Washington Lawyer - January/February 2025 - 45

THE PRO BONO EFFECT
when a mortgage company initiates a foreclosure
proceeding, it will also petition to become
the estate's personal representative, Scheel
points out.
" As a creditor of the estate, [the mortgage company]
is an interested person, and it can petition
to become the estate's personal representative, "
Scheel says. " A family member, heir, or another
person designated by a will has higher standing
to serve in that capacity. The Cephas family was
in danger of having the mortgage company become
the personal representative and having
the house go to a foreclosure sale, losing a couple
hundred thousand dollars in equity. "
An abbreviated probate petition only takes a
few steps, Scheel says, but the standard probate
petition requires Cephas to submit a
memorandum explaining why he needed one.
Another obstacle for Cephas was that no one
in his family could find the original will despite
days of searching. Therefore, the standard probate
order indicated that Sylvia died without a
valid will, meaning the District follows its intestate
succession laws in distributing assets.
Scheel explains that if the original will, with the
signatures of the estate owners and witnesses,
cannot be found, the law presumes that the
testator destroyed it intentionally to prevent
the heirs from inheriting the estate. " A pro se
litigant would have to be able to draft an affidavit
that addresses all the court's concerns
about the will, why it should or should not be
admitted to probate, and why the person nominated
has not done so, " Scheel says. " Even for a
fairly sophisticated pro se litigant, that can be
very difficult. A lot of these rules are not necessarily
spelled out all that well in the actual court
rules. "
MAD RUSH TO GET IT RIGHT
Scheel assisted Cephas in properly petitioning
for a standard probate, which involved filing the
application, publishing a notice of the standard
probate, and sending out the notice to all the
heirs, the mortgage company, and other interested
parties so they could raise any objections.
" We were in a mad rush to get this together,
drafting documents correctly, " Scheel says,
adding that he and Cephas went through several
iterations before getting to a point where
probate could be filed in a way that the court
was likely to accept.
Within 60 days of filing the petition, Cephas
was required to file proof that notice was given,
and that all of the interested parties had acknowledged
a copy of the petition for standard
probate and notice, complete with certified
mail receipts from the U.S. Postal Service or another
carrier.
Failure to follow these meticulous steps means
the petitioner must restart the entire process,
Scheel says. " A lot of standard probate petitioners
stumble at that point, " Scheel says. " If they
get beyond it, the court will issue them letters
of administration, appointing them as the person
duly empowered to administer the estate. "
As of mid-December 2024, Cephas was still
waiting for the court to issue an order appointing
him as the new personal representative
for his sister's estate. It could take the court
a couple of months to issue, but at least with
Scheel's help, Cephas has successfully put a
hold on the home's foreclosure.
" We've got that under control, " says Scheel.
" We've notified the bank and the mortgage
company. They are just waiting for us to get to
the point where [Cephas] has letters of administration
so that he can wind up the estate and
pay off the mortgage. "
Currently the home sits empty. Cephas visits it
every Saturday to trim the lawn and check the
mail and the upkeep of the house. He says that
once the legal issue is settled, the family will
probably sell the house.
" There was a discussion with a couple of my
nephews, who said they wanted to keep it in
the family, " Cephas says. " But the back mortgage
payments have accumulated a lot. That
would hurt someone financially just to catch
up on the back payments. It could be done,
but my logic is just to sell the house. "
Still, Cephas is grateful for Scheel's willingness
to lend his legal expertise. " There is so much
that I do not know when it comes to probate
and all the legal ramifications about D.C. law, "
Cephas says. " Murray spoon-fed me everything.
Any forms that I had to fill out, he was right
there helping me prepare. His assistance relieved
a real big financial burden on me and my
family. "
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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2025 * WASHINGTON LAWYER 45
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Washington Lawyer - January/February 2025

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