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Mr. Stankowski* died in 1990, leaving all his possessions to his widow. Five years later, Mrs. Stankowski died, leaving the estate to her seven children and four grandchildren. Her will named her daughter, Mary, as executrix. The estate included substantial cash assets, contracts in sales of real property, real estate holdings, coin collections, automobiles and other typical assets.
The family had, to say the least, an interesting past in Polk County, Iowa. Mr. Stankowski had been involved in various illegal activities, and several of the children had served time in prison. One was still in federal prison at the time of Mrs. Stankowski’s death. Small wonder, then, that the estate attorney took an especially close look at the accounts. Based on his inventory, he believed Mary was converting estate assets into personal use.
For additional corroboration, the attorney asked Tony G. Rees, of Taylor Rees Beckey, to review the documentation. Rees concluded that Mary had, indeed, been misappropriating assets, violating her duties as executrix.
Working with the estate attorney, Rees presented the relevant documentation to the judge. The judge removed Mary as executrix, and appointed Mr. Rees as the new executor. Using forensic accounting procedures, Rees and his firm accounted for the estate’s assets and determined what Mary had diverted for personal use. Mr. Rees also filed all federal and state tax returns, including delinquent returns.
Both the attorney and the court received a detailed accounting, allowing them to successfully close the troubled estate. Assets were then transferred to the appropriate beneficiaries – except Mary, whom the court ruled was not entitled to further distributions.
By using the adept resources of Taylor Rees Beckey, the estate attorney quickly brought an embezzling executrix to halt – and preserved the estate for its legitimate beneficiaries.
* For confidentiality, case names have been changed.
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