Am I Failing My Fiduciary Responsibility If I Sell My Late Brother's Car to His Girlfriend At a Discount?
Location: Vermont
My brother passed away late last year without a will. As per Vermont law, his assets are to be split between our parents.
Our father helped pay for some funeral expenses but lives out of state and is not interested in being involved; our mother is in hospice with dementia, so I handle her care with the help of hospice nurses and oversee her finances through power of attorney.
I submitted a petition through probate and have been made executor of my brother's estate. The estate is small, so there was no court hearing, just direction to take care of his creditors. From the documents and talking to the probate clerk, as I understand it, I need to use the assets in my brother's estate to pay back the funeral expenses my father paid (~$3.5k), then pay off any remaining debts (~$1k in credit-card debt).
Because the estate was small, the only thing of significant value is my brother's car. The rest of his assets combined are only a couple thousand dollars, so it seems like I'll need to sell the car to get the money to pay back my father and pay off the debt.
The car is fully paid and the kelley blue book value was around $25k. This estimate was submitted to the court as part of the inventory for the estate.
Here's the complication - my brother's girlfriend is in need of a car and is interested in buying it. Although by law she isn't entitled to anything in the estate, I am grateful to her for bringing happiness to my brother in the last year of his life and I know my brother would have wanted her to have the car. However, she would not be able to pay the $25k.
I understand beyond paying back the funeral expenses and debts, I still have a fiduciary responsibility and any remaining money from the sale would be split between my parents. I haven't brought this up with my father yet, but he has expressed support for my brother's girlfriend and would likely be okay with selling the car to her below value to help her even if it meant less money going to him; my mother cannot consent, but I am acting on her behalf with power of attorney.
Would I be in violation of my fiduciary responsibility if I sold my brother's girlfriend the car below its value? Do I also have an obligation as my mother's POA to make sure she gets the most money possible from my brother's estate?