KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE You can read all of our articles on our website. Having trouble getting our emails? Change your spam controls and white list ken@kirschenbaumesq.com ****************************** Death of Customer causes confusion October 27, 2021 *********************** Death of Customer causes confusion *********************** Ken Our customer recently died. We received a document from the Probate Court from the deceased customer’s daughter stating there wasn’t a will and she was being named Administrator. We then received a call from deceased customer’s fiancé stating there was a Will and that the daughter was not named executor. I called the fiancé’s attorney to inquire about a potential will, and he said they did receive a Will (after the daughter received Letters of Administration from the Probate court) that did in fact name someone else as Executor. The attorney believes the Will to be legitimate and that the daughter’s attorney seems amenable to that fact. However, everyone is on vacation, and so this won’t be settled for certain for a while. In the meantime, neither the daughter nor the fiancé are listed on the account, so we are effectively freezing it and not allowing any changes until an official court decision. Is that the best way forward or is there something else we need to be doing to limit our exposure? Anon ************************ Response ************************ Getting in the middle of an estate dispute is not something you want to do. Your question relates to your potential liability and there are a few areas of concern. You mention that you are waiting for “official court decision”. When there is no Will naming an Executor [called Personal Representative in some states] the Probate Court will appoint someone as the Estate Administrator. The Administrator steps into the shoes of the decedent, your customer. Your contract with your customer doesn’t terminate upon death [at least that’s not how the Residential All in One was prepared and sent to you]. The customer’s estate remains liable on that contract and the Administrator has the power to enforce that contract. If you received notice that an application for the appointment of an Administrator has been made then that’s different than notice that the Administrator was appointed. Seems like either an Administrator or an Executor is going to be appointed. Then you will know who you can treat as your customer. In the mean time you can continue to provide your services, though you can also stop if you aren’t getting paid. *********************** To order up to dateStandard Form Alarm / Security / Fire and related Agreements, click here: www.alarmcontracts.com ************************* CONCIERGE LAWYER SERVICE PROGRAM FOR THE ALARM INDUSTRY - New benefit just added - worth $75 per month - legal form letter sent to delinquent account on Kirschenbaum letterhead You can check out the program and sign up here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/concierge or contact our Program Coordinator Stacy Spector, Esq at 516 747 6700 x 304. *********************** NOTICE: You can always read our Articles on our website at ww.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-articles *********************** THE ALARM EXCHANGE
This area is reserved for alarm classifieds, alarm company announcements, solicitations, offers, etc. There is no charge to post a listing here.Include your contact information, phone, email and web site. If you would like to submit a post, please send an email to ken@kirschenbaumesq.com. To create a reciprocal link to our website, click here. ************************************************ Getting on our Email List / Email Articles archived: Many of you are forwarding these emails to friends or asking that others be added to the list. Sign up for our daily newsletter here: Sign Up. You can read articles and order alarm contracts on our web site www.alarmcontracts.com ************************** Ken Kirschenbaum,Esq Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum PC Attorneys at Law 200 Garden City Plaza Garden City, NY 11530 516 747 6700 x 301 ken@kirschenbaumesq.com www.KirschenbaumEsq.com
