require a will be witnessed, but not necessarily notarized. I couldn't find stats on which require notarization.

Anyway, you and any other heir, hire an attorney and force this into probate court and require her to give a complete account of any and all property.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AK lawyer

I don't believe Florida is the only state in which wills are supposed to be notarized. Quite a few, I'd imagine. New York doesn't?

---

No, NY does not, also not holographic wills.

I didn't look at the States which do require notarization but there are some - Florida was the first State that came to my mind. I didn't mean it's the only one.

No, this is California. I'm going out to the courthouse this morning to see what I can find out. I looked online last night and the fees to file are outrageous! My other sisters and myself don't have that kind of money, but I'm going to try everything. It's not the money, it's the house that we are going to lose back to the bank. The loan is larger than the house is worth. I was at the bank yesterday with some documentation to prove who I was and my Mom. They were very helpful.