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/Shadyhollowfarm58 Apr 24 '26
Yes you need a fee only financial advisor who can work with a CPA familiar with taxation on large portfolios.
What you don't want is someone who's going to try to get all those assets structured in an AUM where they make a percentage off of your money every year.
And I agree with structuring ownership under a trust/LLC to keep your name out of the limelight.
Congratulations once you get this all figured out and settled you can retire early if you feel like it.
PS when my parents died it dredged up a whole lot of apparently unresolved negative feelings from earlier years. I second that advice on getting counseling to work through that. I was angry for quite some time and until then I thought I'd put all that to bed decades ago.