T
thomasjohn
Guest
This is my situation. This takes place in Oklahoma; I live in another State 1,200 miles away. My Grandmother was a widow and owned a home. In 1962, she remarried and added my Step Grandfather to the Title so they jointly owned the home. I don’t remember the wording that needed to be on the Title for the property to pass to the survivor without probate, but the wording was NOT on the Title. My Step Grandfather died in 1989. He did NOT have a will, and no Probate was accomplished because his only asset was the house, which my Grandmother assumed his half would automatically go to her when he died. My Step Grandfather had no children of his own, my Grandmother has two children.
My Grandmother died in 1999. She did NOT have a will, and no Probate was accomplished immediately after her death. The house is very old and needs major repairs. My mother lived in the house for approxamily one year until it became unlivable. In December of 2000, the city threatened to condemn the house and tear it down unless the property was cleaned up.
My mother was not able to pay for the repairs, and my uncle wanted nothing to do with the house except sell it. I told my mother I wanted the house and would fix it up enough to keep it from being condemned. She said she would give me her half, and my uncle said he would sell me his half, but I would need to pay for the Probate.
The only time I saw the lawyer in person was when I hired him and at the courthouse when the probate was completed. The rest of my dealing with the lawyer was over the phone. I hired the lawyer and agreed on the price of the probate, and I paid him a retainer. He told me it would NOT be over a certain amount. I gave him copies of my Grandmother and Step Grandfather’s death certificates. After I returned home (1,200 miles away), I noticed He made a mistake on one of the forms by incorrectly listing the county the property was located. I called him and he seemed ticked off by the mistake and said it didn’t matter and would correct it. Later, he sent me a bill and it was for much more than he said it would be. He wanted more money because my retainer was used up. I called him and argued about the cost, we negotiated the price and he said I should be happy because was getting the cheapest probate ever.
When the probate is finished the lawyer did Quitclaim Deeds from my Uncle and mother to me. Three months later I go back to Oklahoma to work on the house, I call the courthouse to make sure the property is in my name and they have my correct address. I find out there is a major problem with the properly. I was mailed information about the problem, but it was mailed to the property address and returned to the courthouse.
The problem is my lawyer did NOT do anything about my Step Grandfather being on the property as co-owner. So the property is listed as being owned by me and my Step Grandfather. I now need to do another probate to clear the “cloud” on the title. I lady who works at the courthouse said any lawyer should have seen this would be a problem.
My lawyer knew my Step Grandfather was dead, listed on the property, and a probate was never done for him. He told me you only hired me to probate your Grandmother’s property. I disagreed with him and he said you should have gotten a contract to specify what you wanted. I think he purposely didn’t do anything about my Step Grandfather being listed as co-owner because we had the disagreement about the cost. I talked to another lawyer about this without telling him there was a disagreement about the cost. He said you must have pissed your lawyer off, because he could have easily taken care of everything at one time.
Is there anything I can do about this situation?
My Grandmother died in 1999. She did NOT have a will, and no Probate was accomplished immediately after her death. The house is very old and needs major repairs. My mother lived in the house for approxamily one year until it became unlivable. In December of 2000, the city threatened to condemn the house and tear it down unless the property was cleaned up.
My mother was not able to pay for the repairs, and my uncle wanted nothing to do with the house except sell it. I told my mother I wanted the house and would fix it up enough to keep it from being condemned. She said she would give me her half, and my uncle said he would sell me his half, but I would need to pay for the Probate.
The only time I saw the lawyer in person was when I hired him and at the courthouse when the probate was completed. The rest of my dealing with the lawyer was over the phone. I hired the lawyer and agreed on the price of the probate, and I paid him a retainer. He told me it would NOT be over a certain amount. I gave him copies of my Grandmother and Step Grandfather’s death certificates. After I returned home (1,200 miles away), I noticed He made a mistake on one of the forms by incorrectly listing the county the property was located. I called him and he seemed ticked off by the mistake and said it didn’t matter and would correct it. Later, he sent me a bill and it was for much more than he said it would be. He wanted more money because my retainer was used up. I called him and argued about the cost, we negotiated the price and he said I should be happy because was getting the cheapest probate ever.
When the probate is finished the lawyer did Quitclaim Deeds from my Uncle and mother to me. Three months later I go back to Oklahoma to work on the house, I call the courthouse to make sure the property is in my name and they have my correct address. I find out there is a major problem with the properly. I was mailed information about the problem, but it was mailed to the property address and returned to the courthouse.
The problem is my lawyer did NOT do anything about my Step Grandfather being on the property as co-owner. So the property is listed as being owned by me and my Step Grandfather. I now need to do another probate to clear the “cloud” on the title. I lady who works at the courthouse said any lawyer should have seen this would be a problem.
My lawyer knew my Step Grandfather was dead, listed on the property, and a probate was never done for him. He told me you only hired me to probate your Grandmother’s property. I disagreed with him and he said you should have gotten a contract to specify what you wanted. I think he purposely didn’t do anything about my Step Grandfather being listed as co-owner because we had the disagreement about the cost. I talked to another lawyer about this without telling him there was a disagreement about the cost. He said you must have pissed your lawyer off, because he could have easily taken care of everything at one time.
Is there anything I can do about this situation?