[WSBAPT] Contentious Heirs

[Dalynne Singleton]

Let me take a stab at this...  see my response in red:

From: wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> On Behalf Of Jennifer Gellner
Sent: Thursday, September 17, 2020 1:15 PM
To: wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com
Subject: [WSBAPT] Contentious Heirs

Hi All:

I have two cases where my PR's and I are dealing with contentious heirs.  Does anyone know of a good resource for helping me help my PR's deal with problem heirs?


  1.  Heir is in jail, dad's will disinherited him, but mom's intestate estate was never probated and she had some separate property when she passed in 2007.  Heir in jail is unlikely to agree to the percentage of the house sale proceeds that we think is his share based on community and separate property and mom's intestacy.  Do we just proceed with the probate and he will receive a check and the notice of declaration of completion of probate and once the 30 days pass, it is done?  Heir is back in jail because he punched the other heir and was arrested (PR is family friend as two heirs are felons).  Treat the jailed heir as you would any other heir who is not represented by counsel.  You have to provide notice of the decl of completion so make sure you give notice, whether in jail or otherwise.  Then, tickle for 30 days and if no objection, close and distribute.  One word of caution, distribution will be made to the heir at his last known address with a receipt to be filed with the court.  If it were me, I would send the receipt to him in jail and ask that it be signed along with instructions on where to send the check.  He may be a bad person for assaulting others but he is entitled to his share of the estate.  I had a beneficiary serving 40 years to life and it was tricky but the court allowed him on the telephone conference (before COVID) with me in open court.  Extra steps were taken in distribution and eventually, the monies went to the beneficiary's son in Arizona on behalf of the father.



  1.  Heir is on SSI and/or SSDI in another state and homeless.  I sent a letter to his email advising him that he needs to make arrangements before we distribute (he wants money now!) so his benefits will not be impacted and he threatened that he will press charges if I ever contacted him again (obviously I don't think that would be successful, but ideally we can handle this in the best way possible).  Do we just proceed and send him a check and the notice - do we involve the Court requesting instruction even though we have nonintervention powers?  Two brother heirs are harassing sister PR.  You might approach the court with a motion for instructions as to the SSDI/SSI heir.  The court may appoint a GAL or may not.  That way, you will have an order how to move forward with the distribution.  I had a similar situation with an heir who was not cooperating with me as the PR of the mother's estate and did a motion for instructions which the court issued an order instructing me to move forward.  If the heir is incapacitated, the PR should not distribute w/o first asking the court for instructions.


Any help is greatly appreciated.

Jennifer A. Gellner, LL.M.
Principal, Gellner Law Group
P: (425) 235-5535 │ Toll-Free: (877) 252-0738
E: jennifer at gellnerlawgroup.com<mailto:jennifer at gellnerlawgroup.com>
8407 S. 259th St. Suite 203, Kent, WA 98030
505 W. Riverside Ave., Suite 500, Spokane, WA 99201

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