My mother died and there is no estate. There is only one check that came to me (she lived with me and I had power of attorney) from her auto insurance company after she died, for a claim I initiated, because she was incapacitated. They will only reissue the check to "the estate of" or to an auto repair shop. I don't want to get the car fixed. There is no reason to open an estate just to cash this one check. She has no bank account. What can I do?
Whether the check is payable to your late mother or to her estate matters not, the only person who can legally negotiate it is the legal representative of her estate. At least you have the option of having the check reissued to an auto repair shop, but you appear to have already decided that getting the car repaired isn't something you want to do. The question now remains: What's the cost of opening the estate with the courts in your state, and is that cost and the hassle involved worth it, compared to the check amount?
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Whether the check is payable to your late mother or to her estate matters not, the only person who can legally negotiate it is the legal representative of her estate. At least you have the option of having the check reissued to an auto repair shop, but you appear to have already decided that getting the car repaired isn't something you want to do. The question now remains: What's the cost of opening the estate with the courts in your state, and is that cost and the hassle involved worth it, compared to the check amount?
