Stealing from the Probate Estate | What to do
Theft is a dark word. Should that be related to the circumstance that you’re dealing with in accordance to a probate law case, you may have to prove why something shouldn’t belong to someone rather than why it should belong to you. Stealing from the probate estate is more common than you might think.
The Minnesota probate process is meant to either give to the debtors to which the property may now rightfully belong or to the beneficiaries so that they can have something as remembrance of or as sustenance from the deceased. What was said in the will is sometimes relative to what the court decided and what kind of assets there were.
It may feel like the debtors stole from you or that someone got a larger portion than you, but all of these things are money games. The executor or administrator must balance a checkbook for the deceased and figure out how they’re going to do the right thing. Debts can swallow up properties like how a child may swallow up a slice of cake. What was meant for you might not end up being available to you.
Economic Forensics
Knowing that a beneficiary stole from the estate is one thing, but having a forensic accountant check over the details is another thing. This is a step that you might want to take in case you’re looking to have as much evidence as possible. Almost every aspect of probate either boils down to assets or doing paperwork pertaining to those assets. That said, should you have paperwork on the stolen assets, someone can work on checking to verify what should be there but went missing.
Two specific types of records, property records and financial records, are probably what they’ll be looking at. Any accounting done by the executor or similar bits of information might be what the forensic accountant. Moreover, assuming that you’re a beneficiary who didn’t steal from the estate, you have the right to ask the executor for an accounting. It’s one of your perks.
Stealing from the Probate Estate | Always Check the Assets
A final accounting will need to happen eventually. It may be far off in the future. Such might be the case should the beneficiary have taken or sold something off too early on in the probate process.
Checking over the assets and comparing what was lost is incredibly important. Almost nothing should be touched or changed from how the deceased kept it, unless something needed to be done to maintain things or keep something from being destroyed. Getting a new insurance policy on the home is actually expected and completely understandable.
If you think that the bank accounts were tampered with, check if there were withdrawals. Verify whether or not the deceased actually sold the home and inquire with the executor about its sale. Actually, check with the executor about any sale that takes place pertaining to the estate regardless of size of the purchase.
They’re at least going to need to know what happened for their own records. Perhaps they’ll even be able to clue you in as to whether or not theft took place.
Get Your Evidence
If something really was stolen from the estate, you must begin to gather your evidence. Speaking to the probate court should be one of your top priorities. Knowing which probate court to speak to, the one that handled the case, is of the utmost importance.
They should have most of the official documents. You’ll probably find yourself having to prove that their documents are false before you can make a solid claim against what they may believe to be true. They’re who probably gave the executor or administrator their power after all.
A second step to take would be to talk with the administrator or the executor. Should they agree with your claims or raise an issue with them, you can plan how you want to respond from there. Not only should have the administrator or executor viewed the documents pertaining to probate, they could have been the one who helped fill them out as in the case of a final accounting.
For something to have slipped, it might have missed their eye or been something they were unaware of. In truth, it’s completely possible that the beneficiary was just unaware of how the probate process worked and assumed what they took was rightfully theirs.
That said, the executor or administrator should be the one to help you figure out if there really was stolen property or not. If the court or administrator or executor can’t help you, you must consider the validity of your claim and what other options you might have remaining.
Making Legal Moves
Once you have come to a decision that it’s time to peruse legal action, evidence is what you’ll need. Copies, copies, and more copies is what you need to procure.
Get the will as soon as you can. If no will was used in the case, you must assume that the document cannot be used in any way towards the claim. Stating that the will was unused or wrong may mean that you have, at least in part, a different kind of issue.
Disputing a will is a real kind of issue, but it doesn’t always mean theft took place. However, you may need to establish that a will was supposed to be used for probate before you can even validate your claim of theft. If the document which says someone stole from the property proves false, you probably have no claim.
Where the right will wasn’t utilized, you must consider having mercy. The administrator, in the case of a wrong will, or the executor, in the case of the absence of a will, may have been acting with what knowledge they had. Having a will or not having a will doesn’t make a probate case anymore or less legitimate until otherwise proven.
No one is, more or less, the owner of any property that needs to be probated until after the court has approved everything. You need to actually prove that something actually should go to someone else.
For the specifics on Minnesota probate laws, you may want to reach out to a probate lawyer. You can ask them and see what can be done about the matter.
Perhaps they can advise you on how to deal with a bond that was taken out or how to see if everything is in order. This isn’t to pretend like everything is going to be easy.
That said, having their help may make things easier overall. There might be a lot of legal documents, but they should be able to help you narrow down which ones apply to your situation.
There’s one at Flanders Law Firm LLC who can help you, and if you want to know more about doing what’s right in a probate case, call them at 612-424-0398.
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