Where there's a will...how soon should I lawyer up?

So my stepdad died about 3 months ago. His bio son is the executor of the will. According to my stepdad (of 43 years btw) his will was meant to be split 5 x ways equally between my two sisters and I, his son, and his granddaughter (his daughter died app 12 years ago).

So, haven’t heard diddly squat from step-brother since the death. Step-dad’s house is now on the market but there’s been no communication since ‘probate’ was granted. This would mean there are other assets that can now be distributed to those in the will, but yeah, nothing, nada from (I shall call him) John.

Now John is (according to family lore) a bit of a shyster, having borrowed many hundreds of thousands of $$ from his dad a few years back and never returning it. I’ve also been warned that John may try to exclude my sisters and I from any inheritance, but I’m not too sure of how credible those allegations are.

Anyway, I sent John an email today, requesting a copy of the will. How long should I wait before response, and how quickly should I engage a lawyer if things look like going pear-shaped?

Oh, PS, John is a lawyer himself. A CRIMINAL barrister, but a lawyer nonetheless.

Right……now. Get a lawyer now. At least have a consultation before you send any other communications.

Agree. Do it yesterday.

Ok, so just got a copy of the ‘will’ back from stepbrother, and FIRST THING IN THE MORNING, I am so lawyering up, you won’t see my arse for dust! :smiley:

House is advertised at $590k. My sisters and I are getting $20k each according to the will. DESPITE my mother contributing $$ to the upkeep of the farm and the house that followed. I am SO FUCKING SHITTY at the moment, I am bereft for words. FUCK.

Oh man. Good luck.

Absent concrete evidence of another will or evidence this one is fraudulent or coerced, you’ll be trying to climb a very steep cliff to get this will thrown out or “adjusted” by a probate judge.

Yes, do all you can reasonable stand to do, both emotionally and financially, to right the wrong you see. But my advice is to not let your hopes get ahead of the (bad) facts against you.

Good luck. Seriously, not snarkily.

Why do you put the word will in quotes? Do you have reason to believe it is invalid?

My wife and one of her sisters got disinherited by their dad (bigamist w/ 2 families.) It REALLY sucks, but it is permissible if done correctly.

But sure, have a lawyer look it over and advise you. Sorry this is happening to you.

It doesn’t matter what your step dad told you over the years. His will is what rules. So unless you can prove that the will you have a copy of is bogus, you’re shit out of luck.

This.
Unless your State laws make additional provisions.
Lawyer up yesterday.

Do you want to spend your $20K on a lawyer? Unless you think the will is fraudulent, not just unfair, your stepfather had the right to distribute his assets as he sees fit.

StG

Is the date of the will before or after when he told you there was a 5-way split? If the will has a law firm, contact that firm and see if there’s a newer will. But if the will is current and valid, it’s not really going to be worth it to fight it. It won’t matter what stepdad said. If the will says $20k, that’s that. You can spend a lot of money to fight it, but you’ll have virtually no chance of winning.

This.

If there’s no newer will from the law firm that prepared the will you got (assuming there’s something there that identifies the firm), and there’s no real evidence (other than what your stepfather told you, which will count for nothing by itself) that the will you’ve received is fraudulent, then all you can do is grit your teeth and accept that the 20K is all you’re getting.

Sorry that this situation royally sucks.

Seriously consider how much $ you are going to spend chasing what you think ought to have been left to you. In our instance, one of my wife’s sisters (the one who WASN’T disinherited) hired a lawyer to see if they could uncover any assets. The lawyer burnt through the retainer and then told the sister there were no assets the sister could recover.

I’m far from expert in probate matters, but you could either contest the will, or request an accounting of the assets in the estate. First of all, imagine that whoever had access to the property has squirreled away any personal property of value - cash, gold, stamps, collectibles… So those are gone. Second, you will have to discover how all of the assets are titled. My FIL put various property in trust, or titled them to his other family. As such, they do not go into his estate.

Finally, consider the emotional implications - both on you and the rest of the family. I readily admit that the realization that a parent/stepparent treated you poorly does not go away. But will the long term feelings be better or worse from a court battle. It doesn’t sound as tho you are close to the stepbrother. Just realize how ugly things coul dget if you pursue this.

In our situation, I am very confident that we got screwed - both by the asshole FIL and his 2d wife who I suspect did any matter of underhanded things. But my wife and I decided we were fortunate that we were financially comfortable such that we did not need the dead asshole’s , and we did not want to go through the emotional turmoil that would be involved in trying to claw at some .

If your situation is similar to my wife’s, I can assure you that she is more bothered by the fact that her father treated her unfairly, than by the loss of any $. I have no desire to make you think ill of your stepfather, but if he wanted to leave more to you and to respect your mother’s contributions, he could have done so. That he failed to do so suggests either ill will or carelessness - neither of which creates good memories.

Sorry for your situation. And anyone reading this thread, please don’t be careless or sloppy in your estate planning. And if you INTEND to cut someone out of your will, realize the unpleasantness that action will engender.

Thanks for all the advice (and commiserations) folks. After sleeping on it, yeah, it will be pointless to pursue this legally, and I don’t have any money to splash around on lawyers either.

Turns out my two sisters and myself will get a meagre pittance (in terms of the total assets of the will) with the remainder being held in trust for the step-brother’s kids until they hit 25 or whatever. It sucks, but whatchagonnado?

But again, thanks. Much appreciated.

My mother made me executor of her estate. Since it wasn’t an even distribution (some siblings had borrow a lot of money in their adulthood, which effected their amounts), before I’d agree to do it, I made her discuss with all my siblings what the will contained and why. I told her she would be gone, but these would be my siblings for the rest of my life, and I didn’t want anything to ruin our relationship.

StG

When property or money is involved you should ALWAYS lawyer up. That is what they do, what they are paid for, and why they are needed.If the other party already has a lawyer, you need your own to keep him honest.

That was smart.

I’m Soooo glad my mom split everything evenly, and told us in advance that’s what she was going to do. No surprises. No hard feelings. Being the executor sucks, but at least I don’t have bitter siblings.

Not much you can do, if that’s how he decreed that the assets be divided, and the will is valid. That’s not your stepfather’s son’s fault, it’s your stepdad’s.

FWIW, the grandkids getting the stuff in trust is a pretty normal way of avoiding taxation- there are what are called generation skipping trusts, where the kids don’t get squat, but the grandkids do.

Unless the estate is greater than $11.7 million, which from the OP, this doesn’t sound like the case, the tax exempt piece makes no difference. FIL may have been hoodwinked by an estate attorney for paying for something that he didn’t really need.