Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Arkansas

estate of parent

my sister and i were named co-executors of my father's estate. he owned a condo that is now ours. i agreed initially to letting her daughter move in until she could find somewhere else to live. that was a year ago. i can't get them out and i, personally want to move in to do some work on it to sell it. how can i get them out of the condo. also, what type of estate am i required to open to have the assets separated as my sister will not address any of this. we are losing rental income because of her daughter. my sister has paid the mortgage payment 9/10ths of the time they have lived there. i refused to pay any of the mortgage while they were living in there. the condo is paid off in about three months. i want to get this taken care of before it is completely paid for as i fear it will be even more difficult at that point. also, what about any damages that they may have created. am i liable if something happens over there? i've been trying to deal with this since my Dad passed away in 1/06, i hope you can give me some answers. i am a single parent with limited extra income, any ideas on how to keep costs down would be appreciated.


Asked on 7/30/07, 11:35 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Harvey Harris Harris Law Firm

Re: estate of parent

Was the estate ever probated through the court? If not, there is still time to do so.

As a co-executor, yes, you are partly responsible for the upkeep of property of the estate. However, if it hasn't been put in probate yet, you are not officially the co-executor.

Getting it into probate would be a good start. Then you can ask the court for authority to sell the property.

I would say that you probably need an attorney to help you through this process. It is possible to not have to pay your attorney up front, if he or she agrees, and pay them out of the sale of the property.

If someone has done damage to the property, they will be liable for having it fixed, or paying to have it fixed. But you do need to act quickly, because as you said, the longer it goes, the more difficult it will be to get it taken care of.

If you have more questions, you are welcome to ask me. My email or phone number should show up after this answer.

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Answered on 7/30/07, 2:20 pm


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