[WSBARP] A Difficult Probate Situation

[Paul Neumiller]

Yep, partition action and force the sister’s hand to either buy out her brother interest at fair market value or have the court force a sale to a third party.


[cid:image001.jpg at 01DB973B.25520B00]


From: wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> On Behalf Of Lynn Clare
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2025 12:36 PM
To: WSBA Real Property Listserv <wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com>
Subject: Re: [WSBARP] A Difficult Probate Situation

Why not a Complaint for Partition brought by the PR on behalf of the estate against the sister? I haven't done one in a while, but I have a complaint somewhere, if you want one.

On Mon, Mar 17, 2025 at 12:26 PM Jeannie O'Brien <jeannie at selanderobrien.com<mailto:jeannie at selanderobrien.com>> wrote:
I wonder if any of you can help me figure out what to do in this situation. Here goes:

Intestate Decedent is survived by his spouse and five children from other relationships. Decedent got himself into quite a lot of debt, trying to show his children that he had money when he didn’t (in the words of SS). But there is debt in his name only in the amount of $32K. Equity in their Community Property house is $137K.

Decedent inherited a quarter share of a triplex. His sister owns the other three quarters. We have valued his quarter share at $162K, half of which would be distributed to his five children, the other half SS would use to pay off his separate property debt and half of the community property debt of $26K.

Surviving Spouse does not believe that decedent’s sister will do anything to buy out the estate’s quarter interest. The creditors keep calling, and are tired of being put off. You see that it is not an insolvent estate, but there is already debt on the CP house – a mortgage and a line of credit – and it is unlikely that SS could leverage the house any further. Nor does she want to.

My questions:
Can the estate file a lien on the real property?
Can the estate charge statutory interest on the lien?
Can the fees related to just the separate property be charged against his quarter interest, increasing the lien amount?
I realize that a lien doesn’t pay the creditors, but it may spur his sister to figure out a better way to resolve it.

Or do I have to file a TEDRA?
If TEDRA is the answer, does anyone want this case? I’d prefer that my client not go that route, because she has spent a lot of money already, but she is very good about paying bills and staying in touch.

Client and real property are in South Seattle.

Thank you for whatever insight you can provide.

Jeannie O'Brien, Attorney
www.SelanderOBrien.com<http://www.selanderobrien.com/>
3829C South Edmunds Street
Seattle, WA 98118
(206) 723-8200, x103
(206) 723-3829 fax
[Logo2a]
Covid restrictions taught us that we can do business just as well at home as at the office. Please know that a message left on voicemail gets returned just as quickly as one left with an in office receptionist, typically by the end of the next business day. An email will always get a more immediate response.
This message is private or privileged. If you are not the person for whom this message is intended, please delete it and notify me immediately, and do not copy or send this message to anyone else.

***Disclaimer: Please note that RPPT listserv participation is not restricted to practicing attorneys and may include non-practicing attorneys, law students, professionals working in related fields, and others.***

_______________________________________________
WSBARP mailing list
WSBARP at lists.wsbarppt.com<mailto:WSBARP at lists.wsbarppt.com>
http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/wsbarp
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbarp/attachments/20250317/866b3b21/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 14264 bytes
Desc: image001.jpg
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbarp/attachments/20250317/866b3b21/image001.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.png
Type: image/png
Size: 5218 bytes
Desc: image002.png
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbarp/attachments/20250317/866b3b21/image002.png>