Legal fees for disclaiming inheritance

[Bibbidi]

For various reasons, we may need to disclaim our portion of an inheritance. To do so, we will need an attorney to draw up the disclaimer and then file it for us with the Clerk of Courts local to the decedent. Does anyone have any idea of the cost of such paperwork? It's frustrating to think we have to pay money to avoid inheriting something that we never wanted, but hopefully it won't be too costly. Thanks.

 

[KristenF]

My lawyer does things like this for me for about $100

 

[Floridagal23]

It depends - I draft them for clients in NYC (we've been doing a ton of disclaimers lately) and it takes me about 1-2 hours to draft the document and then draft all the required notice documents. It depends how involved everything is and how accessible the information is (I had one where I had to go back and forth for accurate land surveys, it had to be filed in multiple states to ensure proper chain of title, we didn't have everyone's contact info, we went to client's home to personally oversee her signing, multiple parties were disclaiming, etc).

For a very simple disclaimer, it would probably take me 2 hours to review the statute and draft 1) the disclaimer 2) the notice docs and 3) assemble all the related exhibits, including the will, description of property, etc. and send everything out for signature. When we receive the signed document back, then we have a secretary or paralegal file them (at a much lower rate) and send out documents to everyone who will have their interest 'accelerated' because of your disclaimer.

So..I'd say 2 hours of work at the hourly rate plus if they have a paralegal who bills out file it, then maybe a half hr or so of their time.

 

[Bibbidi]

It depends - I draft them for clients in NYC (we've been doing a ton of disclaimers lately) and it takes me about 1-2 hours to draft the document and then draft all the required notice documents. It depends how involved everything is and how accessible the information is (I had one where I had to go back and forth for accurate land surveys, it had to be filed in multiple states to ensure proper chain of title, we didn't have everyone's contact info, we went to client's home to personally oversee her signing, multiple parties were disclaiming, etc).

For a very simple disclaimer, it would probably take me 2 hours to review the statute and draft 1) the disclaimer 2) the notice docs and 3) assemble all the related exhibits, including the will, description of property, etc. and send everything out for signature. When we receive the signed document back, then we have a secretary or paralegal file them (at a much lower rate) and send out documents to everyone who will have their interest 'accelerated' because of your disclaimer.

So..I'd say 2 hours of work at the hourly rate plus if they have a paralegal who bills out file it, then maybe a half hr or so of their time.

Thank you very much for your detailed reply. That certainly helps.

 

[Floridagal23]

No problem - since it is usually done along with the estate admin, I'd just get in touch with whoever is administering the estate and they can draft it for you more efficiently than if you had an outside attorney do it.

 

[Darcy03231]

Check with the probate court where the estate is filed. Some states (like mine) have a simple form you fill out. Its very self-explanatory and it doesn't cost anything to file. It just needs to be filled in, witnessed and notarized and filed.

 

[Bibbidi]

No problem - since it is usually done along with the estate admin, I'd just get in touch with whoever is administering the estate and they can draft it for you more efficiently than if you had an outside attorney do it.

That's good to know. At this point there is no administrator, we're waiting to hear who will be appointed, though we expect it to be a local attorney, so maybe we can have them handle it instead. Thank you.

 

[Bibbidi]

Check with the probate court where the estate is filed. Some states (like mine) have a simple form you fill out. Its very self-explanatory and it doesn't cost anything to file. It just needs to be filled in, witnessed and notarized and filed.

Good tip--thank you, we'll check into this as well.

 

[bjscheel]

If my boss were the attorney probating the estate, we would prepare this for the beneficiary as part of administering the estate, no extra cost. In Iowa it is a simple one-page document. Definitely check with the attorney who ends up doing it.

 

[rapriebe]

Okay, I need to ask this. Why would you not want an inheritance? I have only been involved in one so I'm not very knowledgeable about different circumstances. Just curious.

 

[MSSANDRA]

In our county, you just have to have a letter from everyone involved that they agree to any thing that alters the original will. We are in the process of settling up my mom's estate and I want to just give my sister the car instead of taking 1/2. We both just have to file the letter with the clerk of court that we both agree. I would check with you local clerk of court before paying for an lawyer.

We have been able to handle everything so far our self though we might need a lawyer for some deed transfers.

 

[Bibbidi]

Okay, I need to ask this. Why would you not want an inheritance? I have only been involved in one so I'm not very knowledgeable about different circumstances. Just curious.

We would essentially be inheriting a portion of a home that has great outstanding debt, but we'd be responsible for keeping up our 1/6th interest in the home--so we'd have to pay 1/6th of all costs associated with maintaining the property until it could be sold--but due to recent major water damage, it could be quite some time before it ever gets sold. We don't want our credit to be damaged by the house ending up in foreclosure, which it very well could, because the other parties who would be inheriting a portion as well can't afford to pay their 1/6th portion, and we can't afford to pick up their costs too. It's a big mess that we never expected to be faced with, so we'd rather just disclaim the silly thing and be done with it.

 

[rapriebe]

We would essentially be inheriting a portion of a home that has great outstanding debt, but we'd be responsible for keeping up our 1/6th interest in the home--so we'd have to pay 1/6th of all costs associated with maintaining the property until it could be sold--but due to recent major water damage, it could be quite some time before it ever gets sold. We don't want our credit to be damaged by the house ending up in foreclosure, which it very well could, because the other parties who would be inheriting a portion as well can't afford to pay their 1/6th portion, and we can't afford to pick up their costs too. It's a big mess that we never expected to be faced with, so we'd rather just disclaim the silly thing and be done with it.

Oh, that makes perfect sense. Like I said, I have limited experience in this type of stuff. Didn't mean to appear nosey but curiosity got the best of me. Thanks for the explanation.

 

[disykat]

I WISH we could disclaim my dh's inheritance. There are lots of reasons not to want to inherit.

In our case, we'll be owners of something we can't sell without royally screwing his sister. She lives next door. Essentially, we'll be responsible for taxes and upkeep on a piece of property in another state that we can't sell.

 

[Cruise]

I WISH we could disclaim my dh's inheritance. There are lots of reasons not to want to inherit.

In our case, we'll be owners of something we can't sell without royally screwing his sister. She lives next door. Essentially, we'll be responsible for taxes and upkeep on a piece of property in another state that we can't sell.

This has happened with us as well though, hopefully, my parents will still be with us all for many years to come. But when my sister decided to build a house 177 feet from their back door, we pretty much all came to the conclusion that we'd never be selling Mom and Dad's house even though the other two of us live between 2,000 and 3,000 miles away.

 

[disykat]

This has happened with us as well though, hopefully, my parents will still be with us all for many years to come. But when my sister decided to build a house 177 feet from their back door, we pretty much all came to the conclusion that we'd never be selling Mom and Dad's house even though the other two of us live between 2,000 and 3,000 miles away.

My FIL has been very clear that his property should never leave the family. DH will inherit it and he would never go against his father's wishes even if his sister didn't live there. I've suggested they leave it to her since she lives there. No one will agree to that. They claim that wouldn't be "fair." For some reason, they just can't see that owning property we can never sell in another state would be a liability to us not an asset. My hope is that one of her kids will want it. When DH officially inherits, I'm going to try to get him to leave it in HIS will to his sister and her heirs.

 

[Cruise]

My FIL has been very clear that his property should never leave the family. DH will inherit it and he would never go against his father's wishes even if his sister didn't live there. I've suggested they leave it to her since she lives there. No one will agree to that. They claim that wouldn't be "fair." For some reason, they just can't see that owning property we can never sell in another state would be a liability to us not an asset. My hope is that one of her kids will want it. When DH officially inherits, I'm going to try to get him to leave it in HIS will to his sister and her heirs.

LOL... his parents sound a lot like mine. They just sent us the second half of a cash payment for the equivalent to the assessed value of the land that they gave my sister to build on. They offered us the choice of the cash or a similar size piece of land. Like you, we felt like the land would only be a liability at this point, not an asset.

As far as keeping things "fair," my Mom even writes down in her day planner what she spends on each of us for our birthdays so she knows to spend the same amount on the others. Her way of making sure everything is "fair" between us all. I love her dearly, but I really wish she wouldn't stress herself out over things like that.

At least we know their intentions are good.

 

[Darcy03231]

I WISH we could disclaim my dh's inheritance. There are lots of reasons not to want to inherit.

In our case, we'll be owners of something we can't sell without royally screwing his sister. She lives next door. Essentially, we'll be responsible for taxes and upkeep on a piece of property in another state that we can't sell.

All you DH has to do is to sign the property over to his sister by doing a Quitclaim Deed. I've seen it done many times in these cases.

 

[seashoreCM]

I would think that there would be no significant cost to you if you want to not inherit an item. For example a time share vacation condo that comes with a personal obligation to pay the annual membership or maintenance fee. The item would then be up for grabs with the paperwork costs charged against the estate as opposed to against any heir or beneficiary.