Who files a probate proceeding 50 years after the decedent's death and why?
What happens when someone dies without a will? Lawyers make lots of money.
Urban Legend #1. If I die without a will, my estate will not have to pay the “death” tax. The Tennessee Inheritance Tax is based upon the value of the property owned at the time of death. The tax applies even if the decedent does not have a will.
Urban Legend #2. If I have a will, but I do not go through probate, my estate will not have to pay the “death” tax. Some states calculate a tax based upon the value of assets in the probate estate. The Tennessee Inheritance Tax is calculated on the value of the assets owned at the time of death.
Urban Legend #3. If I do not have a will, it will all work out. It will work out – it just may take 50 years.
In Tennessee, if a person dies without a will, the Government decides who inherits a person’s property. Sometimes it all works out; at other times the family feuds.
Ben and Pearl Bates had nine children. They owned a house in McMinnville, Tennessee where they lived until their deaths. Ben died in 1959, and Pearl died in 1962. Both died without a will. As they had nine (9) children, under Tennessee law each child owned a 1/9th interest in the house.
Fifty (50) years later, one son filed petitions to probate his parents’ estates. He did not, however, file these petitions because he wanted to pay some overdue death taxes. He had an ulterior motive – he wanted to be reimbursed for “expenses, renovations, upkeep, liability insurance and property taxes” he had allegedly spent on the property – over $200,000.
Our hero forgot a basic principle of Tennessee law when he filed the probate petitions. At the time of death, any interest in real estate immediately vested in the heirs. The estate can claim the real estate, but only if there is not enough personal property to pay the claims of creditors. In this case, because over 50 years had passed, the statute of limitations barred any claims by any creditors to the assets of the estates. The real estate never became a part of the “probate” estate. Therefore, the probate court lacked jurisdiction to consider son’s claims.
THE MORAL OF THIS STORY:
THEY CALL IT “FAMILY FEUD” FOR A REASON. When money is involved, the feuding begins.
In re Estate of Bates, M2011-0164-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Jan. 5, 2012)
