3 ring circus

Warning - I may rant. I may rave.

My father died over a year ago. His estate consisted of a house (which I sold in May) and a pension plan. There is one legal heir : me. Sounds simple no?

Apparently not. The notary we are using came very highly recommended (by a few people). We are using her accountant. And still nothing is moving forward. One tells you one thing, the other another and they don't seem to be able to communicate.

The accountant says he needs my father's taxes to be completed before he can request an exception to me paying the non-residents taxes (I was a non-resident when the house was sold, and 6 months later we have yet to receive the money). The notary claims this is not true.

This afternoon I spent 10 minutes on the phone with the company holding the pension plan to find out the value of the plan on the day my father died. The notary told me there was a problem because the valuation is from the 30th, when Dad died on the 27th. I pointed out that he died on a Friday and that the funds were probably priced for the 30th (see, all those years at JPM were not for nothing). The investment company confirmed this.

I called the accountant. Told him this. He tells me that this is not the problem - that he told her that he needs the T4, which can not be issued until I have sent in a clamaint form. Which I received on Friday.

I give up. Honestly. I can't imagine how a difficult estate would be settled.

Next up - I am going to insist on sitting them down in the same room. With flow charts and a signed agreement on how we proceed.

Either that or a proposal on how much to charge for popcorn at this 3 ring circus.