Willie, I thought so too, but it's not really clear, and there are some other issues involved.
Typically those kinds of checks aren't released by attorneys w/o execution by all the plaintiffs, or a representative of them or of the deceased w/o that person(s) having signed a Waiver of Rights - at least that was the case for med mal and PI cases when I worked for law firms with those practice areas. All plaintiffs had to execute the Release and agree and acknowledge certain terms and conditions.
If he signed as PR for the deceased mother, he has obligations under the Will, as well as the Release, and may be in breach of them.
So the issue may very well be more than just not distributing the money but could speak to his handling of responsibilities in whatever capacity he accepted the funds, as well as breach of a Waiver of Rights if it provided AND required that he was obligated to distribute the funds to the heirs. He would have been acting on their behalf as well as in his individual capacity. More liability than might have been breached.
On the other hand, maybe he just hasn't settled all the claims of the last illness, although a year is plenty of time.
a year ago?????????????? lump sum ................. like Garden Artist said, checks do expire. Is there a photo copy of it? May I ask the name of the drug? ====================== Thanks, M88
Most commercial checks have expiration dates, such as 180 days from date of issue. The check may now be invalid and would require re-issuance, unless your brother deposited it but just hasn't distributed the funds.
Was there a suit? Who were the plaintiffs? Or was it just your brother, and in what capacity? If there was no suit, was your brother personal representative of your mother's estate? If so, have all the expenses of your mother's last illness paid?
What reason has your brother given for his failure to apparently cash or deposit the check and distribute the proceeds?
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Typically those kinds of checks aren't released by attorneys w/o execution by all the plaintiffs, or a representative of them or of the deceased w/o that person(s) having signed a Waiver of Rights - at least that was the case for med mal and PI cases when I worked for law firms with those practice areas. All plaintiffs had to execute the Release and agree and acknowledge certain terms and conditions.
If he signed as PR for the deceased mother, he has obligations under the Will, as well as the Release, and may be in breach of them.
So the issue may very well be more than just not distributing the money but could speak to his handling of responsibilities in whatever capacity he accepted the funds, as well as breach of a Waiver of Rights if it provided AND required that he was obligated to distribute the funds to the heirs. He would have been acting on their behalf as well as in his individual capacity. More liability than might have been breached.
On the other hand, maybe he just hasn't settled all the claims of the last illness, although a year is plenty of time.
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lump sum ................. like Garden Artist said, checks do expire. Is there a photo copy of it?
May I ask the name of the drug?
======================
Thanks,
M88
Was there a suit? Who were the plaintiffs? Or was it just your brother, and in what capacity? If there was no suit, was your brother personal representative of your mother's estate? If so, have all the expenses of your mother's last illness paid?
What reason has your brother given for his failure to apparently cash or deposit the check and distribute the proceeds?