Great-Grandfather died, questions about distribution

What is the name of your state? Colorado

My Grandfather died in 2004 (Aaron Austin - one of the original Coors Cowboys). He didn't have much in his name, but my mother did get some money from the sale of property he did have. He was in my great-grandfather's will.

My great-grandfather (Uhlan Austin) died last week. It's specified in his will that his entire estate will be divided between his heirs or their heirs (if no longer surviving) after debts and funeral expenses are paid. It does list some specific property parcels to go to other family members.

Now comes the spaghetti. My great-grandfather's property is held in a joint tenancy with him, his wife (deceased several years ago), and his three children (you can see some of the property deeds http://clerk.deltacounty.com/showdetails.aspx?id=146877&rn=216&pi=14&ref=search and http://clerk.deltacounty.com/showdetails.aspx?id=118523&rn=1&pi=0&ref=search - more from http://clerk.deltacounty.com/search.aspx?q=detail, supposedly about 1200 acres of land). I see some stuff in their about heirs, but I can't make heads or tails of any of it.

Unfortunately, out of the five listed in the deeds (Uhlan, Betty, Arlin, Aaron, and Vera), only one is now living - Vera. That wouldn't be a problem normally, but when I was visiting my great-grandfather in the hospital before he died, he was talking about how she beat him and took his money. She's also been taking his physical property, she's been stealing from her nephew (apparently, her nephew - from Arlin - had a herd with Uhlan of 100 sheep total, each owning 50. Coyote's got to them and killed half, and they all happened to be the nephew's. Starting to see the picture?). We found out she's also rented out three large storage sheds very recently, possibly to stash property. Basically, I don't care what I get or what other family members get, I just want to see her get as little as possible for her atrocious actions.


Where do we stand in the property area? His will says to divide all of his property, but I don't know how much of it is his with all of these deeds. We're heading up tomorrow to inventory everything on his property and see the county clerk. Do we stand a chance of splitting the land up, or do the deeds say it's all hers? If so, does she have to pay taxes on it (and assuming the total property worth was - for instance - $1,000,000, how much would she have to pay in taxes, approx.)? What can we do to make sure she doesn't take anything else, or to secure the misc. property?

You need to edit again to take out the real names (if they are real).

Who is executor of the will?

Did he give anyone power of attorney before he died to have authority to handle any of his monies or did he handle his own financial matters?

Your attorney will have to look at the actual deeds before he can advise you who is entitled to what.

The probate matter is completely separate from any actions that "V" has done in the past--if you have evidence of wrongdoing then file a complaint with the authorities. If there is someone familiar with your grandfather's belongings and who can identify, then having her put them in a storage facility temporarily will make it easier to file charges against her if she has misappropriated the items or is not willing to give them to the executor for disposition.

After looking closer at the deeds, it appears that my great-gf and his wife were joint tenants (with 1/4 interest), and each of their three children were common tenants with 1/4 interest each. When my great-gm died, her share went to great-gf, who then went into joint tenancy with a niece. Now that great-gf is gone, niece has his share of land, but my gf is still on the deed with his 1/4 (although the assessor screwed up and cut him out - we have to go up on Thursday and have it re-assessed).

The executor (personal representative?) is Arlin's son, who was put in that position a few months before Uhlan died (Arlin was the original, with Vera as a backup, but because of what she did to him he changed it. However, she's threatening to file a ton of lawsuits if she doesn't get to be the executor, so the family and current executor are considering giving her those rights (with a contract stipulating time frames and reserving right to original executor if not complete within 1 year).

Apparently, my grandfather's entire house has been cleaned out, and a lot of equipment and other property is at stake. However, a friend of hers who says he is speaking for her said that she wants to cooperate.


Are there any good guides available for what steps the executor needs to take?

BrentNewland said:

......The executor (personal representative?) is Arlin's son, who was put in that position a few months before Uhlan died (Arlin was the original, with Vera as a backup, but because of what she did to him he changed it. However, she's threatening to file a ton of lawsuits if she doesn't get to be the executor, so the family and current executor are considering giving her those rights (with a contract stipulating time frames and reserving right to original executor if not complete within 1 year).

Click to expand...

To clarify.... Arlin's son may be nominated in Uhlan's wiil to be executor/personal representative of the estate. But he only becomes so when the probate court grants letters of administration to him. Don't know what Vera means by ",,,a ton of lawsuits." She gets the chance to object to the appointment of Arlin's son, but the court will decide.

I really doubt that the court will pay any attention to any sort of "contract" with the personal representative. The judge likely would have a good laugh or become extremely annoyed, depending upon his/her disposition at the moment. The PR reports to the court and, if anybody has a beef with the way the estate is being administered, they bring it before the court.

Are there any good guides available for what steps the executor needs to take?

Click to expand...

There are plenty. Try your public libraries and local bookstores. But, keep in mind that probate statutes are state-specific. You might not find one specific to Colorado. If you want to plow through the Colorado statutes themselves, try this link (it is Title 15 of the Colorado code):

http://198.187.128.12/colorado/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=fs-main.htm&2.0