Should I be paranoid about this home buyer?

[Lare]

If it’s specified in the will do you even have a choice? IANAL, obviously.

[Mama_Zappa]

@Alpha_Twit

Yeah, I wish it was that simple. All household goods and personal property have been amiably distributed and with the sale of the house, we’re down to the funds. At issue is the fact that three of us borrowed money from Dad over the years and never paid it back. Dad’s will recorded this debt and specifies that it will be factored into any final disbursement of the estate assets. By this formula, at least one of us will not see a dime.

Just how big of a fight do I want?

Oooouch.

As far as “have a choice” - if Dad predeceased Mom, and left it all to Mom, then his wishes have no effect at this time unless Mom also made similar provisions.

The ones who would be getting less of a disbursement might therefore fight it - costing everyone money, if they aren’t happy about the way it’s handled.

Best of luck getting it all sorted out :(.

A similar loan was a bone of contention (by the asshole brother, of course); Brother #1 and #3 were the co-executors. #3 lived very close to Mom and provided a lot of help to her in her final years. She loaned him and his wife money for a down payment on their first house - and the will said something like “forgiven, in lieu of any executor fees you may charge”. Or maybe it was a letter. For #1, the letter said “if you charge a fee, please put it toward the special needs trust for your son”.

Brother #2 threw a tantrum about the concept of any executor fees being charged, and he felt thsat down payment should have been deducted from #3’s share of the estate. Lots more bullshit as well.

[Inigo_Montoya]

On the flip side, my brother is set to be the executor. This will be interesting because for a while he was written out of the will, which left everything to me. But for the past 10 or so years Mom and I haven’t had many nice words for each other and he’s donned the mantle of The Good Son (lucky him). I really don’t care one way or the other if I see a penny, and I have no good memories associated with any of her stuff. Yeah, the money would be nice (and the estate represents life-changing money even split between us), but I’ll forego it all if it means having to endure her getting the last dig at me in the form of a will. As far as I’m concerned, she is HIS mother and I’m an orphan.

[Musicat]

It was so much simpler when my Mom died. Other than the house, which I already owned jointly with right of survivorship, she owned nothing else of value, and there were no other beneficiaries. I filed a decedent’s property release (years later, actually – what’s the hurry?) and we were done.