How long should it take to finalize a trust / will?

[goBigtime]

Anyone know how long, at most, it should take for _an attorney_ to finalize an estate that is mostly cash, stocks and bonds?

No real estate involved.


One of my relatives had a good friend of hers that passed away about a year ago.

Her friend had told her many, many, years ago that she was leaving her half her estate, and that she also wanted her
to be the executor of her estate. The rest of the estate is going to a few charities and scholarships. This of course is
after the attorney who has been involved the past 10 years or so takes his undisclosed cut.


Anyway to make a long story shorter... the lady who recently passed away developed dementia in the last few years of her life.

So my relative would go visit her daily to make sure she was ok, and to give her some company, etc.

On top of this, my realtive took care of all of her friends business affairs and moving to various facilities because of
the ladys illness.


Because of the ladys dementia, her treatment of my relative often was very hostile.

After hearing some of the stories, I don't really understand how she did it so long under those conditions.


Additionally, because of the dementia, her friend would also routinely threaten to "make sure that you get nothing when I die"...
but if you knew the person before the dementia, you would know that this was not her wish at all.

If you ask me, the lady was off her f'in rocker, and my family member too for putting up with the BS for all those years (inheritance or not).




So anyway, the lady died about a year ago. After she died the attorney let my relative know that she was no longer the
executor of the estate, and that he was now the executor and "he will explain it later, after the estate is finalized"
He told her that it might take him up to 6 months to finalize. Like I said, it's going on a year now.

My realtive was informed that her share in the estate however, had not been changed otherwise.


It has now been nearly a year since the lady died and the attorney is still dragging his ass about finalizing it.

My relative is kind of passive about all this and doesn't want to "rock the boat" much before she sees what
all the attorney has done (ie, HOW he became executor & what how much he is going to bill the estate for his legal fees over
10 years and for being executor)



So I guess my questions are... is this normal for an estate like this?

Should she be worried?

Should she hire another attorney to deal with this one?


Anyone have any similar stories?



Thanks

[mary34d]

My brother and I had our living wills done when my father died. We were only 15 and 12. I don't really remember how long it took, but I think it was 3-4 weeks.

[sumphatpimp]

it takes until all the bills of the deceased are paid.
could take a year or two.
if you think something is funny get another lawyer to watch the first lawyer.

[goBigtime]

Originally posted by mary34d
My brother and I had our living wills done when my father died. We were only 15 and 12. I don't really remember how long it took, but I think it was 3-4 weeks.

When did you guys die?

Oh and what sort of internet connections do they have in the netherworld?


Just giving you a hard time .... this thread isn't about how long it takes create a will/trust, but how long it takes to settle one after the person with the will passes.

[goBigtime]

Originally posted by sumphatpimp
it takes until all the bills of the deceased are paid.
could take a year or two.
if you think something is funny get another lawyer to watch the first lawyer.

I don't understand how it could take years to settle outstanding bills...

My relative got all of the bills and would (after the persons death) send them to the attorney to be paid. There hasn't been a bill for about 6 months.

I mean once someone is dead and whatever bill is paid, you don't create any new expenses or bills no?

I would think there is some sort of official process for doing this having to do with the obituary and death certificate or something? Like after X months an estate can be settled and all outstanding bills from people who weren't on the ball to make their claim within X months are ass out.

1-2 years to handle the business of a dead person who had mostly cash, stocks & bonds (that were liquidated early on) just doesn't seem right to me.

[detoxed]

If she didnt get her own lawyer the second this other guy said "I'll tell you when its finalized" then she probably isnt getting anything

[xclusive]

It depends on the lawyer shouldn't take more than 2 weeks though...