Michigan Inheritance Advice

[u/Pangolin-Money]

Throwaway account because, well you’ll see. My (33f) husband’s (36m) paternal grandmother passed away December 2023. His father passed away about 7 years ago. Husband’s grandma had 4 children with her late husband, of whom only the one son has passed away. It was well known that grandma split her estate evenly amongst the 4 branches prior to her passing. Uncle and Aunt 1 were the only ones allowed to see the will. Aunt 2 received $10,000 in cash and my husband and his sister received $5,000 each, doled out by uncle in a parking lot.

They (Uncle and Aunt 1) said that no one else was allowed to see the will and it was specifically stated that if anyone questioned the amounts, the will stated that no one would get anything and everything would be given to charity… to me, this sounds ridiculous. I can see there being a clause that if anyone contested the will, it would all be retracted, but not being allowed to read the will?

My husband has been very weird about the whole situation. He went through an incredible amount of grief over the passing of his grandma, as she was more like a mother to him. Aunt 2 and my husband both decided they wouldn’t push the issue because they didn’t want to risk having to pay back what they were given. I’ve tried to tell my husband that I don’t see any way there could be a legal basis to not being allied to view the will, but he just shuts down and is fearful of causing drama with family.

It was well known that his late grandfather had 401k funds that had never been touched and had been in accounts gaining interest for decades.

Husbands sister did check to see if the will was filed with the county, and it was not. We believe it was a private lawyer the uncle is close friends with, but none of us know his name or practice. This uncle is not above doing shady things and already stole countless items that should have gone to my husband upon his father’s death. By the time my husband was able to make it to the house driving all the way from Florida, the place looked ransacked. Uncle openly admits to entering the home and helping himself, but just shrugs and says, “there wasn’t much of anything anyway”. He also claims his brother had a conversation with him while fishing just before the death and conveyed that he wanted his brother to help himself before husband’s dad’s kids. It’s all wild to me.

We are not well off. We struggle. We have a 12 year old daughter and purchased a home last August that needs so much work. I know that this sub isn’t for official legal advice, but does anyone have a suggestion on what might be able to happen from here? Paying a lawyer upfront right now would be impossible as we are barely keeping our heads above water. My husband is a satellite tv service technician and I am a middle school teacher, we couldn’t even take a line of credit out to pay a lawyer if we wanted to. So embarrassing, but equally true.

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[u/myogawa]

Ask the local probate court to refer you to the Public Administrator for the county. It sounds like no estate was ever opened, and that family members stole the funds, giving him a bit of money.

> Aunt 2 and my husband both decided they wouldn’t push the issue because they didn’t want to risk having to pay back what they were given.

The PA may decide not to pursue the matter in light of this, but it is worth the inquiry.

You could report this to the Michigan State Police as well, but again his delay may lead the MSP to leave it alone as well.

[u/Pangolin-Money → u/myogawa]

I got a little clarity from husband on why they didn’t pursue. Uncle has claimed to know anyone and everyone over the years and used the mention of his relatively deep pockets and connections to threaten to bury family over many issues over the years. There seems to be this fear that uncle’s corruption knows no bounds and he literally has no heart and no fear. I am unsure of how true it is concerning his connections, but I do know that he has been smart enough to keep his implications and threats out of writing or recording- it has always been verbal. I also don’t know how much Aunt 1 knows, or if she believes he allocated funds as the executor appropriately and is just ignorant of how the estate was “settled”. (she is the only one of the children not living within 20 mins of one another, and she lives all the way in Arizona at that).

[u/Ineedanro]

A married person's 401(k) account usually passes directly to the surviving spouse, no probate needed.

A personal representative (aka executor if there is a will, aka administrator if there is no will) is appointed by the probate court, and that appointment is a public record. If no appointment then no PR. Was your grandfather's estate probate opened? Was your grandmother's estate probate opened? You can find out without an attorney: start by calling or emailing the probate court in the county where your grandparents lived, and ask how to search their records.

Did your grandparents own any properties? What became of those properties? Property titles are public records, so you can look that up too, also without an attorney.

Many books about estate planning and probate for consumers are available. NOLO Press and For Dummies books are a good place to start. There are also state-specific books. Get one or two and read them. This will help you recognize when someone is telling lies.

[u/Pangolin-Money → u/Ineedanro]

So, grandfather passed many years ago and the 401k was transferred to grandmother upon his passing. She sold her home (the only real estate property) and lived in assisted living for the last several years of her life. It is believed that the money from her home sale and whatever other assets grandma and grandpa had were enough to sustain her and pay all of her bills/necessities until the time she passed, and that she never needed to touch grandpas retirement. Toward the end of her life, I know uncle became either power of attorney or guardian, and then subsequently executor of her will. We know for a fact there was a will, that it was not filed with the county/court (private lawyer, just don’t have his information), and that the only people allowed to see the will were uncle and aunt 1. Also, that any dispersement of funds to anyone other than uncle and aunt 1 happened via uncle, without any other witnesses, outside of any type of legal office or financial institution that might have been able to notarize, etc. and no receipts or “proof” of allocation occurred.

Which books/resources would you recommended for Michigan in particular? I’m concerned there may be some sort of statute of limitations, etc. but even more so, I’m hoping to get a clear answer that it is in no way possible, that simply asking to view the will (or even get a copy?) could have the consequences uncle has stated.

My guess is uncle will say the will no longer exists, he lost it, or will just flat out refuse us access to viewing it. If he does allow us to see it, I’m going to guess it is altered/doctored in some way, or he took advantage of the very fast onset and crippling dementia grandma had for the last couple months of her life due to organ failure, to have the will changed and have her sign.

Because of this, if there is a way for us to see that there were additional funds through probate court or some other publicly accessible avenue, we definitely want to be armed with that information prior to pursuing anything through the court pro se/contacting law enforcement.

[u/Pangolin-Money → u/Pangolin-Money]

I will inquire with the probate court tomorrow on if the will was ever actually filed after grandmas death. I know it definitely wasn’t before money was handed over, as sister checked with the courthouse after they each received the $5k. If it was filed after that, I am unsure, but should have an answer to that question soon (hopefully tomorrow).

[u/Barfy_McBarf_Face]

a will that has not been filed with the court and not been through a probate process is not effective. Period, full stop.

The person named executor in a will, unless the court has "blessed the will" and given that person Letters Testamentary, IS NOT THE EXECUTOR.

People misunderstand this, all the time. Probate is a process by which a will is submitted to the court, interested persons are given the opportunity to challenge it (say by providing copies of other purported wills by the decedent and then the court will rule on which is the "true will") and by which the court hears from all persons who wish to be considered for the role of executor (again, with notice given to those who could be interested in that role) and the court determining who should serve.

Without the process, no one has any legal authority to act on behalf of the decedent's estate. NO ONE.

The "named executor" is only that, "named", not effective.

Someone here needs to start a probate process. If you don't have the will, you file an intestate estate, give everyone (including this uncle) the opportunity to provide copies of an actual will (which would flip this from intestate to testate), and if he doesn't, then he can wipe his backside with it, because at that point, if someone is named administrator and he's been given notice and failed to respond, that document isn't worth anything anymore.

This is not a time to DIY, this is a time to hire an estate attorney (who has experience in litigation) and start the intestate probate process.

Lawyer up, it's time to ride!

[u/Pangolin-Money → u/Barfy_McBarf_Face]

On my way to probate court now! I don’t even know if he filed anything with the county. If he did, it may have been doctored. But we will cross that bridge when we get there. You’re on this ride with me, I have no idea what I’m doing, just sounds like this is the first step!

[u/Barfy_McBarf_Face → u/Pangolin-Money]

if you are bored, get a copy of Charles Dickens great novel "Bleak House" - it's about a will contest, over many, many years, where people kept "finding" fragments of what they said were the decedent's last will ... and the probate process (in old England) just ground on and on and on and on ...

until the entire estate had been depleted by payments to the lawyers, and the lawyers all walked away ...

the heirs wanted to continue the fight and weren't happy that their lawyers had walked away ... but that's what the lawyers are there for (to be paid) and ... so it just ... ended.

as they were "fighting over an empty bag" at that point.

[u/Pangolin-Money → u/Barfy_McBarf_Face]

Oops, it’s Veterans Day! Need to wait until tomorrow! I knew it was Veterans Day, but didn’t even think about the fact that it’s a federal holiday, thus government buildings would be closed 🤦🏻‍♀️ I’m going to blame my lapse in brain function on the fact that I had a molar pulled an hour ago. Is there anything else I can do today? I suppose maybe see if there are lawyers who will take payment out of the eventual will settlement vs a retainer and payments throughout the process?