Estate advice - elective shares

My father died in May in Fla . His 3rd wife went after the elective share ( 1/3). His will stated all was to go to me & my sister. I can't get a simple answer from our estate lawyer on what she gets. He left a van ( which he bought from her 3 yrs ago for $10k cash). He also left a house ( around 70k) and around 30k of mutual funds. Possessions in the house are worth maybe $1000. Anyway her lawyer has kept coming back wanting us to pay her off for her life estate. She gets the van & the life estate in the house, but she has left the house to live with her daughter. Her atty. wants the van, 10k for the funds, and us to buy her out of the life estate for $12k!

1. If she left the house do we have to just leave it empty? Who pays upkeep, taxes, electric etc? She has told the Insurance co to send the bills to us.

2. Can she rent it out?

3. The attys both claim she gets the van, the house and 30% of the grand total also including the house, funds, and van on top of the house and van? Can this be true?

4. By Fla law she can get up to 6k for family allowance. She is 80+ lives rent free with her daughter, has 40k in the bank and gets 1500 month soc.security. Her and my dad split all bill 50 -50 and in fact put 3k in the joint account just before he died. Does she also get 6k for family allowance or will it be a court case?

Sorry for questions but I can't get any answers from our lawyer even though we owe 6k already since June.

I can't second guess the lawyer, and I don't know the ins and outs of FL law.

As the holder of a life estate she need not live there and can rent it out (assuming FL law is like the law everyplace else) and keep the rent. BUT, regardless of the existance of a paying tenant, as a holder of a life estate she also has the burden of paying property taxes and general upkeep (no timprovements) of the premises (electricity, painting, etc. -- if she does not do that she is liable for waste).

USUALLY an elective share means she gets a percentage of everything in the estate. The life estate PLUS the RESIDUAL value of the house (a $70k house is NOT worth $70k if subject to a life estate), for example. She doesn't get both. The life estate may be worth say $X. The house is then worth $70k - $X, and that's what she'd get 1/3rd of. You can tell her you'd deed 1/3rd of the house to her now or agree to pay that to her estate on her death and see her react.

Sure she wants you to buy her out because the right to use the property has little if any value to her. -- BUT the price she wants may be far too high and even if it is not, you need not take it. You could offer her $1000. What you really want is to get this woman out of your lives. That takes a sum of money -- that's all she wants. Get your lawyer to sitdown with you and settle this.

Thanks for advice

Well my stepmother came back with the following:

$15k for CD ( total value of van, CD's ( 38K) and furniture( $500)

and the van (96 Honda Odysey - $9k) plus

$10k as pay off for her share of $70k house. BUT we have to pay our lawyers fees ( around $8k)


Does this seem reasonable. I guess the only option is to give her the $15k, and hope the judge doesn't award her a family allowance ( could be up to $6k) as she gets the van anyway and the house is hers until she passes.

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply. Bob