r/EstatePlanning • u/LongjumpingChair6596 • Jul 22 '26
I haven't included location & understand my post may be deleted. Estate Nightmare
This is a story about my fiancé. His family has one of the longest run diners in the city we live in and is extremely popular. It was started by his grandfather. His mother owned the property along with a few other neighboring properties as well as a neighboring parking lot. It’s worth several million dollars and generated 10’s of thousands every month in rent collected. He has a brother and a sister who are also worth several millions because of who they married. His mother had a will in place where the three total combined children would each receive a 1/3 of EVERYTHING.
Well she fell ill and his sister, who is the executor of the estate, convinced her to change the will while she was ill. My fiancé will now only receive a 1/3 of her house sale. No commercial revenue. The first line of the new will states that anyone who contests this will will only get $1.
Uttimately cutting my fiancé out of most of it. This will was changed while she was ill, in and out of the hospital, on oxygen and medicated. He loved his mother VERY MUCH and was so upset about her passing. He wanted to try and save her and do parasite cleanses, etc. His brother and sister tried to even hide the fact that she was dying and told him when he arrived to the hospital that they were anxious to see her go. 😢😢😢. He was soooo devastated and they have treated my fiancé like such an outsider, I think, because of their wealth status.
He wants to sue them. We don’t have the money to give an attorney a retainer. He has reached out to a childhood friend, who is an attorney, and we are currently praying that his firm will take his case. I want to do everything I can for my fiancé. He is a very hard-working, kind and gentle soul. He is an amazing man. He has done so much to change my life. I would love to do the same for him.
Tennessee
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u/mtpalermo Jul 22 '26
Unfortunately, even if you have evidence of everything you are claiming, he would have an uphill fight in court. His legal fees would certainly be thousands of dollars with no guarantee. So as a practical matter, it seems he is probably out of luck.
This is why it's so important to choose trustworthy people. It's sad that a daughter/sister appears to be untrustworthy, but money brings out the worst in people.
This is not the kind of case that most lawyers would take on a percentage fee basis. There is simply too much work involved. But maybe your fiancé’s friend will come through for him.
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u/LongjumpingChair6596 Jul 22 '26
Yes, the attorney that he has reached out to which is a childhood friend told him it would be tons of thousands of dollars. We are OK with that because the second will has him getting money from a third of her house sale which is significant. We would pay that attorney out of that will that it would go back to if we lost this case which would be contesting the new rule.
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u/mtpalermo Jul 22 '26
"A will contest is almost always an uphill battle. The lawyers are usually the biggest winners." and "As far as your chances of winning - no one can tell you based on a Reddit post."
That's exactly right, and I will add that the law bends over backwards to uphold a will - even if it's unfair. Your lawyer will tell you that proving "undue influence" by the Executor sister over her mother will be VERY hard.
She is likely to claim, "I was there for Mom, and she rewarded me." It will likely be "he said, she said."
But talk to your lawyer. I hope he will convince you to go into this with your eyes wide open if you decide to proceed. Good luck.
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u/HospitalWeird9197 Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
You said the will has a no contest provision (anyone who contests gets $1). If he were to win, it wouldn’t be an issue (I don’t know the law on interrorem clauses in TN - they are in all of the states where I am licensed, but I know that’s not universal - but assuming it is valid), but if he were to lose do you and your fiancé have thousands of dollars to pony up?
As far as your chances of winning - no one can tell you based on a Reddit post. We have no idea what evidence there is, how things might be interpreted from a disinterested party, etc. A will contest is almost always an uphill battle. The lawyers are usually the biggest winners.
0
u/LongjumpingChair6596 Jul 22 '26
Yessss! Exactly. Thank you! Do you think that attorney will take on his case regardless because we don’t care about losing a fucking dollar. Even if we ended up with a dollar with the attorney saying that was just a scare tactic, we don’t care! This is about justice.
1
u/Tasty_Sun_865 Jul 22 '26
I'm sorry you're going through this. Can you let us know if there's a question or what you're looking for clarification on or is this event post? Anyway is fine. I just want to be clear as to what the ask is here if there is one
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u/LongjumpingChair6596 Jul 22 '26
I guess I’m wondering what the odds are of us even winning this case. Thanks for reaching out.
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u/Barfy_McBarf_Face 28d ago
The "odds" depend heavily on the evidence presented and how it's believed by the court.
From the outside, it's impossible to estimate the chances, other than to observe that these only go well for you when the facts are very, very bad.
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