<HTML xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40" xmlns:v =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m =
"http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml"><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 14 (filtered medium)">
<STYLE><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D;}
span.EmailStyle18
{mso-style-type:personal-reply;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-size:10.0pt;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY lang=EN-US dir=ltr link=blue vLink=purple>
<DIV dir=ltr>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000">
<DIV><FONT size=4>How about doing a nonprobate notice to creditors, mail a copy
of it to each known creditor 30 days before the end of the 4 month period and
see what happens? If medical creditors don’t respond and you have less
than $2000 no problem, your client pays the ones that respond. If over
$2000 you can probably just pro-rate between creditors what you have...
Client having distributed all of sister’s funds, she is done. She isn’t
responsible for anything else.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV
style='FONT-SIZE: small; TEXT-DECORATION: none; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri"; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline'>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt tahoma">
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #f5f5f5">
<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=mimi@sanjuanlaw.com
href="mailto:mimi@sanjuanlaw.com">Mimi Wagner</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, April 26, 2017 2:24 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=wsbapt@lists.wsbarppt.com
href="mailto:wsbapt@lists.wsbarppt.com">'WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv'</A>
</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> [WSBAPT] Funds held and no probate</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV
style='FONT-SIZE: small; TEXT-DECORATION: none; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri"; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline'>
<DIV class=WordSection1>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri","sans-serif"; COLOR: #1f497d'>Dear
Listmates, <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri","sans-serif"; COLOR: #1f497d'><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri","sans-serif"; COLOR: #1f497d'>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). <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri","sans-serif"; COLOR: #1f497d'><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri","sans-serif"; COLOR: #1f497d'>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.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri","sans-serif"; COLOR: #1f497d'><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri","sans-serif"; COLOR: #1f497d'>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.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri","sans-serif"; COLOR: #1f497d'><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri","sans-serif"; COLOR: #1f497d'>Thank
you for your thoughts,<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri","sans-serif"; COLOR: #1f497d'><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN lang=EN
style='FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial","sans-serif"; COLOR: #1f497d'>Mimi
M. Wagner <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN lang=EN
style='FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial","sans-serif"; COLOR: #1f497d'>Attorney
at Law<BR><A href="mailto:mimi@sanjuanlaw.com">mimi@sanjuanlaw.com</A><BR>Phone
(360) 378-6234<BR>Fax (360) 378-6244<BR></SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial","sans-serif"; COLOR: #1f497d'><A
href="http://www.sanjuanlaw.com/"><SPAN
lang=EN>www.sanjuanlaw.com</SPAN></A></SPAN><SPAN lang=EN
style='FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial","sans-serif"; COLOR: #1f497d'><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri","sans-serif"; COLOR: #1f497d'><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri","sans-serif"; COLOR: #1f497d'><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV>
<P>
<HR>
_______________________________________________<BR>WSBAPT mailing
list<BR>WSBAPT@lists.wsbarppt.com<BR>http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/wsbapt</DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>