Check made payable to two estates
Hello,
My father passed away in April 2020, my mother passed away December 2020. While her estate was in probate we had an insurance claim for hail damage to her roof. The insurance company made the check payable to the estate of my dad and the estate of my mom. My dad’s estate was never probated by my mom. The bank has a hold on the check and we have been battling with the insurance company to write a new check made out to only my mom’s estate. Can an account have two estates on it? Is our only option to now probate my dad’s estate more than a year after his death? Should our estate lawyer step in with the insurance company?
Please help and thank you.
Terry Says
Whew. I’m guessing that a lot depends on how the property was titled, and how the insurance policy was titled.
But I agree this is a big mess! What insurance company was it?
And yes, your estate lawyer should contact the insurer and let them know there was no probate estate for your father, and that the estate of your mother was probated. And he should provide the necessary documents so the insurance company can make out a new check.
If you still have a problem, please send me an email to Terry@TerrySavage.com with more details.
