Maybe I’m missing something, but it seems to me if the 5 acres was deeded to your father years ago, then your grandfather’s estate only had 25 acres to be divided among his children. Why would anyone believe that 5 acres your father owns is part of the estate? Nobody would believe that if we were talking about a cash gift made 20 years ago.
Ah, sorry Cazzle…for some reason I didn’t see your previous post about A/Possesion and thought I was being terribly clever about bringing it up this far into the thread.
Just call me Redundant Rob…
What Doreen said. Your “clarifying” post where you talk about the deed muddies the issue.
Do they have property taxes in the state where your granddad lived? If so, who paid the property taxes on that five acres for the past twenty years?
Does your granddad’s will state “thirty acres will be divided equally among my three children”? Or does it state "My landed property will be divided equally among my three children?
If your dad was paying the property taxes, ISTM he’s got a pretty good case that your granddad only had 25 acres to bequeath, regardless of what numbers are in the will.
Disclaimer: IANAL.
Just avoid being clever- we think someone is using your account 
Oh, we are very wry tonight aren’t we Cicero!
IANAL, but it sounds like something can easily be done. If your dad already has a claim and a deed to 5 acres, then those 5 acres are no longer even part of the estate.
If the will specifies that the property will be equally divided among the children, then your dad will get 1/3 of what’s left.
What does the will say? Why is this even a problem?
What do you mean nothing can be done? The 5 acres is your dad’s not the estates, and really shouldn’t have anything to do with the disposition of the estate. The estate is 25 acres, jointly owned, they should just sell the 25 and split the proceed 3 ways. Seems pretty black and white to me.
Two Aussies, two references to Adverse Possession… I’m worried we’re living up (down?) to some kind of squatter stereotype. Crikey!
And to the OP, I would like to add that your father’s claim to the land would be even stronger if he has built a house on it, particularly if he built more than 15, 18 or 20 years ago (depending on the Adverse Possession laws in your region). He really should consult a legal professional in his area about this, because it might make an irrelevancy of proving that the land was given to him. That’d stick it to the Aunts!
This is what I stopped by to say. Talk to a lawyer and find out who’s the boss. If there is a lot of squabbling, I think the state can appoint an executor to save people from themselves. Not sure, but a lawyer can tell you what the laws are in that state. Good luck.
What Cazzle said. once a house is built on such a property, the claim to ownership under the precepts of Adverse Possession are even greater from a legal POV.
Get a lawyer, and make sure your grandad’s dying wishes (at least to some extent) are accomodated with the division of the assets.
Why would he need adverse possession if he’s already got the deed to the 5 acres?
Exactly. It sounds as though the Dad has not contacted a lawyer. I’ll be damned if I can figure out why that is.
What do you mean tonight?
Oh, orright, you’re clever and snarky ALL the time.
I bow before your wit and wryness oh Great Cicero.
That better? :D:D
Yeah, this is unfortunate, but since your Aunts are being moneygrubbing who–errrr, um, moneygrubbing not-so-nice people, there really isn’t any other way to treat this than a business relationship (although the “business” is not run for profit, it has expenses). Your dad is in business with two other people who are screwing him over.
At the least, he should probably document all his past expenses to the extent possible and DEFINITELY his future expenses. And yeah, a lawyer may be necessary.
As far as old bills, there must be other ways besides a receipt to show the purchase. Perhaps the retailer kept a record you could get a copy of? Or you could get the old credit card bills. I would think you also could just show the purchase was made, and then show in whatever way you can that it couldn’t have cost less than X amount of money…
Lots of good - and accurate - info so far.
If your dad has a deed, he owns the 5 acres. Well, there could be issues regarding consideration, whether the deed was recorded, etc., but he ought to be in pretty good shape there.
Since he is executor, he can incur reasonable expenses to maintain the estate.
On both of these matters, he would do well to consult an attorney.
And yes, as has been mentioned several times already, all too often deaths/estates bring out the owrst in families.
Tell your dad to fake a fall off the roof.
Present a bill to the estate for $800,000 in medical bills.
It would be more accurate to say not in all states. In general, yes- although if he’s the executor of the estate he would have to establish that he’s actually maintaining his five acres as his own rather than in his capacity as the executor.
Fencing it off from the rest (if it isn’t already) would be a good idea.
And I absolutely second the advice to lawyer up. I bet his sisters will shortly anyway.
Because most people are lazy greedy children or naive trusting fools?
Because they make choices based on emotion and a sense of entitlement instead of reason, logic and point of law?
Why would **newcrasher’s **grandfather not put anything in writing? Who the fuck just gives away land on a word and a handshake? I’m buying some property now and I have like 20 pages of contract to go through!
And maybe the sisters don’t WANT to maintain the property. They are well within their rites (local zoning laws withstanding) to just let their shares go back to nature and then sell the land to a developer at some later date.
That’s the problem with expecting people to split stuff. Everyone has their own idea of how it should be used and everyone thinks the other person is a jerk for not going along. That is why you need clear ownership. People who own stuff can do as they please with it and are not beheld to other people’s emotional appeals.
My advice is to get a lawyer so your dad and everyone else clearly understands their rights and options.
Honorably, but not rationally. The best solution IMHO, is to get a lawyer, figure out everyone’s rights to the property and come to a settlement that everyone can agree to. Otherwise what will happen is you will get into these emotional appeals and retroactive dealmaking (“I’ve been mowing the lawn for years…you guys should buy the new mower…what’s that now?”) that leaves everyone bent out of shape.
Old people. And people who assume that their kids didn’t grow up to be assholes.