Assist Ryan with Andy Muench's Estate Closure

It has been 3 weeks since Andy Muench left us. Andy never married and had no children. His mother pre-deceased him and his father was estranged from him. Andy’s sole living relative is his half-brother (via their shared mother), Ryan Hall. Ryan lived near Andy at the time of the latter’s passing, and has been taking the lead on tying up Andy’s loose ends.

Unfortunately, there is a complication: Andy did not have a valid Last Will & Testament. Before he passed, Andy created a will online and printed it out for notarization and witness signatures, but these last steps were never completed. (For what it is worth, Andy intended to leave everything to Ryan.) Thus Andy is considered to have died intestate, which sends the affairs of his estate to probate under the laws of the State of Ohio.

Further adding to this complication is that under Ohio probate law, the legal next of kin is Andy’s father, estranged or not. Ryan spoke with Andy’s father at his nursing home, and the latter said he wanted nothing to do with Andy’s estate or closing things out. He is willing to sign over all claims and responsibilities to Ryan.

Adding to the tragedy is that Andy does not have much of value left in his estate. Ryan is not so interested in any residual value that Andy’s estate may hold as he is in closing out this last chapter in Andy’s life, bringing an administrative end to what Andy left behind.

Ryan will need to hire an attorney to shepherd him through the probate process, the retainer for which will likely be a few thousand dollars. Furthermore, there have been other costs involved, for which Ryan has already spent over $1000 of his own money. Ryan does not have the financial flexibility to keep this up, let alone pay for an attorney on retainer.

We have spoken with Ryan on several occasions and Ryan is not interested in any money beyond what is needed to close out Andy’s affairs. Ryan has pledged to contribute any excess funds raised beyond those needed to the Gary Sinise Foundation.

Any contribution, big or small, demonstrates our love for Andy and support for Ryan.

Organized by Tim Steckel and Jeremy Nathan