My dad passed a long time ago and my mom passed in 2011. She made my sister the executor of the estate. At my mom’s funeral, our oldest sister - who is not on friendly terms with 3 of us (5 total, including her) - took ALL of the pictures and photo albums of our parents. She said she “got permission” but from whom, I have no idea since she and my other sister (the executor) are mortal enemies. Wouldn’t my oldest sister had to have gotten permission from my sister to take all the pictures? My oldest sister isn’t about to give them back or make copies for the rest of us. I’m one of the 3 she won’t speak to anymore. Any advice or insight would be appreciated. TIA.
Update:We do NOT have access to the pictures so we are unable to scan, make copies, etc. of them. Our oldest sister has them in her possession and she has written us out of her life. That’s why I want to know if she was legally able to take them in the first place. The executor did NOT give her permission.
Answers & Comments
The executor has a legal obligation to protect the estate assets and sue to reclaim any that were improperly distributed, e.g., stolen by anyone the executor did not authorize, at the appropriate stage of the probate process.
Certainly not unless they are executors too. Even then, you would all have to agree on who gets what.
No. Have the executor go to court and get a court order to have them returned. If they are not the person who took the will be arrested,
No, NOTHING gets disbursed without executor approval.
No. You're the executor. NO ONE has the right to take anything.
The executrix of the will should have a conference with the lawyer who set this up, and get an overview of her duties. It was her duty to preserve the estate, and the locks could have been changed in order to do that. As it stands now, the sibling who absconded with the property is in violation of the execution of the will. Proving it will be hard to do, but you and the others who have been deprived of access should file a motion in court to have them restored to the estate for proper distribution. Asking that the photographs be made available for copying so that all may have them will go a long way in court, rather than making it appear as though someone else wants to hoard them.
However- *anything* in your parent's possession at the time of their death is covered, and no one had the authority to distribute or take anything until the estate had been probated.
>> ... can your siblings just take stuff ...?
Yes, they can. There is a technical legal term for this, it's called "stealing". The executor can bring a legal action for a court order to make them return the stuff. Violation of the court order would bring police involvement.
Sounds like she got permission from the (1) sibling that is on friendly terms with her.
Ask the (1) sibling if they can get copies of those photos, even if they have to take copies on their phone that they can share with the rest.
Permission or not, personal photos, albums are things that can never be replaced.
No however clearly the executor/rix LEGALLY do not know what they are doing, have not probated the Will otherwise they would have just phoned the probate court for advice at the time....... and the issue is it is a 'legal job' and the person doing that job are held legally responsible to do it correctly
NO ONE, not you, your sister, anybody , has the authority to""" grant permission""" "for anyone to take anything, Your sister could be held accountable before a judge,This could result in a f%%%%g mess before it is over.