My mother left quite a large estate which included many valuable pieces of jewelry. My sister and her daughters have gone through the jewelry and taken several items even though we haven’t been through probate. Can we decrease her share of the estate by the estimated value of the jewelry? Assuming that this estate is…
As lawyers like to say, “It depends.” When a person dies, his or her entire financial life must be wound up, and every estate is different. Assets must be found, creditors identified and paid, and assets distributed to the proper beneficiaries. Probate is a process, not an event. Since we don’t know which estates will…
After our parents died, we were very surprised to learn that they had a great deal of credit card debt. Can the credit card companies force the estate to pay the debt? What many people don’t realize is that when a person dies, his or her debts do not just go away. Generally, assets in…
First, go to the Will which may state what your executor’s fee will be. If the Will is silent, North Carolina statutory law provides that you, as the executor, can receive up to 5% of the value of all personal property filed with the probate court as well as 5% of the total disbursements of…