Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania
Dividing of estate
Wife father dies no will has some debts 3 other children. 2 of the 4 with ther spouses work hard to repair house he owned to sell it. Question can the ones who work on the house and paided for funeral get paid back for time and material put in house to make it sellable, or is the money made on the sale of home to be divided equally.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Dividing of estate
Someone, among the heirs, should take responsibility for administering the estate. If there is money left from the proceeds of sale of the house, the first to get paid from those proceeds would be the funeral expenses, estate administration expenses, inheritance and estate taxes, and debts. Only after those are paid can the heir divide any remaining proceeds.
Fairness says that the heirs should agree that the expenditures by some to fix up the property also come out before dividing proceeds among the heirs. If the heirs cannot agree among themselves to do this, the issue should be submitted to Orphans' Court as part of the administration of the estate, to get court approval of the division of any proceeds left after paying obligations of the estate.
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