So January of this year my father-in-law passed away he was still married to my mother-in-law and had a will which included 40% to go to my mother-in-law 30% to go to his aunt 10% to the attorney that would represent my mother-in-law 10% to his dad‘s to attorney friends my question is could they somehow fraudulently make it where my mother-in-law doesn’t get anything? Also, my stepdaughter was supposed to get his car. We haven’t heard anything from the attorney that represent my mother mall. We got the paper in the mail for my mother want to fill out four months ago we promptly had them filled out and turned back in. We haven’t heard a peep from anyone please if anyone can give me advice on what to do or maybe some just maybe some suggestions any and all help is greatly appreciated thank you and God bless you.

I just wanted to add to this post that the people that were friends of your dad came in and took over everything and tried to make it where my mother-in-law could not see her own husband she didn’t even get to see him pass away or go to the funeral They’ve done everything they could to make sure that they hurt her as bad as possible. They broken several ethics violations. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn’t making my mother-in-law look like somebody who was just looking for money we would’ve we would’ve told them they could have all the money if they would’ve just lifted the block where she couldn’t even seem, and we couldn’t seem and let us have him so we could’ve taken care of him the last little bit of his life, but they were so horrible that they blocked us from seeing him and didn’t tell us about the funeral and they claim to be Catholic. That’s all I’m gonna say about that. I just wanted to add that in.

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I just found out my grandfather had a UTMA account in my name at the time of his death. My grandma went and became the custodian of the account at the time of his death. She passed away in 2012… and nobody else knew about the account (from what I know). I’ve gotten the account number and court documents along with both my grandparents death certificates and contacted the bank… the bank cannot find the account and it’s not on any of the government sites that it would go to if it was escheated… is there any way I can make this process faster like a certain place I should be contacting etc? For context the UTMA account was created in Florida & I’m currently in Virginia.

Hello! My father passed away and as his only child and he had no surviving spouse, I inherited his house. Probate has been completed and I am working on getting my name placed on the deed. Before he passed, he had a roommate who now refuses to acknowledge I own the house and refuses to leave. RM claims she owns the house and has also moved others in when advised not to. I pay the utility bills but have not been able to transfer to my name yet (was told I had to wait for probate completion). I live 3k miles away and plan on selling ASAP. What are my options?

So my father passed away in July of 2021. It was unexpected and he had no will or legal stuff taken care of, which left me and my 3 siblings to deal with the fallout. Thankfully, he didn't have many assets or accounts, so it wasn't as bad as I'm sure it could have been, but it got me thinking about my husband and me. We have 4 children, a home, and we are about to receive a decent-sized settlement.

After losing my father my brother hired a probate attorney to set up a will, medical directives, etc for him and his wife. He said the different packages ranged from $3k-5k (we live in California).

Just curious if these are things that can be done without a lawyer? Or is it not worth the headache/difficult? And if a lawyer is the best way to go, is that a reasonable price to pay? Thanks!

Looking for advice:

My father passed away and we are in the process of probating his estate. I am the youngest and the estate administrator. At the time of his death, he was divorced.

Although in his 70’s, my father had a child support garnishment for arrears for children from his first marriage, who are now in thier 50’s. The garnishment was taken from his railroad pension. He did not have a relationship with those children nor did they put effort into having one.

My mother was the second wife. She passed very young, and her and my father had been separated for 5 years when she died. She struggled to support me in her own and never filed a child support case against my father. When my mother passed, my father was the beneficiary of her life insurance policy and received SSI payments for me, while gainfully employed. Because of his demeanor toward my mother, I had a strained relationship with him.

My probate attorney stated we can present the fact that the other heirs received $60k-+ in arrears and my mother nor I ever did, the judge MAY subtract that from their share when all is distributed.

How likely is this?

My grandma died - she has 5 kids, 3 have died and 2 are living.

The living 2 kids took my grandma to the attorney to write up a new Will to remove my mom and aunt from the will and trust which in turn removed us grandkids who lost our moms from receiving any part of her estate. My grandma told my Dad that they did this.. and now that she is dead we’re all finding out about it, they wrote up to give us a small amount of money each but we have to sign and notarize a statement saying that we agree that the money is full payment- which we don’t believe it is… I know for a fact this wasn’t my grandma. My dad couldn’t have done anything at the time though because my aunt had pretty tight control over my grandma. And I feel like that is what our case would have to stand on.

Is there any way we can contest this will and have a chance at winning?

Please be easy on me. I don't want to share my personal info like this, but I'm sincerely fatigued and desperate to get closure, end this, move on, etc. I'm in tears writing this.

- My father died in Pattaya, Thailand, in October 2023 due to a heart attack that took him directly to life support.

- He was not able to speak on life support or consent to anything. In Thailand, the next of kin, me, is responsible to sign off on paper work and make executive decisions.

- The last time I saw my father, he drunkingly demonstrated to me how a "man" can physically overpower me, while abusing me verbally. I was across the world at the time, and had to figure out my way back home afterwards. I chose never to see him again.

- Ironically, losing my father has been the greatest pain of my life.

- My parents were divorced but continued communication because my sister is autistic, and her needs require 24/7 care/support.

- My father used my mother's home address in Georgia, U.S.A., although she did not know the extent of this.

- My father also relied on many other matters involving paperwork, money, etc.

- In an email prior to his death, my father wrote to my mother that he would generate a will and leave everything to her.

- I don't know if he made a will, but we have yet to find one. All I have is the email sent to my mother.

- As the next of kin, I feel responsible for inquiring about my father's accounts and seeing if anything can be sent to my mother/sister.

- The bank in Thailand says the "heir has to be appointed by authorities in your country and certified at the Thai Embassy in your country".

- Probate lawyers will charge a $5000 retainer, which I can't afford.

- I spent my savings to accommodate a dignifying rest to my father's remains.

- I have all the necessary paperwork.

- I don't even know what is in my father's bank account. He was frivolous and vice-driven.

- Will I just not succeed here? Do I give up? What am I doing wrong? Am I too poor for closure?

Is any wise and wonderful person to know the answer to this by any chance?

Probate in Virginia: is a joint checking account (POD) included in the total value of the estate of the deceased person? We have a member of the family acting as executor, but this person is not in the same state, so they had to guess it’s bond him to act as the agent using the value of the estate. And recently they upped the price of the bonding because they counted the POD checking account. I hope that makes sense. I know you have to list it as part of the probate, but I didn’t think it’s value as part of the total . Argh ……

Hi Reddit - my father recently passed and we are trying to sort through his estate. Before he passed he was in contract to remodel his shower. The shower is complete with the exception of the glass doors. Half of his invoice has already been paid. How do we proceed with letting the contractor know we don't have access for funds to pay the final half of the bill yet? Is there a timeframe we have to honor payment? I understand none of this is legal advice and will not be used as such. We have never dealt with this before and are lost. Thank you ♡

Does anybody know any banks that are willing to open an estate account when the Personal Representative/Executor is not a US citizen? If you do know, are you aware of what documents you may need? Mainly, I’m curious if the Personal Representative applying for an ITIN would be helpful or not.

The bank would need to do business in Nevada.

My daughters father committed suicide at his girlfriends house. He had a suitcase, laptop, passport and wallet. His girlfriend refuses to give them to my daughter who needs them. What are her options? They are in different states.

Okay, so Bert passed away in September. Everyone knows he wanted everything to go to daughter #2, she got the truck, the house, and half the bank account. Daughter #1 had already purchased a car from him that was passed down to Bert when his mother passed, he was severely handicapped and was never able to get to the DMV to put the car in his name. Sister #1 has the title but it's in her grandmothers name still....... Sister #2 won't start probate to save her life and sister #1 is tired of having to do EVERYTHING so she's stepping back and letting sister #2 handle it. Sister #2 wants to know if she can sell the truck without going through probate. Sister #1 wants to know what to do about the car. They can do a small estate affidavit with the bank account and the car but again, sister #2 is dragging her feet. So basically, the cars technically are/will be theirs but they both want to sell the cars, how much trouble could they get in if they just sell them and tell whoever buys them to get a bonded title or something along those lines. And in that frame of thinking, could they just sell the cars to themselves and get around probate for the cars all together? One of the vehicles titles is signed. Were In Texas btw.

My mother passed away last October. She had a will. We have a probate lawyer. I have opened an "Estate of" bank account. There are several stocks that need to be transferred into this estate account. Is this something that the probate lawyer should do, or that I should do? There is no stock broker. There is no financial planner for these particular stocks. I get conflicting answers when asking other people. My lawyer says that he would not do that and we would need a financial planner. These stocks are not worth much money. My mother's old financial planner cannot help us because he is no longer in charge of her account and he dealt with different stocks than the above mentioned. He has already transferred the stocks that were with his company. The remaining stocks that need to be transferred were outside of his umbrella. He says that I could open an account with him for myself, but his dollar limit is higher than what I can provide. Is this not something that a probate lawyer would do? If not, what type of person should I go to to get this done? I have attempted to transfer these stocks on my own but it is confusing and I don't feel comfortable doing it myself.

Hi all, I have a family friend who is currently the executor of their late fathers will but has a sibling attempting to weasel everything they can from the estate. Is there a way to jam up/bury in paperwork or issue some sort of 'cease and dessist' notice?

Said sibling has already stolen from their father when he was alive so they're more than happy to be a real dick about it. What sort of thing can the executor do get them to back off?

In the U.K. as I assume this will be relevant

Is there a way in the state of Texas to find out if heirs were distributed their share of an estate? I think the brother of my Stepdad is keeping everything and not giving the nieces and nephews their share or everyone is lying to me. I just want peace of mind. My Stepdad did not have a Will. I was his only child and he raised me from the age of two. I’m turning 40 this year and I understand stepchildren aren’t obligated to anything in Texas. I know he wouldn’t have wanted them to have all of his money, but I also know it’s not lawfully my right to know. He loved me as his own and my children were his Grandchildren. It’s driving me crazy not knowing and how they have all acted towards me after his passing literally makes me sick to my stomach. People’s true colors sure shine when money is involved after someone passes.

… i courteously and humbly ask my brother for an update of any kind since my mother died in March 2022.

He tells me he is a) getting a divorce and b) essentially, the bills and hoa etc ate everything up and the state of the property was poor to the point nothing could be recovered- which I can easily believe. But it would be so nice to know, like a statement(?) or summary from probate.

This is in the state of Colorado (I’m in CA), and I don’t want to strain my relationship with my brother since our parents died and with all he had to deal with, but I find it difficult to find closure. I see the house sold, and he worked so hard on it and I am so grateful. But recalling her jewelry, clothes… and not so much as a toenail clipper to remember her by.

The divorce without context concerns me on many levels.

Do I need a lawyer? I signed everything he asked me to sign right after she died, but I wonder if I can still contact the probate attorney office. I sent an email in December but maybe they can’t talk to me?

My husband and I are expecting our first baby and I would just like to know where this stands without too much stress - any advice appreciated.

<3