13 Apr Surrogate: Heirs must sell house to pay administrative expenses
Surrogate Robert Gigante from Richmond County recently held that in a situation where a house was the sole asset of an estate the sale of the real property was expressly allowed by a fiduciary to pay administrative expenses, estate taxes and debts, and the respective shares of the estate to each distributee. The court found sale of the property was necessary to properly distribute decedent’s asset and pay administration expenses. The Court directed the occupants to vacate within 45 days. When a family occupied property is inherited by multiple heirs- some of whom live in the property and others who do not- there is frequently a dispute as happened in this case. Heirs have to accept that when they live in a house owned by a relative, and that relative passes away, unless the property was left to them in a Will their rights to live in the house become questionable. Matter of Estate of Neller