DEAR ABBY: My mother died recently. She was ill for five years and lived at home. Four of her adult children lived in the area. One of my sisters took it upon herself to set up Mom's medications and regularly take her to her many doctor's appointments. The rest of us did not ask her to do this, but it was a relief to know that she was able to do it for Mom.
Now that Mom has passed away, my sister has submitted a bill to the estate for $10,000 for "services rendered." Since the entire estate is worth only about $60,000, and the will states that everything is to be divided equally between all five children, the four of us feel her request is unreasonable.
How should we handle this? No matter what we decide, someone will be angry. -- MISSING MOM IN MINNEAPOLIS
DEAR MISSING MOM: Ask your sister how she came up with that figure. Investigate the current rates for home health-care workers in your area. You and your siblings should decide fairly among you how much your sister's efforts were worth, and reimburse her accordingly. (You may be surprised how reasonable her figure is!)