My mother passed away in September 2011, and her will designates me as the Executrix of the Estate. I am only in my 20’s so I was a bit slow at figuring out what to do and how. I finally got my probate petition filed, and with preliminary letters of administration I was able to open an Estate account in March 2012. My mother had left her bank account “in trust for” me, so I was able to get immediate access to those funds and use them to pay my mother’s debts and bills to maintain her house. I have not set foot in a courtroom yet or anything, I just have the preliminary letters and the account set up, and I just got the first life insurance check made out to “Estate” that I will be depositing this week. I paid approximately $20,000 of my mom’s debts out of my own account using the “in trust for” money I got immediate access to.
I am wondering if I have the right to 1) pay remaining debts with the Estate account, and 2) if I am able to reimburse myself for the debts I paid out of my own account up until this point? Or do I have to wait until I’ve physically been in court? And if I can pay debts and reimburse myself, how do I know what is legally reimburseable and what isn’t? For example, my mother left behind two pets that both had vet bills I paid for, and I was also supposed to “maintain her property” so I got oil changes for her car and fixed things in her house if they broke. I don’t want to get in trouble for reimbursing myself for things that the court could later frown upon, and I also want to honor my mom’s memory and respect her wishes, and I don’t want to cheat my sister out of anything she is rightfully due as the only other beneficiary.
Also, I don’t know if anyone can help me with a moral dilemma. My mother just has two beneficiaries, my sister and myself. Her will states that everything is to be split 50/50 which I agree is the right thing to do. However, my mother left her one bank account “in trust for” me and only me which made it possible for me to have that money right away without going through the Estate, and in speaking with the bank and a lawyer they both said this money is mine from the day she died and I have no responsibility legally to share it with my sister. Also, my mother designated me as the sole beneficiary for her smallest life insurance. All the other accounts and life insurance paperwork designates “Estate” as the beneficiary, clearly meaning it is to go through probate and be split between us. Why would a parent leave one child an account and life insurance for them? Do I need to take this through probate or should I consider it mine and be happy? My only thought on this is my sister is psychiatrically ill, and my mother designated in her will that I would be my sister’s caretaker, which is a lot of work and stress, so I don’t know if my mom sort of considered it “payment” for me having to take on this burden?
I wish I knew what my mother was thinking when she set these things up 🙁
