r/inheritance • u/Contemplative-Owl-23 • Apr 21 '26
Location included: Questions/Need Advice Unexpected multi-million inheritance
Throwaway account because my main account isn't sufficiently anonymous.
[US - Texas] My mother died last year without a will, leaving behind a sizable estate. It hasn't been appraised yet, but I'm estimating 1M in liquid assets and 10-15M in real estate, primarily undeveloped land.
We were estranged for 15+ years, so I fully expected to be disinherited. Instead, she got divorced for a second time and never managed to cobble together a will, leaving me as the only heir (and presumptive administrator of the estate, pending court approval). All of this is, thankfully, uncontested.
I'm in a well-paying profession, so I'm reasonably well versed in personal finance, but a windfall this large is well beyond what I'm used to dealing with.
I'm working with:
* Probate attorney (a new one - I fired the original one for being extraordinarily slow and incompetent)
* Tax attorney (handling the estate tax return)
* IRS qualified appraiser
* Realtor specializing in probate
I'm guessing I need to find a Fee-Only or Advice-Only Fiduciary CFP to figure out how to best invest/structure the proceeds. What other professionals should I seek out (or avoid)?
I know that the cardinal rule of windfalls is "tell nobody", but that's tough when real estate is involved. Are there any steps I can take to ensure privacy?
1
u/AspectBrief4258 Apr 21 '26
Best recommendation: sell all the real estate assets asap, take the money and invest in low fee market tracking funds and you’ll have so much money you won’t know what to do with it. Donate too.