BS: What are Letters Testementary?

Subject: BS: What are Letters Testementary?
From: Donuel
Date: 02 Sep 06 - 10:56 AM

Is this the same as a Will?
NYS wants Letters Testementary that are less than 6 months old
of my mother who passed away 7 years ago.

Subject: RE: BS: What are Letters Testementary?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Sep 06 - 11:16 AM

You might have to have someone at court, or at the courthouse, reissue them. When my father died I had a certain amount of time (two years comes to mind) in which to conduct his business and wrap things up or I'd have had to go back to court to have them re-issued (naming me again as administrator). Considering the dissolution of good feelings in the family after his death, that would have been an impossibility, because the other heirs would have had to agree to it. Not easy. Good luck.

SRS

BTW: my workaround as far as his music and the handling of his future business as far as his collection was to draw up very specific final papers in which whatever I held, and whatever each of us held, upon the conclusion of the probate period, we owned that outright and no one else had the ability to make a future claim on it. I couldn't see trying to donate his collection somewhere and have the rest of the family meddling in my business, when I wouldn't have the equal opportunity to f*** up their lives. That final document took a lot longer to draw up, but I think it was necessary. :-/

Subject: RE: BS: What are Letters Testementary?
From: Donuel
Date: 02 Sep 06 - 11:48 AM

Sounds like a beaurocratic nightmare of immense proportions.

I already gave them everything they asked for but it has taken NYS 3 years to process the claim for her safe deposit box that was overlooked at the time of her death.

.By the way

I found out about it on the web through one of those check for unclaimed funds sites for free.

Subject: RE: BS: What are Letters Testementary?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Sep 06 - 11:50 AM

Yep, I bet that is what you'll need. Every state, probably every county is different, but if you call the county clerk in the area where the box is and ask what they do in a case like this, you might find it isn't as bad as you thought.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: What are Letters Testementary?
From: Tannywheeler
Date: 02 Sep 06 - 01:10 PM

Letters Testamentary is the paper issued by the state (or county?) which officially recognizes your authority (as executor/trix of a person's estate) to do business for that estate. It confirms you in the post. Anyone who needs to conduct business with that person's estate or heirs will need to see it, perhaps make a copy of it for their records. The reason for sometimes renewing it is(I think): in case other heirs have contested the way the exec. is doing business, takes her/him to court & gets the exec. overturned/replaced so that person no longer is authorized--the exec. gets to indicate this has not happened. Had to do this for Mama. Tw

Subject: RE: BS: What are Letters Testementary?
From: GUEST,anonymous for good reason
Date: 02 Sep 06 - 01:24 PM

We had arguers in our family also, and one who too easily felt entitled to all they saw or wanted, so to safeguard myself I was very strict in my accounting and in supervising their division of the parental property. That one person's howls at being restricted to their portion of the estate could be heard for miles around, and caused another one to file for a restriction on my actions as administrator--requiring a 10-day delay for any paper signing, while "informational" (not asking permission, just informing) letters were sent out. To deal with that form was horribly humiliating, as there was never a hint of wrongdoing, but it slowed the estate by about 12 months, and I had to pay an attorney to completely reproduce my work, costing us another $7000 or so.

Subject: RE: BS: What are Letters Testementary?
From: Bev and Jerry
Date: 02 Sep 06 - 06:21 PM

Don:

Tannywheeler defined a Letter Testementary exactly. It's simply a document which the probate court issues saying you are, in fact, the executor. Each institution you deal with needs a separate one because they keep it for their records. You can easily get more from the probate court in the county in which your mother died just for the asking but they will no doubt charge you a few bucks.

The document has to have a fairly recent date on it in case someone has contested what you are doing or have done with the estate. So, call or write the clerk of the probate court and they'll tell you how to get the document. It should be fairly simple.

Bev and Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: What are Letters Testementary?
From: catspaw49
Date: 02 Sep 06 - 06:27 PM

I thought Letters Testementary was having the alphabet tattooed on your balls. I may have been wrong on that......

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: What are Letters Testementary?
From: Tannywheeler
Date: 03 Sep 06 - 09:36 AM

Spaw, that would prob. be Letters Testicletary. Sounds painful.    Tw

Subject: RE: BS: What are Letters Testementary?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Sep 06 - 02:17 PM

Ooooh! Imagine the papercut if you get letters anywhere in that region! Now that might smart!