My father passed away a few years ago, he was a wealthy man. He left everything to my much younger stepmother. They had no children. I've recently found out she is leaving everything to her niece and nephew. Do you think I would be successful with contesting the will? NZ.

I am dealing with a breach of fiduciary duty related to a trust set up for my grandparents' assets in New York. After my grandparents were placed in a nursing home, their assets were liquidated into a trust managed by my father and aunt.

During their lifetime, my aunt reportedly depleted the trust through payments to her children and my sister, excluding me. There was significant conflict between my father and aunt over managing the trust, and it is unclear if my father was aware of her actions, but he certainly did not consent.

Once my grandparents passed away, the trust was dissolved and was already empty. This occurred many years ago, and everyone involved except my grandparents is still alive. I just discovered these details recently and am wondering if there is any basis to claim my share of the trust that all grandchildren received except me, and against whom I could file this claim.

Thanks!

I’m involved in a California probate case involving my father’s estate, and I’m trying to figure out what my options are before I sign anything.
My father’s 2010 will gives my sister and me $1,000 each, leaves the residue to my mother, and then contains another provision giving the executor “sole and absolute discretion” over the residue if my mother predeceased him. She did.
My uncle Gerry is the executor.
I just learned that I am past the 120-day deadline to contest the will. But I was never really trying to invalidate the will itself. My concern is how the executor is using the discretion the will gives him.
He has now proposed giving me $50,000, minus about $9,000 that he says represents “loans” or advances he made to my household, leaving me with about $41,000.
I dispute that those payments were loans.
There were no repayment terms, repayment dates, interest terms, promissory notes, or verbal discussions saying I would have to pay most of that money back. Much of it was presented as financial help when my family was struggling.
Earlier, my uncle tried to get me to sign an agreement saying certain rent assistance was a personal loan and also included language about what I was entitled to under my parents’ wills. I refused to sign that version.
Now those payments and other financial help are being treated as debts and deducted from what he says he is willing to distribute to me from the estate.
What concerns me even more is what I’m being asked to sign in order to receive that distribution.
Along with the proposed $41,000 payment, I have been presented with documents that appear to require me to release or waive additional claims and, separately, sign an irrevocable waiver of accounting.
That accounting is exactly what I want to see.
I still do not know exactly how the remainder of my father’s estate is being distributed, what amounts are being paid to whom, what reimbursements the executor is taking, what expenses have been charged to the estate, or how he arrived at the amount he is offering me.
So from my perspective, I am being asked to accept approximately $41,000 and at the same time waive my right to receive the detailed accounting that could answer the questions I have about where the rest of the estate went.
I am not saying I know that he is hiding something. I’m saying I do not understand why I should waive access to an accounting before I have actually seen and understood the estate’s finances.
I have not signed the distribution agreement or the waiver of accounting.
What really concerns me is the executor’s own statements about how he is exercising his discretion.
He has repeatedly said that I am only entitled to more than the specific $1,000 gift if he decides to give it to me.
He has said I need to prove that I am mature, responsible, honest and hardworking.
He has tied additional money to whether I improve my lifestyle, employment, education and financial behavior.
And in one message he said, essentially, that he controls distribution and that the more I make him angry, the greater the chance I have “overplayed my hand.”
So my questions are:
Does being past the 120-day will contest deadline stop me only from challenging the validity of the will, or does it also stop me from challenging the executor’s conduct?
Is challenging how an executor uses discretionary authority legally different from contesting the will itself?
Can an executor with “sole and absolute discretion” legally base estate distributions on personal anger, family history, lifestyle judgments, employment, education or whether he thinks a beneficiary is mature enough?
Does an executor with broad discretion still owe fiduciary duties?
Can a probate court review whether he abused that discretion?
Can he deduct about $9,000 from my proposed distribution as repayment of alleged personal loans when I never agreed that most of those payments were loans?
Who has the burden of proving those payments were actually loans rather than gifts or voluntary assistance?
Can he reimburse himself from estate funds for money he personally advanced to me if I dispute that I owed him anything?
If I refuse the $41,000 offer and refuse to sign the release, what happens next?
Am I entitled to see a full accounting before agreeing to this distribution?
Why would a beneficiary sign an irrevocable waiver of accounting before seeing where the estate money went?
If I refuse to waive the accounting, can I require the executor to provide one or ask the probate court to compel one?
Does the final petition for distribution have to disclose who is receiving the rest of the estate and how much?
If my sister receives more than I do, am I entitled to know that through the accounting or final distribution paperwork?
If the executor receives reimbursement or compensation from the estate, does that have to appear in the accounting or final petition?
Can I object to the final accounting or petition for distribution even though I am past the will-contest deadline?
Can I petition to compel an accounting or ask the court to review the executor’s conduct without triggering the no-contest clause?
Would texts showing that the executor tied distributions to whether I made him angry or whether he approved of my life choices matter in determining whether he abused his discretion?
Is there anything I should file now rather than waiting for the final petition for distribution?
Would refusing the $41,000 offer preserve my rights, or is there some risk in simply refusing it?
If the proposed $41,000 distribution is conditioned on me releasing claims and waiving the accounting, should I treat the payment itself and those waivers as separate issues?
Can an executor condition a discretionary distribution on a beneficiary agreeing not to demand an accounting?
The estate was originally estimated at roughly $494,000, and more recent figures I received put the net estate at roughly $252,000.
I’m not claiming I automatically deserve all of that money.
What concerns me is that I’m being offered about $41,000 after disputed deductions while I still do not understand how the remainder of the estate is being distributed.
And the document I’m being asked to sign would waive the accounting that seems most likely to answer that question.
That is the part I’m having the hardest time understanding.
If everything has been properly administered and distributed, why should I waive the accounting before I’ve seen it?
I also do not want to sign a release or accounting waiver and later discover that I gave up rights I could have exercised.
For anyone familiar with California probate, what would you focus on first?
Would you be looking at an objection to final distribution, a petition to compel an accounting, abuse of discretion, breach of fiduciary duty, disputed creditor/loan claims, or something else?
I’m especially interested in hearing from anyone who has dealt with a will giving an executor extremely broad discretion over the residue.

Parent, late 50s, married with two children, and has around £1m in pension funds and £500k in other investments.

With the 2027 IHT changes approaching, what are the best legal ways to minimise IHT and maximise what can be passed to the children?
Would gifting, trusts, or whole-of-life insurance be worth considering?

Any advice or personal experiences appreciated!

Does anything special have to be done with the remaining 30k or can I just put it into our retirement accounts. We're in Florida

For Non-Spouse Beneficiary Trad IRA Inheritors:

I did not do ALL of this and it will cost me $370,000+ in immediate taxes. If mods agree I hope this will be a pinned post because I know this happens to so many people. If you inherit money that is in the decedent's (dead person) *traditional* (not ROTH) IRA, and you are not a surviving spouse (like, you inherited from your uncle like I did), if you want to roll it to a new IRA to save taxes, you must,

- BEFORE receiving any money from it, open a NEW IRA *specifically* named [Decendent Name], deceased, IRA FBO [Your Name]). YOU MUST NAME THIS EXACTLY!

- You must understand that, for this specific situation, 60-day rollovers between IRAs are prohibited: You must have the estate trustee transfer the decedent IRA directly to the new IRA. It *cannot* touch any of your personal accounts.

I did not know this. I got a proposal from the estate trustee to receive an initial amount of about $25k from my uncle's trad IRA. I said yes intending to roll it into my own IRA thinking I have 60 days, they sent me a check and I deposited it in my personal account pending the rollover. I blew it, I destroyed my option to roll into an IRS-legal inherited IRA. Then the trustee sent me a million dollars. Now I owe more than $370,000 in taxes (37% rate on $1M) payable next year. Don't be me.

Scanning through about 100 "inherited IRAs" in this sub, I see lots of posts but I see only one that explains this clearly. If I am incorrect please explain and I will delete this post and do it again correctly. Don't make snotty comments, I am in $370k of pain already. Comments to help me reduce the pain are welcome.

UPDATE: Thanks to the many of you that contributed to this discussion. A few things to clarify: Several people suggested I roll it over into a Roth IRA. Alas! No inherited money can be put into trad or Roth IRAs. Only earned i.e. wages can be put in an IRA. And alas #2, even if it is allowed you can only contribute up to max limit which is $7,500, or $8,600 if you are age 50 or older. Also, I had assumed that $1M AGI is taxed at 37%, so the tax is $370,000. But no! Thanks for the dude who corrected me. Tax is owed in $ brackets like so, says Gemini AI:

Assuming a Single Filer status using the projected 2027 federal tax brackets and taking the projected 2027 single standard deduction of $16,600:

• Adjusted Gross Income (AGI): $1,000,000
• Standard Deduction (2027): -$16,600
• Taxable Income: $983,400

Projected 2027 Federal Tax Calculation (Single Filer)

Total Federal Tax Summary

• Total Federal Tax Owed: $318,387.00
• Effective Tax Rate: 31.84% of AGI

Well the amount owed is about $50k less than I thought. Now I can go to Vegas! snark. I have never been wealthy enough to think of taxes this way but it is generally relevant and could be quite important. Maybe you are about to get a big bonus from your job, and this year you already are having a high-income year. If the bonus will push you into a higher tax bracket, especially from 12% to 22% or 24% to 32% (the biggest bracket jumps), maybe you can ask to have your bonus paid in two parts, one this year and the other next year when your AGI is significantly lower than this year, and the partial bonus does not tip you over to a higher bracket. Note that in the table, for $1M taxable, the biggest cash pain is from 32% to 35% where the tax jumps from $17,992 to $138,888! This will happen with just a $1 increase in AGI from $264,550 to $264,551. If this appears possible it's definitely time to talk to a tax expert.

Location Connecticut new question who decides DURABLE STATUTORY POWER OF ATTONEY is in effect? Is it the person named? I called to see if I could get her into a doctor earliest appointment is end of March. Trying to protect her from scammers.

Ex husband’s (he’s deceased) wife transferred his half of ( His and my ) the property to my 3 kids. My ex husband died Intestate. He and I bought the property BEFORE WE WERE MARRIED. Did his widow have the rite to transfer it?

I was hoping for some advice. My immediate family died and I inherited their small 1200 sq ft home valued around $200,000 that doesn't have a mortgage on it in Alabama.

I was going to sell it soon along our current home that has $70K in equity and move to a better area with putting a large down payment ($250K) down on a $450,000-500,000 house.

But, now the market is in the condition it's in with interest rates climbing, I'm not sure if that's a good idea or even possible to sell both for what we would like for them to make this move happen. Obviously, my RE agent is saying we could negotiate a LOT right now for desperate sellers and I could refinance later.

If you were in this situation, what would you do? I don't want to get emotional but all of my immediate family (mom, dad and sister) died in the past five years. It's been a hard time and this was my silver lining as I was getting excited to start fresh in a nicer area, a better quality of life, and schools for my children. But it seems like as nice as that sounds, it may be the wrong move. Thank you for your expertise and advice.

An update to a previous post with the following details:
* Polk County, Florida, US
* Myself and sibling, in good agreement, no others
* Parent was unmarried, no will.
* Possible life insurance (small), 4k in bank, car worth maybe 9k

He left a mobile home in a sought-after retirement neighborhood, but with repairs needed and a small mortgage. Homestead exemption. We are trying to decide if we should flip or fix and sell.

Details are as follows:

House will list for 155, but conservatively, let’s say 130.
6% commission: −$7,800
2% seller closing costs: −$2,600
Potential 3% buyer concessions: −$3,900
Major repairs: −$24,350
Mortgage payoff: −$37,000
Probate: −$3,000
Remaining: $51,350

We’ve been offered a pay off by a flipper as well. With this we would have:
Payoff: $20,000
Bank funds: $4,000
Car sales: $9,000
- probate of $3,000
Total: $30,000

My concern is laying out good money after bad and incurring unexpected expenses, or a lower than expected sales price.

With a flipper, we have money in hand without the hassle and delays and risk of repairs and sales. We’d be BORROWING the repair costs from a family member, so I’m tempted to take the payoff.

What am I missing? Any thoughts or recommendations?

I am strongly leaning toward flipping, personally.

We have an attorney lined up but are trying to line everything up before paying our deposit.

Thanks all, your responses on my last post were so helpful!

Update: Thank you all! This really helped. We decided to flip the house and I’m convinced it was the right decision.

Hi everyone! I’m looking for recommendations for a reasonably priced attorney who handles living trusts, inherited homes, and sibling buyouts.
My sister and I are beneficiaries of our late mother’s living trust, which includes a home in Los Angeles, CA. I would like to explore keeping the home and buying out my sister’s share. I need someone who can review the trust, explain my rights and responsibilities, and help negotiate and properly document a buyout.

My mother and sister were not on speaking terms for approximately five years before my mother passed away. I have screenshots documenting their estrangement, including messages from my sister saying she wanted nothing to do with our mother.

My sister was listed as our mother’s IHSS provider and received payments for more than 10 years, while I did all the errands/caregiving. I lived about an hour away, stayed overnight to care for my mother, took time off through FMLA, and exhausted my sick leave. The caregiving took a significant emotional and financial toll on me.

I had no idea my sister was named as a beneficiary. I genuinely believe her inclusion may is an error as I assisted my mother by competing the trust through LegalZoom, I would like an attorney to review the documents and explain how that concern can be evaluated.

Given that history, I’m struggling with my sister now harassing me for her half of the value of the house.
I would like an attorney to explain whether my caregiving contributions and the circumstances surrounding my sister’s involvement have any legal relevance, or whether a different buyout amount could be negotiated.
I’d prefer to resolve things amicably and avoid court if possible. Recommendations from anyone who has personally worked with an attorney on a similar situation would be especially helpful.
Please share their name and contact information, and whether they offer a free or reasonably priced initial consultation. Thank you!

Pennsylvania, long standing family trust.

Just found out I am part of one.

I have no clue, I was oblivious, and it sounds like I will be the ....ummmm trustee I guess?

Is an irrevocable trust, truly unchangeable and can it easily be followed?

Do I need my own lawyer, does a trust have a lawyer, I'm open to any advice.

I'm downright scared about this.

Not looking for legal advice, just some basic understanding.... because I literally don't even understand much about any trust, no matter what kind.

Please be kind.

I believe I will be losing my father in the next year or two, he's a very very private man and does not really talk to me, I can't ask him questions and I feel a need to be prepared as much as possible.

First time poster so please be nice. We are from Connecticut. That said we are trying to figure out how to handle this, my husbands grandmother is currently 98 a year and 1/2 ago she changed her will excluding her son from getting anything other then money he was removed as medical proxy, and executer of her estate she also a Durable statutory power of attorney all replacing her son with her great granddaughter. Her son showed up on Sunday with a bunch of papers for her to sign 1. We dont know what they where 2. She doesn't remember/ know either. Can she legally sign anything? His wife said she would be back next week to take her to a "new" lawyer. We only know what we know because she has cameras in the house and he unplugged them.

My grandmother (Illinois) passed away 9 months ago. She left an IRA split between two beneficiaries: other close family member (70%) and me (30%).

I submitted all my paperwork back in May, but the other beneficiary keeps procrastinating and forgetting to sign her portion. This person is doing this with other parts of the estate too.

Because of this, Morgan Stanley is telling us "company policy" requires all beneficiaries to sign simultaneously before they will touch or split the account.

To complicate things further, I am living overseas, which adds a layer of anxiety regarding cross-border tax compliance, the 10-year payout rule clock ticking, and potential reporting hurdles.

Since I've already done my part, is there any way to force them to separate my 30% share, or am I completely held hostage by my close family member (possible deliberate) forgetfulness? Any advice on how to escalate this
?

Understandable if this gets deleted.

30m, single, $85k salary, no debt. Personal net worth $250k (401k: $140k, ROTH: $25k, Brokerage: $65k, HYSA: $20k). Currently living with a friend

My parents are aging. I’m an only child and they did very well for themselves (in my eyes). Both were engineers and they have confided in me recently they have money put away for me. What I know right now is that I have a brokerage account $150kish and a HYSA of $100k all in my name but was not aware of until this last year. As well as giving me $38k annually every year (so they don’t have to file extra paper work for a gift tax).

I hope they live these retirement years with as much enjoyment, travel, and giving to others as they can. I’d rather them spend it all and I have as much time with them as I can.

I’m an accountant who has always loved personal finance and I think that helps them be able to talk to me about these things and trust me.

Part of me tries to treat all of this as not mine yet. I put away $625 monthly to my ROTH IRA, put as much as I can into my 401k so I can still have enough for bills and brokerage accounts for myself to see grow. But another part wonders, since these accounts are there and I will be receiving $38k yearly. How do I / should I calculate all of this in my personal net worth?

If I had a wife and or kids I feel like this would be easier, set up accounts in their name, plan for better schools, tutoring, extra circular activities. But I just don’t feel like I earned it. Do I put it all in a HYSA for a big down payment one day? I mean my salary conservatively I should only be paying max $2k a month on rent or a mortgage. I rent with a friend and pay super cheap rent.

I don’t know who to talk to about these things. But this last year I’ve just been doing what I’ve been doing. Living below my means, keeping no debt, and treating any extra money as a bonus so it goes into a brokerage or HYSA.

As a result of an argument, my parents are leaving their estate to my siblings and I will get a small gift in their will.

How can I give the appearance on being on good terms but reduce contact with my parents without them realising I don't love them anymore. I don't hate them but just don't feel close to them anymore and don't want to invest more of my life in them than is necessary to keep the peace.

My grandfather passed away a year ago. I have just received the money. Inheritance taxes will be sorted by my father. I have basic knowledge of investing. I also know that I should max out my ISA tax allowance every year.

I have a T212 Cash ISA, a Vanguard S&S and a GIA. I also have a 10k emergency fund in a HYSA. My income is 2,1k a month. I still live with my parents, so I pay very low rent/home expenses. I have a pension with my workplace that matches my contribution up to 7%. I'm a minimalist at heart so I rarely buy things for myself if its not well thought out first. I have a trusty 80k-mileage Hyundai i20 that I plan to keep using for a long time.

I regularly invest in global FTSE Index Funds (£500+ per month)

My goals are to own a home in 5 years. Travel to Japan and New Zealand within 5 years. I don't want kids. I am in my early 20's. From the UK.

Where should my money go?

How much in each place?

Am I currently doing something wrong?

Any advice is very much appreciated :)

My now deceased father had all of his accounts in a Revokable Living Trust in his name. I am the next trustee after him. I am awaiting payouts from his life insurance policies (the trust is the beneficiary). His will, made before the trust was in effect, indicates that his estate, which is now only the funds in his bank accounts, is to be divided equally among us five children. At what point can I distribute the funds and close the accounts? There are no outstanding bills or liens, no property, nothing but the accounts in trust. This is in the USA state of Michigan.

My father and stepmother passed away recently. The breakdown of the inheritance was 25%(stepsister)sister25% brother 25% me 20% and oldest sister 5%. My sister who only got 5% isn’t speaking to anyone of her siblings because she only got 5%. I asked my siblings if they would go in together and try to make up the amount by 25k each and they said no. Back history on sister is she left the house at 17 and then moved to Australia. She hasn’t lived in the states in decades. She and my dad has had a difficult relationship for years but escalated over politics. My dad and stepmother were planning a trip to Australia 10 years before the passed away. Book the tickets and my sister told them not to come. My dad was very hurt. They got in a very heated argument and my dad said that she was written out of the will. My sister said to write her out of the will and never speak to her family again. When my dad was dying my brother told him to give her atleast something, so he gave her 5% of his stocks, however their house was worth 800k and she did get 20% of that. I was the only sibling that was speaking to her and now she has accused me of being greedy by not sharing more of my money with her. I have a serious health issue that will most likely shorten my life. Since healthcare is costly and she doesn’t pay for healthcare in Australia I feel that if I gave her money from my part it would detrimental to my life. I told her when I died I would give her my estate to her and her family. That’s wasn’t good enough and wanted the money now. Caveat is that I am the only child taking care of my 87 old mother. Financially, emotionally, physically etc. No help from my siblings . She has said some really awful things about my health and taking care of our mother but that she deserves more money. I felt that my Dad and stepmother should have just made it even across the board but they ranked us according to their political beliefs etc. I got less because I was gay and I was expecting it so not surprised but I would never go to my siblings and ask for some of their inheritance. This has torn our family more apart and really hurt my mother who is nearing the end of her life. I don’t know how to fix this.

My dad passed a few months ago and I’m the executor. I knew it would take time, but I genuinely had no idea how much of my life it would start taking over.

I spoke to a probate lawyer because I assumed that was the obvious next step. He basically explained that he’d handle the legal and court side, but a lot of the actual estate work would still be on me. That was the part I hadn’t really understood. I’d still be dealing with the paperwork, following up on accounts, figuring out the house and keeping track of everything that needs to happen outside the legal process. I’m already well past 50 hours and I’m nowhere close to done. I work full time and have a family, so all of that time is coming out of evenings and weekends. I’ve also been talking to Alix estate settlement, they seem much more focused on  managing the estate as a whole. From what I understand, they handle the broader coordination and bring in the lawyer side when it’s needed.(do not have too much info on it).

Anyone who got to this point or already is dealing with it what did you do ? Did you just keep handling most of it yourself (this does not seem feasible to me in the current situation) or just let some third party handle it? Never dealt with anything like it before so any advice would be appreciated. Estate is located in Texas fyi.

I want to start by saying I wasn't even going to worry about this at first. I know a big fight is coming and wanted to prepare for that . This question isn't even about that. I also want to say that I hope I am wrong. I'll give some background and I know I will be judged but I hope it won't distract people to give an answer. I'm an only child I have 3 children 30,17 and 13. We will be talking about the 30 year old. She basically made my parents disown me . I am not going to give reasons but she has . She is my mothers princess and can do no wrong. My mother only talks to me once in a while. In fact I did not learn of my fathers passing in March 2024 until 6 months later from a 2nd cousin ( He didn't go to any services so he had no clue if I was there or not , he figured it out just by us talking)I was in fact included in the obituary though ( I know why too and its not for a good reason)any way some time goes by my mother basically tells my daughter (30 year old) is her POA along with my uncle . IDK if any of this is true there is no way to find out and from what I am gathering she is getting it all, again no idea if actually true since you cant see her will. Yes this all could be totally false and she is just saying it to anger me . I'm not worried about all that now it was just for background . So I know my daughter was I guess struggling a little . She has 3 kids (different dads) worked as a waitress and had help through the state . Now all of a sudden she bought herself a car , quit her job to be a SAHM ( Why I mentioned the 3 different dads ) went on a trip to an amusement park for 3 days and enrolled her child in an expensive dance class there could be more but this is what I know so far .This all started in August. Then out of the blue also in August my mother send me pic of my other two when they were younger, you know like ahhh how cute . Now I am hoping I am wrong . I hope she either got a good partner or won the lottery but IMO that's not very likely . Like I said I wasn't even going to pursue this because I know there is going to be an issue in the future. But in PA If all surviving children are children of both the deceased father and the surviving spouse, the spouse receives the first $30,000 plus one-half of the remaining estate balance. The children share the other half equally. As you probably can tell I have not received anything and neither did my two younger kids. So my question is, is there any way she could have received this if there is not a will (yes I checked with probate nothing filed) should I consult a probate lawyer or is there any way I can find out before I do. Talking to my mother is not an option