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Unmarried, Childless, Intestate Homeowner Sibling

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BracingForIt

Junior Member
Tenessee

I have read all of Section 31, TN law.
I understand mothers come first in this case (Unmarried adult child with no children).
Then, fathers.
Then, siblings - such as me. :)

The scenario is this:
My 40 year-old sibling was last in communication with her bio mom 22+ years ago due to horrific abuses we all suffered under that roof.
She, like all of us siblings, bought a home, and lived a "normal life" isolated from the family we grew up only to escape from ASAP.
She was unmarried and childless, having divorced after many years and a subsequent brief marriage-divorce "rebound".
June 18, she was last seen alive by her firefighter neighbor.
July 10, same neighbor called police for a welfare check.
It was then her remains were found in a state of "liquefaction", on the sofa, where - and I quote the medical examiner's words to me, "Many bottles of pills and a large - very large bottle of clear liquid were _PLACED_ around her".
July 15, I received a 3.5 minute phone call from a sibling in common stating, "They found "Sister"; she was turned to soup; our childhood abuser says she can rot in the morgue and go to a pauper's grave; I'm doing all I can to tend to her remains and will keep you posted". CLICK!
July 30, I received a call from our same sibling, "I've got all in order! Say a prayer now, if you like; she is being cremated in under 5 minutes from now. That "b" (our abuser) told me she was taking care of things after all, and when I called after 10 days, they said they'd never heard from her after their initial contact with her. I overnighted the funds and made the arrangements for her cremation. They will overnight the cremains to us for services on the family farm. Have you made travel plans?"
July 31, in the evening I received a distraught call from same sibling: As the cremators were heading to overnight the $75-extra shipping box to me/us, (our abuser) called - They now say they regret taking that call, or even mentioning they were just headed out to ship the box of cremains - Now, it's all on pause! She (our abuser) refuses to let us move forward.
OK!
I called and was told by the cremators, "This is, by far, the worst case we've ever seen. We are speechless! (Our abuser) is really a piece of work".
It was suggested I talk with our brother.
Our brother announced our abuser had immediately retained a probate attorney in TN (where only our sister's remains are - we each live in other states) AND the probate attorney, name unknow, in Memphis, TN, is "Co-Administrator".
Our brother feels there's been a breach of contractual law due to the medical examiner - funeral home - crematorium (in that sequence) accepting him to receive the remains and his funds to see those remains be converted to cremains and be shipped to the place the descedant was happiest in life - (riding horses on the family farm)...
I, on the other hand, paused to read Section 31 from start to finish and appreciate the chain of vesting starting with the mother in cases like this. Therefore, I asked the crematorium to offer $$ to the probate attorney, if my brother's way didn't succeed.
Only her mother has financial interests; her father, and all 3 surviving siblings have ZERO financial interest/s. We are all VERY CLEAR on that point.
So what are our interests?
Oh, so very profoundly we all wish to see to it that the one person on the face of this whole Earth we have all fled from and devoted considerable efforts in "hiding" from - beginning with me in 1976, including the 22+ years the descedant (our "baby" sister) was successful in hiding from our abuser, NOT AT ALL be allowed to TOUCH her cremains, much less paw through her home & holdings -
This is a HUGE point we all share - each of us with a will / trust / all our ducks in a row (we all have children; she did not) - we imagine our own HORROR at the very thought of our ending being like this! It's the LAST thing we would ever want!
SO!
Is there some entity / agency / ANYTHING - ANYONE we could possibly contact to interceed on our beloved sister's behalf to MAKE SURE the judge/whomever has the power to enforce/rescind Section 31 so that our sister, contrary to the Section 31 vesting sequence, see to it that our intestate sibling with a lovely home / saltwater aquarium (All fishes starved to death before her remains were discovered) and plenty of "other $$ stuff" are released to this very dastardly & evil woman birthing her but NEVER acting in the capacity of a true "mother" to her - in fact, my sister called ME "Mama" growing up in the age of cloth diapers and glass bottles! :)
To reiterate: We have no care as to the house and $$ and have already paid the final expenses relative to the cremation & transport of cremains in full.
Please, let me know ASAP as the box sitting in TN is a source of great anxiety and grief for us while the potential for it falling into the hands of someone capable of "feeding it to the dog" / "flushing it down the toilet" / pouring it on the ground to stomp on it/urinate on it are ALL easy enough to expect...
We are beyond inconsolable until this matter is put to rights.
Thank you in advance for ANY assistance toward getting Section 31 set aside under these extraordinary circumstances inwhich the mother is, in reality, anything but a mother and, in fact, was actively avoided for nearly a quarter century.
A fine reminder to get your final wishes in order, NOW! :)What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
 


anteater

Senior Member
That is a lot to wade through, but I take it that your question is: can the TN intestate succession statutes be set aside because the parent was abusive?

Can't speak for TN specifically, but I've never seen it happen. You and/or your siblings can consult with a TN attorney, but I would not have high hopes. This is one of the reasons that it is important to have a will.
 

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