(I originally posted this in family law, but I think it belongs here.)

My sister and I have agreed to a value for my fathers property (he died in 2000) of $50,000 plus the cash he had on hand of $1500 when he died, bringing the value of his estate to $51,500.00. I have secured a loan to buy out her share so I can put a new house on the property. The attorney sent her the agreement and a preliminary accounting of the estate. However, she now only wants to pay $650.00 of the expenses. I have paid all but $1500 of the $8300 in estate expenses our of my own pocket. My sister lives in another state, has no interest in the property and has not paid a dime toward any of the estate expenses. These expenses include: property taxes prior to 2002, electricity prior to 2002, burial fee, funeral home, attorney fees and an appraisal fee to determine property value.

1. I moved onto the property in 2002. Even though I did not include any property taxes (from 2002 until now), property improvement expenses or a personal representative fee to the estate, my sister believes that she is owed more rent. Do I have to pay rent on property that I own half of and am paying all the expenses?

2. She has been told by the estate attorney that if she does not agree with the accounting that she needs to hire her own attorney to petition the probate court, but she has done nothing. Can a time limit be put on her to make a decision regarding the estate?

Have you browsed through the information in LawInfo's Free Legal Resource Center to learn more about your issue yet? See: http://www.lawinfo.com/consumer.html and http://resources.lawinfo.com/en/index.html. You can certainly try to speak to a lawyer to determine what legal options may be available. In the meantime, you may be able to learn more on your own. Search the "Free Legal Resources" tab, or browse the Consumer Resources. Good luck.