My Brothers Estate

[Torvy]

Mabank is only about an hour from downtown Dallas. I'd say property values will continue on an upward trend. We will likely see a temporary dip (1-3 years) but it will rebound quickly.

Eddie, I cannot imagine your pain. My brother is 7 years my junior. He lives in OH, so I rarely see him. Even so, I would feel empty if he was gone. Let us know how we can help.

Pax Domini

 

[bindian]

Eddie,
Just was told about this thread. Read it all and am so sorry for Y'alls loss.
When Dad died, I told all his creditors after selling the house and paying off loan on the house (that I pleaded Dad not to take) and paying the lawyers, there would be nothing left for them. A couple of them requested death certificates. But nobody requested any payments. I suggest just sending creditors the notice and wait to see if they demand payment. Bet they will just drop it.

Dad died on April 30th. His SS paid at the first of the month. When SS got the notice of his death, they took back May's payment and demanded me to pay April's payment back, as I was already paying all his bills. That, came out of my pocket.

Check your brother's paperwork to see if he has anything that came with the safe. He might have wrote the numbers down there.

Moving the cows to your place works well with me. Keep track of your expenses and "charge" your brother's estate for moving the cattle.
Also keep track of mileage and hours you spend taking care of his place. All this can be applied towards buying his land from the estate.

Keeping the land and returning it to hay pastures sounds real good to me, as Texas needs more hay. Done right, it can make your land payments.

Torvy and mike69440 posted on one of my threads about your duck problem and a heads up about your brother. Thanks guys.

I would love to take 30-40 Mallard hens off your hands. Maybe more if I can figure out a big enough cage for the truck. If I can figure a bigger cage, I would want some drakes also. Send me a PM when you want to discuss the purchase. As it is now, I have too many drakes and I am selling 13 of them tomorrow. It is about a 2.5 hour or more drive to Mabank.

I couldn't get any Mallard hatchlings this month, so I am wait listed until next spring.

Try Craigslist to sell the ducks and contact the local school's FFA chapters to see if some students might help out or take some off your hands. Tame Mallards can become wild Mallards in a heartbeat. They just need a pond to stay on away from predators and they forage morning and evening and siesta during the day.

Again, so sorry for your brother's passing. Besides the cows, maybe you will want a handful of his ducks on your pond to remember him by. A cup of grain a day will anchor the drakes with hens to your pond.

Did someone mention he had Pheasants too?
hugs, Brandi

 

[MossRoad]

... Keep track of your expenses and "charge" your brother's estate for moving the cattle.
Also keep track of mileage and hours you spend taking care of his place. All this can be applied towards buying his land from the estate.
...

Great advice.

That reminded me that when my dad passed away, we paid for dumpsters, insurance, cleaning service, leaf removal (60+ oak trees on an acre and a half), etc., out of the estate money. We had to keep records, which was easy, as it was a checkbook, so we just wrote everything down in the register.

 

[EddieWalker]

Torvy and mike69440 posted on one of my threads about your duck problem and a heads up about your brother. Thanks guys.

I would love to take 30-40 Mallard hens off your hands. Maybe more if I can figure out a big enough cage for the truck. If I can figure a bigger cage, I would want some drakes also. Send me a PM when you want to discuss the purchase. As it is now, I have too many drakes and I am selling 13 of them tomorrow. It is about a 2.5 hour or more drive to Mabank.


Did someone mention he had Pheasants too?
hugs, Brandi

Here are a few pictures of his ducks. I've sold 60 so far, but I still think there over 300 left. It's hard to count them because they move around so much. I've also sold 15 pheasants and I think there are 15 to 18 of them left. They are a lot faster and harder to catch. They guy who bought the pheasants wanted all of them, but we gave up after catching 15. He might be back, but so far, it's been a week and I haven't heard from him.

To haul the ducks around, my brother used these crates that work really good. There is a door at the end that is easy to open to put them in there, and another door on the top that makes getting them out one at a time pretty easy. The floor is solid and they fit together so you can stack them on top of each other. I think there are about 30 of them.

My brother was getting $15 each for the ducks and pheasants. I've been selling them for the same amount to people that knew him. I'm going to post in Craigslist that they are for sale for $10 each and if somebody buys all of them, I'll cut the price in half.

The crates sell new for $63 plus shipping. I'm selling them for $30 each when they buy the ducks. Each crate can easily hold 15 ducks. Maybe more, but I think 20 ducks is about the most I'd put in a crate.

His place is close to Prairieville Texas, which is just a gas station and little store. https://www.mapquest.com/us/texas/prairieville-tx-282913807

 

[dmccarty]

Gracious, Eddies last post, and his posts about his brother reminded me of The Rabbit Man....

When we were looking to buy land, we found out about a parcel, which I visited the day we heard about the place. Back then, as now, if raw land popped up on the market you had better be out there NOW, then decide on what to do, and get an offer in the day the parcel showed up.

I went to see this place after work. It was, shall we say, interesting.

It was a long narrow, forested, lot, something like 10-20 acres, and the lot, along with the others in the subdivision, had been carved out of a much larger parcel. I found the drawing of the subdivision in the county office and it was done in the 1920's or 1930's. Course, it was done on paper with a T Square, triangles, etc, aka, simple drafting tools. The plot was not well drawn and my drafting teacher would NOT have been pleased.

The parcel was being sold by a guy we named The Rabbit Man but his sister was the owner. Rabbit Man lived on the place in an old school bus that has an addition added to the side. Rabbit Man had put his "house" across the property line so it was on his land, or rather his sister's land and the neighbors. I found this out while standing in the woods looking at the mess. There was a few old cars, the bus, an old boat, batteries, 55 gallon drums of who knows what, power cords, and trash. Then there was the brand new, very nice and expensive fence in the middle of the woods. The fence did NOT go to the corners but was a few hundred feet long just sitting in the woods.

While pondering this mess, I heard a vehicle driving on the next parcel, which was wooded, and I thought vacant. What I could not see was there was a driveway. The driver saw me, stopped and we had a chat... He told me that he had bought his parcel, found out that Rabbit Man's bus house was on his land and he told Rabbit Man his "structure" had to move. After many months of this, the parcel owner moved the bus with a skid steer and then built the mystery fence.

Eventually, I made my way back to the road and had a talk with another neighbor. The next day I was in the county GIS and Deeds Office digging into this mess and it tuned out that one of the county employees also lived in the subdivision and knew about Rabbit Man. Kinda odd what you can find out just chit chatting with people.

So why did we name this guy The Rabbit Man? One of the messes he had on the parcel, right along the driveway, was a stack of chicken cages he most have gotten from an old chicken farm. Turns out he was using the cages to raise rabbits, which he would sell to locals, and I assume he would also eat. Thus the name The Rabbit Man.

I can't remember if we put an offer on The Rabbit Man's land. Too many problems with the trash, bus, abandoned vehicles and boat, and who knows what else. The fact his sister owned the land, yet it was his, made us think he had had legal issues which we did not want to get near...

 

[Shenandoah MF1760]

As stated you'll need multiple death certificates. At least one for every creditor and agency you can determine he's dealt with, and then you'll want a few more for the things you didn't anticipate.

Trailers in Texas are titled and inspected annually if licensed. Selling one without a title will get you pennies on the dollar.

Your brother doesn't sound like someone that would have a will, but if there is one it can help with the probate process and prevent the state from taking a good portion.

I'd get a lawyer that specializes in this kind of thing. You'll make mistakes due to ignorance, he won't (hopefully).

I sincerely hope you make it through this with as little pain as possible, it's never easy.

 

[Sigarms]

Great advice.

Actually, since Eddie isn't listed as the executor of his brothers Estate, nor would he inherit anything, keeping track of expenses on his end is kind of a moot point and would accomplish nothing.

Now that said, I have no doubt that what Eddie does and tells his mother he does is "Gold", if there is money in the estate to be paid to Eddie for his services, his mother will pay him. Thing is, not all families are the same.

That's not legal, but love and understanding that you're doing the right thing for the person you love.

Thing is, I'm guessing most people here on this forum are not eyeballs in debt, and they have enough assets to cover what debt they owe.

When my aunt died basically penniless(no assets) and I was the executor of her estate, I lived 484 miles out of state. It was a 8 hour drive one way, more than a couple of trips on my end (with my truck in a couple of instances to move things). Because our family was so large, I still got questioned on my expenses (and yes, I filed everything with the lawyer). Honestly, being her executor was the biggest PITA life experiences I've had dealing with family, but at the end of the day, it was a learning experience about people and I didn't mind because my aunt loved and trusted me, and it's the least I could do for her since she was no longer with us.

My dad, selling his sisters "family home" got questioned as well on his expenses from family being he was the executor because there were back taxes and legal fees on the home that ran over 10k over a 40 year period. When my dad died, I found the paperwork on the home. Interesting reading, at least 1" thick. I never knew he kept the paperwork.

GET A LAYWER

 

[California]

Actually, since Eddie isn't listed as the executor of his brothers Estate, nor would he inherit anything, keeping track of expenses on his end is kind of a moot point and would accomplish nothing ...

... Because our family was so large, I still got questioned on my expenses (and yes, I filed everything with the lawyer). Honestly, being her executor was the biggest PITA life experiences I've had dealing with family ...

My dad, selling his sisters "family home" got questioned as well on his expenses from family being he was the executor because there were back taxes and legal fees on the home that ran over 10k ...

Similar experience but no point in cluttering this thread with details.

Money spent by Eddie to preserve the Estate until it can be closed is a valid creditor claim against the Estate. And this may have superior rights to some other unexpected, maybe bogus, type of claim. So precise records are essential.

Anyone, particularly business creditors but possibly also customers, neighbors etc, but not likely family in this case, can challenge and demand an accounting of why there isn't money to pay them what they demand.

If that property has some value exceeding debts then there is an Estate worth preserving. If not, then why not just buy land that isn't so far away.


I suggest that Eddie and Mom open a joint checking account to be used purely for Estate expenses and pay everything from that. This allows much cleaner, and hard to challenge, recordkeeping.

 

[bindian]

Eddie,
I sent you a PM. Let me know if you don't get it.
hugs, Brandi

 

[MossRoad]

Actually, since Eddie isn't listed as the executor of his brothers Estate, nor would he inherit anything, keeping track of expenses on his end is kind of a moot point and would accomplish nothing.

Meticulous records of expenses, etc. should be kept throughout the entire process and for 7 years after the estate closes. You'll never know what comes out of the woodwork.