[WSBAPT] Newly discovered minor heir in probate
Andrekita Silva
ak at seattle-silvalaw.com
Mon Oct 12 20:12:15 PDT 2020
Law Office of
F.ANDREKITA SILVA
________________________________________________________________________
.
October 12, 2020
Julie,
If a child support obligation was established, and if Dad was
regularly paying support, then mostly likely the state was handling
the monthly transfer payments. If so, they would have a current
address. As Jennifer said, they probably can’t just give you the info
because you ask.
However, there is an ADDRESS REQUEST FORM DSHS 18-176A that permits a
parent to receive the other parties address for the purpose of
adjusting and/ or modifying child support or to establish a parenting
plan. Although the PR would not exactly be a party, maybe DCS would
enlarge its interpretation and give you the Mom’s address. Father’s
death does, after all, effect the order of child support. This might
be a good first step.
If the State had provided public assistance, and a judgment for back
support was entered, then they would have an interest in getting their
money from Dad’s estate so they might cooperate.
It’s not clear to me from your post if you had access to the
underlying case itself, or if you were only able to look up the
judgment and through that learned that there was a parentage case.
If its public, you can look in the case to see if there are clues of
the mother’s whereabouts. If its a sealed parentage case, you or the
appointed GAL could get an order to give you access.
Accessing confidential info for the purpose of giving a child an
inheritance would probably persuade either the court or DCS to give
you info you need. It may or may not be current.
I have been pretty successful at finding people through the usual
internet resources- facebook, white pages, etc. .
andrekita
Law Office of F. Andrekita Silva
1325 Fourth Avenue, Suite 2000
Seattle, Washington 98101
206-224-8288
www.seattle-silvalaw.com
Quoting Jennifer L White <jen at appletreelaw.com>:
> Hi Julie,
>
>
>
> I’ll take a stab at your questions regarding this situation –
> it’s chocked full of issues, and more information is needed to
> answer some of them. Not in any particular order and including my
> running mental musings/commentary:
>
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> * You said Letters of Administration, so no Will and an
> intestate distribution. You indicate there is a wife and two adult
> children (leaving aside the surprise bonus heir). So, barring other
> oddities, SS receives all CP and ½ SP. Kids share the other ½ SP. If
> there is indeed another kid, then he/she would be included in that
> sharing of ½ of the SP.
>
>
> * Was paternity established? How do you know there is actually
> another heir? You may have to have a hearing regarding the
> establishment of heirship. If there was a paternity case determining
> him to be Dad, then that would be clear. If there wasn’t, then it
> could be an entire can of worms...
>
>
> * What was the substance of the judgment – Was it related to
> this new bonus heir?
>
>
> * You state that the only asset in the estate is the property
> that is heading to the closing table. If there is a valid judgment
> against decedent, then you’re going to have to clear it (pay up) in
> order to close the transaction. If your PR has non-intervention
> powers then you can go forward with closing the sale. I would
> recommend not distributing any $$ until the bonus heir situation is
> figured out. If there is some question on the validity of the
> judgment, then you will want to address that first, which may delay
> your sale closing OR try to get agreement that the judgment amount
> is held in escrow for some period of time until a determination on
> it is made following closing.
>
>
> * If the property being sold is CP, then the bonus heir would
> not be entitled to a share of it.
>
>
> * Either way, the court is likely to want a GAL for the minor
> to ensure that his/her interest is correctly handled. I would
> approach it with a petition for instructions laying out the new
> discovery and asking the court to rule on 1. whether a GAL should be
> appointed and 2. whether there needs to be a hearing on a
> determination of heirship. IF there is nothing in the estate other
> than the property and it is documented as CP (kids have no
> interest), and there is nothing to distribute to the kids, then the
> court may not have the estate incur the expense. You would need to
> be prepared with a verified Inventory and documentation proving CP.
> I would, however, expect a GAL to be appointed.
>
>
> * If there really is a bonus heir then his/her parent may be
> able to claim Social Security benefits for the child. It would be
> beneficial for the child’s parent to know Dad is deceased in order
> to see if any kind of benefits are available for the child’s welfare.
>
>
> * Finding the heir….if support enforcement is involved, you
> can request the case worker to reach out to the parent and let them
> know to contact you. They won’t tell you anything for privacy
> reasons, but you can let them know the circumstances and request
> they impart the information to the receiving parent. You can also
> hire a PI or heir locator service to conduct a search. Maybe some
> other peripheral family member knew of the dirty little secret?
>
>
> * If the property is SP in which the bonus heir shares, then
> you and the GAL can figure out the best option for “housing” the
> share (i.e. in a blocked account in a guardianship of the estate for
> the child).
>
>
> * Your original order appointing/Letters remain valid. You do
> not need to ask for re-validation.
>
>
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> Jennifer L. White, Esq.
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> /jen at appletreelaw.com/
>
>
>
> PO Box 11037
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>
> Yakima, WA 98909
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>
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> 509.225.9813
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> FROM: wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com
> <wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> ON BEHALF OF Julie Martiniello
> SENT: Monday, October 12, 2020 1:09 PM
> TO: Trust and Probate Section <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>
> SUBJECT: [WSBAPT] Newly discovered minor heir in probate
>
>
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> Hello All,
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> I opened a probate for a client in King County about 6 months
> ago with a noted hearing, and issued Letters of Administration for
> my client (adult daughter). The decedent had a wife and two adult
> children that were known at the time. Now two days before closing of
> the estate property (the only estate asset), title has notified my
> client of a judgment against decedent and upon looking it up, it
> appears there is a minor child of decedent- which is a complete
> shock to the PR.
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> I have not ran into this particular situation before.
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> I realize I need to update the court and notify the minor's
> parent of the probate. This is in King County, so I assume a GAL
> will be appointed. This has never happened to me before so I have a
> few procedure questions if anyone has advice they are willing to
> share:
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> 1. What is the best way to go about notifying the court? Do I
> need to amend the initial petition for letters and ask that standing
> letters remain valid?
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> 2. I assume I will need to note a hearing of some sort with
> notice to all parties. I am thinking of a combination of motion to
> validate existing letters and petition for instruction regarding
> newly found minor heir.
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> 3. We do not know the contact information for the minor's
> mother at this time. Should I notify the court while we try and
> locate the child?
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> Any advice is appreciated!
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> --
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> Respectfully,
>
>
>
>
> JULIE A. MARTINIELLO | PARTNER | DIMENSION LAW GROUP PLLC
> 130 Andover Park East, Suite 300 | Tukwila, WA 98188
>
>
>
>
> t: _206.973.3500 _|
> f: _206.577.5090_| e: JULIE at dimensionlaw.com|[1] www.dimensionlaw.com[2]
>
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