[WSBAPT] Funds held and no probate

[Mimi Wagner]

Dear Listmates, 

 

I have a situation with no good solution coming to mind.  The sister of a client of mine died recently.  Sister had less than $2,000 to her name and lots of medical bills when she died.  The client does not want to open a probate due to the cost and hassle.  The total bills are unknown, but the estate is likely insolvent.  The client had a joint bank account with the sister during sister’s life for convenience reasons only (representative payee for Social Security).    

 

Unfortunately the client recently moved the money into her sole name, as the bank threatened to close account for inactivity.  So now the client has $1900 in the client’s own name, but the money isn’t the client’s, and again, the client doesn’t want to open a probate.  Since the sister is deceased, I am sure the bank will not retitle the account into the name of the deceased sister and the client.  We can’t set up an “estate” account and let the money sit there as there is no personal representative appointed.  I don’t believe unclaimed property act or disclaimer are proper.   

 

Does anyone have any ideas for how the client can minimize the client’s risk of being alleged by creditors to have wrongfully converted the funds?   No creditor is interested in opening probate to my knowledge.  Or, should the client just plan to hold onto the money for years (6, under the circumstances?) and if someone claims it, invite them to open a probate?  Or just buck up and open a probate and spend the estate in doing so?  The nonprobate notice to creditors process may work here if client is entitled by intestacy to the estate, and that at least would be cheaper than a full probate.  A disclaimer crossed my mind, but there’s no estate being administered so aside from showing good intentions to a judge, I don’t know what that would do.  

 

Thank you for your thoughts,

 

Mimi M. Wagner 

Attorney at Law
mimi at sanjuanlaw.com
Phone (360) 378-6234
Fax (360) 378-6244
 <http://www.sanjuanlaw.com/> www.sanjuanlaw.com

 

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