Thanks for the correction. I was indeed confusing the terms.
Having caught up, I agree with **phouka **and Crazyhorse.
rebeccasrevenge, if the probate judge handed down a summary judgment that your sister gets 1/3 of the house, 1/3 of the estate, whatever was in the ruling, you’re up against a wall here. Settle the estate as quickly AND CLEANLY as you can. You are NOT going to enjoy dragging out the legal proceedings.
After the estate is settled, I suggest what my brothers and I wanted to do with a certain inheritance several years ago: Spend every last cent of it by splurging in whatever way gives you the most joy.
And one more item.
The thread title includes the phrase “equal to what she’s done to me”. I have not seen the OP discuss how the sister screwed over the OP. What I’ve seen is bitterness from the OP towards the sister.
If this is accurate, then logically the amount of screwing over that the OP should commit is exactly zero.
I’m assuming the “screwing” is the sister using her legal right to get her lawful share of the inheritance.
Message to rebeccasrevenge: If there was no (valid) will, your mother is the one who screwed you over. Now her decree that you not let your sister get a dime of the inheritance puts your own share at risk, as you may face legal penalties if you mishandle this as the executor.
Ferret Herder, given available information reported by the OP, I agree with you. I am willing to change my opinion should the OP present additional details.
Not that my opinion matters in the face of a court ruling.
IANAL
A friend of mine was in a similar situation in Maryland. He was still living in the house, and really wanted to stay there, but couldn’t qualify for a loan for the full value of the house.
The judge allowed him to buy out his cousin’s interest at a very reasonable monthly payment, no interest.
It’s not perfect, and sending her money each month woudl certainly be grating. But if your real goal is to stay int he house, 1/3 of fair market value in today’s market is goign to be one helluva deal. If someone offered you the house next door at similar terms I’ll wager you’d jump at the chance.
Who was the lender? The judge? A bank? The cousin? The estate?
If you’re going to ignore the legal judgement and your legal responsibility as executor, you may as well get back at her by slashing her tires, or leaving bags of flaming poo on her doorstep.
Even if there’s no actual conspiracy, you’ll still be in a world of hurt if you maliciously screw up the estate.
I’m surprised the judge did not replace her as executor. More likely, if ma’s been dead 5 years, she settled the estate incorrectly, closed everything off; the judge is now correcting the error of the incorrectly divided estate.
The only saving grace is that (she claims) she’s following her mother’s wishes on the estate. However, as pointed out repeatedly, no will means no wishes to follow and 3-way split is the only action allowed. I’m surprised there’s no back interest to be paid too.
For what it’s worth, I clicked on this thread just after reading the Pit thread called “My selfish little brat of a sister.” The OP there is an 13-year-old boy who is mad because his 11-year-old sister has a faster computer than his, but she won’t let him play games on it as often as he wants to.
So that’s where my head was at when I saw this thread’s title. After reading this one, it’s clear that the OP here is older than 13… but I have yet to see evidence that she is any more mature than the other thread’s OP.
Seriously, grow up. Split the estate 3 ways and get on with your life.
Jeez.
That’s my feeling on it, too. We don’t know anything close to the whole story of course, but three siblings and no will means the estate should have been divided up three ways. Rather than trying to figure out ways to mess with my sister, I would be consulting a lawyer about the easiest, quickest, and cheapest dismount from this situation for me.
It might take a long time to sell the house. So your sister will have to wait. If she gets desperate, she might deal.
Since it’s your sister, you may know her SS number, certainly her address, mother’s maiden name, and many other personal details. You don’t want to steal her identity, just ruin it. Cancel all her credit cards and utilities. Report all her credit cards and bank cards as stolen. Make calls in her name to suicide hotlines. Tell Jehovah’s Witness you (as her) want to see the light. File a tax return for her showing lots of income. If Mom is paying attention she’ll understand if you settle the legal matters and Sis still doesn’t profit in the end. If Mom doesn’t understand that, you can’t count on her anyway. She could just start haunting you for no reason.
This is a great way to get yourself into a world of trouble. A lot of what you are advocating may still count as fraud depending on your local state laws.
**rebeccasrevenge[/B, you say that you were the executrix. Was there a will that was probated? What did the will say? The reason I ask is that where I am, executor or executrix implies that there was a will. If the person was intestate, an administrator for the estate is appointed.
You mentioned that there was summary judgment. I am assuming that a suit was filed and that based on your response and discovery, the court held that as a matter of law, your sister would prevail, correct?
If the quitclaim was signed when she was of sound mind, then I would hope a judge would recognize that it was valid even if there was a typo (what was the nature of the typo, by the way?).
Did you mother leave any kind of will? If so, you’re bound by that regardless. If not, then I suspect by law 1/3 of the estate passes to each of the 3 children (or their heirs).
I’m not sure, but the quitclaim might have needed to be filed with the proper authorities PRIOR to your mother’s death. But if the quitclaim was valid, that 1/3 doesn’t apply.
Bottom line: an initial consult with a lawyer shouldn’t prove too costly.
Is your sister (half sister?) actually in on this lawsuit? Sounds like it’s her father who is pushing things. You might consider talking to your sister about it if possible.
Oh - and an option, assuming you’re living in the house and want to continue doing so: can you buy out your sister’s portion? Pay her 1/3 of the value of the place - either the current value, or the value as of your mother’s death (I suspect the law would say the greater of those two figures).
RIght. I should have put a disclaimer on it. Those are things you could do, but shouldn’t, because they are illegal. The question was in the form of “How can I…”, so I was only describing a hypothetical course of action, not one to be actually implemented under any circumstances :smack:
Do not advocate illegal activities on the SDMB.
Gotcha. Apologies.