[WSBAPT] what qualifies as a cost of administration?

[Paul Neumiller]

Not sure why you are limiting the PR recovery to only reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses.  I have seen judges award PR fees and compensation for cleaning out residences in order to prepare them for sale of $30 per hour.

[cid:image001.jpg at 01D298C6.F113A9F0]

From: wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com [mailto:wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com] On Behalf Of Marilyn J Kliman Law
Sent: Thursday, March 9, 2017 10:33 AM
To: 'WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv' <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>
Subject: [WSBAPT] what qualifies as a cost of administration?

Folks –

Out-of-state sole surviving heir, son of decedent & appointed PR, had to come here to clean up hoarder mom’s house to make it saleable. He spent substantial time away from work and bookoo bucks for cleaning, hauling, etc,, in addition to the cost of  airfare. Normally, of course, it wouldn’t matter how costs were categorized as it would eventually all come out of the same pot for a sole heir.

However, DSHS has a substantial lien on the house – the only asset – likely exceeding the value of the property. They have agreed to accept a reduced percentage but, depending on what the house sells for, the DSHS recovery may eat up what’s left when it’s their turn, a la  RCW 11.76.110, leaving nothing for the son.  Seems only reasonable that, at very least, son should not end up in the negative for out-of-pocket costs. (We did negotiate the reduced lien with DSHS before advising son to even open probate vs. walking away, but son has since discovered greater debt than anticipated.)

So … I have not found any definitive law or rule as to what constitutes “costs of administration.”  Technically, is maximizing the estate value by coming here and cleaning up the house an administrative expense? My thought at this point is to submit all out-of-pocket costs as expenses and let DSHS object if they care to.

Thoughts and wisdom?

Marilyn J. Kliman, Attorney at Law
Marilyn J. Kliman Law, PLLC
510 Bell Street
Edmonds, WA 98020
206.499.0993<tel:206.499.0993>
Marilyn at MarilynJKlimanLaw.com<mailto:Marilyn at MarilynJKlimanLaw.com>
www.MarilynJKlimanLaw.com<http://www.marilynjklimanlaw.com/>
NOTICE: Information contained in this email may be confidential and/or legally protected from disclosure. Our understanding is that intended recipients consent to use of e-mail unless we are notified otherwise in writing. If you are not the intended recipient, nor an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, any unauthorized dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the message and deleting it from your computer.


[https://ipmcdn.avast.com/images/icons/icon-envelope-tick-round-orange-animated-no-repeat-v1.gif]<https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient&utm_term=icon>

Virus-free. www.avast.com<https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient&utm_term=link>


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20170309/d0ab7835/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 14511 bytes
Desc: image001.jpg
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20170309/d0ab7835/image001.jpg>