Hello all, this is my first time posting here, but I appreciate this website and have found the advice and experiences shared very helpful through the last few years dealing with my Father's illness.
My Father passed away in November on the day before Thanksgiving after a long battle with Alzheimer's and the effects of a stroke. I have acted as the Power of Attorney for his accounts and handled all bills however, since my Mother passed away suddenly a few years ago without a will, and my Father had dementia which progressed to Alzheimer's, we were not able to complete anything except a Small Estate Affidafidt for my Mother's portion of the Estate. My POA rights ended as soon as he passed away and I am now working with a lawyer to file for Executor of the Estate. I was told that I could continue to pay any final bills that have to do with my Father's estate, however, last week his bank account was frozen once the Death Certificate was filed with the State. I was told that this is something that happens automatically here. There are still expenses for his house, additional burial expenses (specifically his headstone which for whatever reason the place I ordered it from waited until after Christmas and still have not attempted to cash the checkthat they were give a month ago and now they cannot which is very frustrating), and other things that need to be resolved. I was also told that this process could take up to 2 years so anything that I pay out of pocket will not be able to be reimbursed until then. I am on a very limited income and I am trying very hard not to freak out but this is very frustrating. My family has dealt with a lot of loss in the last few years, amidst other family drama stemming from my Mother's death and now it seems like this is a never-ending thing. I truly don't know what to do or what my options are. Has anyone had to deal with this before or have any advice on what I can do to assist with these final expenses and possibly moving this process along faster than 1-2 years? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Mentally Exhasuted
If you are the only child, or the only child who wishes to serve as executor, this should come through very quickly for you. So check with your attorney what the holdup is. The attorney then can apply for the EIN you will need for the account, which falls into separate tax status, as final filing personally and as final filing when estate is distributed to the heirs of the estate. Is that only you? Or are there other siblings?
You will then have access to this new account, which will be titled as estate. All taxes can be paid. Nothing will be confiscated because of this brief delay in payment; you should send a letter done for you by form from your attorney with all entities, telling them that you have filed to manage estate for your father who died intestate, and that all bills will be paid when you obtain your letters testamentary and the EIN for your father's account.
Do not pay these on your own. They can sometimes be considered to be "assuming responsibility" for a debt. The debts aren't yours, but your fathers and your mothers. So do not pay them, with the exception of the funeral costs, already done I assume. These files and accounts need to be kept by you, and all records and receipts of costs and etc. Because before distribution to heir(s) they must all be paid.
I am quite surprised that your lawyer didn't take the five minutes it would take to tell you this. And DO let him or her get, online, the EIN from the IRS. I tried to get it myself and it ended as a months long debacle and had to ultimately use the lawyer to do it ANYWAY.
Wishing you luck. I know where you are! With the exception that I did have an ironclad Trust, easy to deal with.
Here in BC Canada and I think most places, POA ends at death. You should not have written any cheques as POA after he died. You had no legal authority to do so. This may cause you grief.
If Dad did not have a Will, your province or state intestacy laws will come into effect. Most jurisdictions have a website with information on the steps that need to be taken.
Once a executor has been assigned by the court, the funds in the back account should be moved into an estate account. Again even different banks will manage the estate account in different ways. When my step Dad died, Mum would take the bills to the bank and the bank would cut a cheque for payment.
He had a second account at credit union and they gave Mum a chequebook to use on the estate account.
It may take 1-2 years to complete settling the estate, but it should not take that long to release the funds.
so sorry for your loss.
where I am (Canada) once a person passes their accounts are frozen. I had to go to the bank with proof that I am the Executor of my mother’s estate. The proof they needed aside from the official death certificate from the government was the original notarized will. With those documents any money in her bank account was transferred to the Estate account. If I needed to pay anything for “my mother’s” debts I would go to the bank with the proof that the money is being used on one of her debts that need to be paid and the bank would process the payment for me. The banks need to be sure that the money is being used purely for incurred debts of the passed loved one and not other parties. Since once all debts incurred by the passed loved one is paid any remaining money goes to those stipulated in the will. It is a way that the banks protect the money for the heirs.
i hope this helps a bit.