Long story short; my husband and I hired a contractor to install a patio in our yard. He did a lousy job, agreed he did a lousy job, and agreed to re-do it. He ripped it out, left us with a gravel pit and we never heard from him again. After many ignored phone calls we filed against him in small claims court to get our money back and hired someone else to complete the work. Our court date is in February.

Now it gets complicated... yesterday we found out he had a heart attack and died, so what do we do now? Do we proceed to small claims court, or do we try to get our money back from his estate? We sued him as an individual (not his company, since our contract did not contain a company name) does that matter? Or, am I S-O-L and better off to forget about it?

Any advice is appreciated!

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Originally Posted by jillianleab

Long story short; my husband and I hired a contractor to install a patio in our yard. He did a lousy job, agreed he did a lousy job, and agreed to re-do it. He ripped it out, left us with a gravel pit and we never heard from him again. After many ignored phone calls we filed against him in small claims court to get our money back and hired someone else to complete the work. Our court date is in February.

Now it gets complicated... yesterday we found out he had a heart attack and died, so what do we do now? Do we proceed to small claims court, or do we try to get our money back from his estate? We sued him as an individual (not his company, since our contract did not contain a company name) does that matter? Or, am I S-O-L and better off to forget about it?

Any advice is appreciated!

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I believe you cannot simply get the money back from his estate because you say/he says - unless, of course, there is a contract to do the repair work and then you file a claim with Surrogate's and the estate pays back the money as part of an uncompleted contract. Absent a contract you can still make a claim against his estate in Surrogate's Court but it would be investigated (probably by the Executor who would report back to the Court) and a decision made about the return of your money.

I do not believe you can sue a deceased person in Small Claims Court -

Thanks, Judy. There is no contract to do the repair work, only the original contract saying he would install the patio. Lapse of my judgement there not getting something signed saying he would re-do it. My guess is his Executor is his wife, who I'm sure won't agree to give us the money back...

So it seems I need to drop the case and accept that I'm out a few grand...

Yes, at this point, you will have to make a claim with the estate. But if he has much of an estate it will go to the probate court, and the judge there may rule in your favor, you will even show you were in the process of sueing him in court.

Chuck - thanks for your reply. In order to go about it that way, will I have to seek the services of an attorney? At this point my husband and I are weighing the amount we are trying to get back with the amount it will cost to GET it back. I'm also not sure how much of an estate he has; I know much of his equipment was borrowed, and I also found out he was being sued by at least one other customer...

Hello jillian:

In my state, a licensed contractor has to be bonded. Yours might too. If so, I'd file a claim on the bond.

excon

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Originally Posted by jillianleab

Chuck - thanks for your reply. In order to go about it that way, will I have to seek the services of an attorney? At this point my husband and I are weighing the amount we are trying to get back with the amount it will cost to GET it back. I'm also not sure how much of an estate he has; I know much of his equipment was borrowed, and I also found out he was being sued by at least one other customer...

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Depending on where you are Surrogate's Court should allow you to look at the Petition filed by his executor/executrix - it will give you some idea of his assets and debts.

My other thought was - and I don't know if all Small Claims Court Clerks will run with this - you could try filing in Small Claims Court as John Doe doing business as John Doe Construction or John Doe Painting or whatever name he used.

That would pull his estate into Small Claims Court - of course, whether there's any money or not remains to be seen.

Someone has to have his business books and ledgers if for no other reason than to prepare his 2007 tax returns.

excon, I hadn't thought of that. The question is... is he bonded?? I'll look into that.

Judy what you've suggested is worth a try. I can certainly contact the clerk's office and find out if they will allow me to file that way.

Thanks for the suggestions.