Expert: Charles W. Field - 10/18/2004

Question
Charles, I am the executor of an estate. I am a friend, and not family, of the deceased, and this is probably the well-known story of a particular family member (one of several family-member beneficiaries) trying to manipulate things to their personal benefit. On their own initiative this individual removed two or three truckloads of property from the house - the most valuable and most saleable naturally. I have attempted to get some kind of inventory or valuation from this person and just get unintelligible non-committal mumbling. Of course, this individual is the very one who is now pressuring me for a speedy disrtibution of the liquid capital - this I am reluctant to do (actually, probably constrained by law from doing) until I receive the proceeds of items sold by this individual and a fair-market valuation or inventory list of the remaining goods taken by that person.
How do will administrators deal with this kind of thing with least fuss. Is it down to a lawyer's threat of legal action, or simply the (legal?) witholding of some reasonable estimate of value from the individual's allotment of cash when the rest of the estate has been finally liquidated?
Thanks very much for your advice
Carl  

Answer
I would consult with a local attorney knowledgeable in this area of the law. It may be that just a letter from him/her will get the job done, but I doubt it. Depending on the law of your state, you may need to set up a hearing and subpoena this person and all his records. You want to get a hearing in front of the judge handling the probate.