The Kind of Question I Just Can't Answer
Q. My dad died in 1993. My mom of course was his heir and the house they had and bank account went to her. Now 7 years later we find out that from a class action law suit he received a judgement of 69,000.00. There was never an estate opened before but now we need to appoint a personal representative and open an estate. When I went to the court house to get a letter of authority the clerk told me she didn't know if I need an unsupervised personal representative form or a supervised personal representative form . Can you tell me which form I need to fill out? I would like to do this today as my daughter has the day off and is taking me and my mom to the court house.
A. I’m throwing this question up on the board to illustrate the kind of question I can’t answer. (This is why I have all of the disclaimers and warnings all over the place.)
Believe me, it’s not that I don’t want to help you; I love throwing my ideas out there if you think it’ll help you. However, some questions are so fact specific and so time sensitive that it makes no sense to send the question to me. Here’s why this question breaks two of the guidelines I have to abide by.
First, as I mention in several places -- if you need an answer “today,” you shouldn’t be throwing questions my way. I’ve been receiving questions for almost six years now, and, as you might expect, I have not been able to answer all of them for a variety of reasons -- sheer volume of question, demands on my time outside of the website, or even the nature of the question. I answer those I can, when I can, but I cannot even speculate as to when, or even if, I’ll get to your particular question. The reality is that the demands of my “real” job and my family limit the time I can spend with you folks. If you need an answer today (or tomorrow, or even this month), you should consult with a local attorney or your local bar association.
Second, I’m answering general legal questions about general legal concepts. A fact-specific question, such as, “Do I need the ‘unsupervised personal representative form’ or a ‘supervised personal representative form’” is a question that I have no way of answering, especially if I don’t even know what state you’re writing from.
Don’t get me wrong. I love to hear from you and I want to help you if I can. But if you wonder why you haven’t received a response, it may be that I simply can’t answer the question you’ve asked.
A. I’m throwing this question up on the board to illustrate the kind of question I can’t answer. (This is why I have all of the disclaimers and warnings all over the place.)
Believe me, it’s not that I don’t want to help you; I love throwing my ideas out there if you think it’ll help you. However, some questions are so fact specific and so time sensitive that it makes no sense to send the question to me. Here’s why this question breaks two of the guidelines I have to abide by.
First, as I mention in several places -- if you need an answer “today,” you shouldn’t be throwing questions my way. I’ve been receiving questions for almost six years now, and, as you might expect, I have not been able to answer all of them for a variety of reasons -- sheer volume of question, demands on my time outside of the website, or even the nature of the question. I answer those I can, when I can, but I cannot even speculate as to when, or even if, I’ll get to your particular question. The reality is that the demands of my “real” job and my family limit the time I can spend with you folks. If you need an answer today (or tomorrow, or even this month), you should consult with a local attorney or your local bar association.
Second, I’m answering general legal questions about general legal concepts. A fact-specific question, such as, “Do I need the ‘unsupervised personal representative form’ or a ‘supervised personal representative form’” is a question that I have no way of answering, especially if I don’t even know what state you’re writing from.
Don’t get me wrong. I love to hear from you and I want to help you if I can. But if you wonder why you haven’t received a response, it may be that I simply can’t answer the question you’ve asked.
posted by David Kendall at
12:54 AM
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