Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Washington
My brother stole my distrributive shares
Im from Pennsylvania, and heir to the estate of my brother Leonard who died intestate in Feb 05. His domicile was Washington State. My brother Carl from Honolulu is the only other heir. I first became aware of Leonards death in 2006, about a year after he died. My brother Carl became aware of Leonards death just days after it occurred. Carl opened probate in Washington just weeks after leonards death. I obtained documents filed by Carl and his lawyer in Washington in which he states that he is the only surviving heir although he is well aware that I am alive. Carl obtained 100% of the distributive shares. Inventory was not filed and an estate account was not opened. A PR was not appointed. Ancilliary probate is ongoing in Honolulu because my deceased brother owns a home there. Probate in Honolulu is Supervised because Carl nearly consummated a sale without my knowledge. Carl is a very greedy person and an odious liar. How can I find out what estate assets Carl got in Washington? My lawyer in Honolulu said that unless Carl reveals what he got, we will never know. If I retain a Washington lawyer and take Carl to court to compel him to reveal what assets he recovered, such as bank accounts, and he lies, how can I prove he is lying?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: My brother stole my distrributive shares
1. He has already proved he is a liar when he said he was the only heir. He is probably subject to criminal perjury charges in WA.
2. The WA attorney may also be liable for not making due diligence efforts to locate heirs. For example, did he require your living brother to provide an inventory to him, as required by the statute? See: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=11.44&full=true
3. Here is a site to review the documents filed in the WA case: http://dw.courts.wa.gov/
4. You probably want to get a WA attorney to go into the WA case and challenge the distribution of the estate. You would have discovery tools available to obtain information on your living brother's accounts.
5. You should have a stay placed on distribution of any assets in the HI probate until the full picture of the assets of your deceased brother is determined.
6. I would ask for the full value of the HI assets since the extent of the brother's fraud in WA can't be determined.
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