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Unfortunately, my mother is terminally ill and will likely die
intestate in the next few weeks. I have a brother and sister. We are
ages 41, 40, and 35. I understand the laws of intestate succession and
the distribution is how her will would have read anyway had she gotten
around to executing it. I just don't understand the actual procedure.
We are all close and want my brother to be the official personal
administrator. What do we actually have to do and when? What
documentation do we need? Do we all just show up together in probate
court with our birth certificates and my mother's death certificate?
It is a very small probatable estate and the total estate is far below
any estate tax level. What kind of time frame will it take for my
brother to be appointed the administrator? We're all so overcome with
grief, but there appears to be a reason for getting this figured out
soon.
She owns a cooperative apartment where the Board has the option and
always exercises it to buy the shares back at par value. When they
sell the shares, the shareholder is entitled to 90% of the proceeds
after deducting sales expenses.
The policy document I found says that a Notice to Vacate must be given
to the Board, and the shares endorsed over to the Board within 30 days
of the Notice. If the Notice to Vacate is given but the shares are not
endorsed within 30 days, the shareholder is only entitled to par value
for the shares.
We can't find the share documents, or the bylaws. Also, her apartment
is full of stuff since she was living there independently as of two
weeks ago.
No one is allowed to reside in the coop but her, and we're trying to
figure out what happens if she dies. We have power of attorney and are
trying to operate as fast as possible to get the shares turned over
before she dies, but between snow storms, the fact that we all have
jobs and wanting to visit her in her last days, I'm afraid we're not
going to make it. We have to move all of her stuff out, but I'm not
sure if moving her stuff out constitutes a Notice to Vacate and starts
the clock. There is only one elevator, and its not like a moving
operation will go unnoticed. When she moved in the super put some
protective stuff in the elevator. If we give the Notice before she
dies and then she dies, we have to get the Probate Court to act
quickly enough to get the shares endorsed within 30 days.
The only attorney I've talked to who was any help encouraged us to get
the shares reissued, and get copies of the documents, but the building
is self-managed and so far phone calls to the number have gone
unanswered and unreturned. I know we need an attorney but I am not
local and its difficult for me to find one and difficult to know if I
can trust the one I find.
Any opinions?
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She owns a cooperative apartment where the Board has the option and
always exercises it to buy the shares back at par value. When they
sell the shares, the shareholder is entitled to 90% of the proceeds
after deducting sales expenses.
Sounds fair. They don't want you to sell directly to a 3rd party,
since they want control over who else moves into their building.
The policy document I found says that a Notice to Vacate must be given
to the Board, and the shares endorsed over to the Board within 30 days
of the Notice. If the Notice to Vacate is given but the shares are not
endorsed within 30 days, the shareholder is only entitled to par value
for the shares.
Why on earth would you think a Notice to Vacate has to be filed the
instant your mother dies? The co-op apt. is her property, as long as
she/you keep up her end of the obligations to the co-op. Have you
talked to any actual, live co-op board member who told you this? If
it were a condo or a single-family home she owned, you would have
plenty of time to place it back on the market during the course of
handling her probate estate. As long as you keep paying whatever her
share was of the co-op fees, I don't see why you need to file a Notice
to Vacate right away. Get the estate opened, find the shares and/or
get them re-issued, get the place cleaned up and ready to show, and
_then_ give them a Notice to Vacate, and turn over the shares. But
that's just common sense speaking; I'm NOT a NY lawyer and the law in
this instance may be an ass. Usually, though, it's the layperson's
anxious interpretations that go overboard, not the law itself.
We can't find the share documents, or the bylaws. Also, her apartment
is full of stuff since she was living there independently as of two
weeks ago.
Well, so keep looking. No clocks are ticking yet.
No one is allowed to reside in the coop but her, and we're trying to
figure out what happens if she dies. We have power of attorney and are
trying to operate as fast as possible to get the shares turned over
before she dies, but between snow storms, the fact that we all have
jobs and wanting to visit her in her last days, I'm afraid we're not
going to make it. We have to move all of her stuff out, but I'm not
sure if moving her stuff out constitutes a Notice to Vacate and starts
the clock.
Why would it? "Vacate" means she no longer wants to have the _legal_
and exclusive right to occupy the premises, not that she is
_physically_there_ or even that she has any furniture in it. What if
your Mom had, say, a Florida condo where she lived 11 months of the
year, and only came back to her NY co-op for the month of August,
sleeping on the sleeping bag she carried with her? Could she do that
legally? Of course, unless there's an Interior Design Nazi clause
built into her co-op agreement that says she _has_ to keep the tatty
old Queen Anne chair in the living room no matter what.
There is only one elevator, and its not like a moving
operation will go unnoticed. When she moved in the super put some
protective stuff in the elevator. If we give the Notice before she
dies and then she dies, we have to get the Probate Court to act
quickly enough to get the shares endorsed within 30 days.
I think you're reading _way_ too much into this "Notice to Vacate"
business. Are you telling me, you think you can't even remove
furniture and boxes of belongings from the apt. without triggering the
"Notice to Vacate" inadvertently? I doubt very much that is the
case. What, you mean she's not allowed to redecorate for the whole
time she's living there? A clutterbug isn't allowed to change her
mind and adopt a more streamlined, Zen lifestyle? I doubt they go
that far.
The only attorney I've talked to who was any help encouraged us to get
the shares reissued, and get copies of the documents, but the building
is self-managed and so far phone calls to the number have gone
unanswered and unreturned. I know we need an attorney but I am not
local and its difficult for me to find one and difficult to know if I
can trust the one I find.
Did you run the specifics of these we-have-to-move-out-yesterday fears
by this atty? If so, what did he say about them? Frankly, it
doesn't sound like you mentioned these scenarios that really concern
you to him at all. Ask him, and see what he says.
Any opinions?
Do what you have to do, but don't go creating problems where none
exist, due to your anxiety and your quite natural concern over your
mother's condition. Good luck,
--
This posting is for discussion purposes, not professional advice.
Anything you post on this Newsgroup is public information.
I am not your lawyer, and you are not my client in any specific legal
matter.
For confidential professional advice, consult a lawyer in a private
communication.
Mike Jacobs
LAW OFFICE OF W. MICHAEL JACOBS
10440 Little Patuxent Pkwy #300
Columbia, MD 21044
(tel) 410-740-5685 (fax) 410-740-4300
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On 28/1/04 14:02, in article 44gf10h83msontt1khn4d49dgqluvm98md@4ax.com,
"John Smith" <rshap2l@yahoo.com> wrote:
The only attorney I've talked to who was any help encouraged us to get
the shares reissued, and get copies of the documents, but the building
is self-managed and so far phone calls to the number have gone
unanswered and unreturned. I know we need an attorney but I am not
local and its difficult for me to find one and difficult to know if I
can trust the one I find.
It's not possible to give proper advice to a stranger and over the Internet.
Depending upon the DPOA it may be possible for the holder to write a will.
(Possible in some states; although I'm licensed in NY I've never encountered
the issue and indeed usually have clients sign the DPOA at the same time as
the will. I don't have time to look up the issue now.)
Otherwise you really need somebody local and on the ball to deal with these
issues forthwith. And make a personal visit on the co-op managers and bring
an urgent lawsuit if need be.
There are treatises on the subject that you can find in county law libraries
and public libraries. But if you're out of town you really need to get
someone in the family, someone local, to focus on the matter, as I said,
forthwith.
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