Estate Questions

What is the name of your state? CT

My wife and I live in a small cottage on her grandmother's estate. She's said to own 10%. Her Uncle resides on the property in an adjacent building recieving a stipend of $1,000 a month (I believe). My wife and I are paying the same rent as the last occupant ($650/mo) w/o utilities, and believe that something is amiss. We were wondering how we'd go about finding information on the Estate (passive, I know)? We'd like to live on the property without paying for it. We believe that it there is a better solution at hand.


Thank you for your Time and Energy =)

Go to the courthouse where the estate was probated and pay for a copy of the entire file.

Post back with what you find.

Got a copy of the paperwork today. In my grandmother's Will, the Tangible Personal Property went to my mother and her brother. The Residuary Estate says "...all of the rest, residue and remainder of my property, of whatever nature and whatever situate...for the following uses and purposes: To manage, invest and reinvest the same for the benefit of my children...and my grandchildren"

"If any interest in residential real property is at any time held in this trust, my children and grandchildren shall have the right to occupy such real property without the paying of rent. With respect to my real property off (the Street we live on). ...It is my hope, without imposing any obligation, that the Cottage and the upper level of the Barn shall be rented." (We live in the Cottage)

There is also a bit about the Distributions to Minors. I was 12 when my Grandmother died, and am 23 now (a person is no longer considered a minor after 21), yet never recieved any information about this.
"The payment of any bequest under any Article of this Will to or for the use of a person who shall then be a minor may be made by payment or delivery, without further responsibility or accountability with respect thereto, to the minor, or to the minor's parent...In the alternative, my Executor may hold and invest such property as a separate fund for the benefit of such minor..."

Thanks so much for empowering me to delve further. I appreciate your time!

Who is the personal representative for the grandmother's estate? Where is your mother-in-law? What does she have to say about this? Why isn't everything sold and distributed to beneficiaries?

What exactly do you think is amiss?

Did you look at the entire probate file to see if there was financial documentation in there about how estate assets were handled or did you simply order a copy of just the will without looking at the other documents in the file?

At some point you will need to ask the executor whether a fund was set up for you, and if so, why weren't you notified about it and was the money given to your parent or not? As a potential beneficiary in this estate, the executor had a legal responsibility to notify you about the will during probate (if the estate was not wiped out by debts) and the fact that you were not notified is somewhat of a red flag that does confirm your suspicion that something may be amiss.

If you are not given reasonable explanations then consult a probate attorney to find out what your next step should be.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

who owns the property?

OP should also look at the real property records - sounds to me like the property may have been distributed out years ago to someone, either a person (uncle?) or a trust. Who is OP paying rent to? Uncle, trust? If the property has been distributed, grandma's wishes may be obsolete because the owner of the property may be the one charging rent. On the other hand, if the property wound up in the trust, the trustee must follow the terms of the trust.