February224
Junior Member
My mother died in April 2008. At the time, I was 18 years old and finishing up my senior year of high school. Parents were divorced when I was one, she was single, etc.
In her will, she originally stated that I would receive the estate when I was 25, but until then, her cousin would be executor of the will. In order to prevent any family feuds or the like, the cousin gave up his rights as executor and I chose a bank as the executor, thinking this would be a smart decision. Later, the lawyer I had hired left me and went to work against me with the estate.
In 2009, I was 'kicked' or evicted from my family home. I was given 24 hours notice to pack any of my belongings (under supervision), given my car and was told to leave. I was NOT allowed to have any of my family heirlooms or belongings. They would not even allow me to take my mother's Christmas stocking from the house. (Note: Had left the home for 3 days to attend a family emergency and had several animals in the house. Neighbor agreed to watch the animals and was given a key but did NOT take care of them as agreed. Later she told the estate that no such agreement was true and that I had lied about the whole thing. They believed her and in return, the house was trashed due to the pets.)
They later told me that I could have the items, but would have to come pack them up at my expense and on their schedule. At this point, I had no income and was living out of state because of them. I declined to come get the items.
Later, over $10K worth the items were stolen from the house because the estate had failed to remove the items as they said they would. The house was also vacant during this time and without homeowner's insurance because they had not taken the responsibility to rent/sell the house. A few months later, the house flooded.
They now pay me $1200 a month out of a separate trust (not part of mother's estate), they pay my car/health insurance and rent. I've been advised to contact a lawyer by friends and family, but I'm terrified of them because I am scared they will make things worse for me. I now have a family and I just want her to be taken care of.
Sorry for the novel, but I am just looking for a little bit of advice. My family (husband, daughter and I) have struggled tremendously when we didn't feel like we had to. I just want to be done with this bank.
In her will, she originally stated that I would receive the estate when I was 25, but until then, her cousin would be executor of the will. In order to prevent any family feuds or the like, the cousin gave up his rights as executor and I chose a bank as the executor, thinking this would be a smart decision. Later, the lawyer I had hired left me and went to work against me with the estate.
In 2009, I was 'kicked' or evicted from my family home. I was given 24 hours notice to pack any of my belongings (under supervision), given my car and was told to leave. I was NOT allowed to have any of my family heirlooms or belongings. They would not even allow me to take my mother's Christmas stocking from the house. (Note: Had left the home for 3 days to attend a family emergency and had several animals in the house. Neighbor agreed to watch the animals and was given a key but did NOT take care of them as agreed. Later she told the estate that no such agreement was true and that I had lied about the whole thing. They believed her and in return, the house was trashed due to the pets.)
They later told me that I could have the items, but would have to come pack them up at my expense and on their schedule. At this point, I had no income and was living out of state because of them. I declined to come get the items.
Later, over $10K worth the items were stolen from the house because the estate had failed to remove the items as they said they would. The house was also vacant during this time and without homeowner's insurance because they had not taken the responsibility to rent/sell the house. A few months later, the house flooded.
They now pay me $1200 a month out of a separate trust (not part of mother's estate), they pay my car/health insurance and rent. I've been advised to contact a lawyer by friends and family, but I'm terrified of them because I am scared they will make things worse for me. I now have a family and I just want her to be taken care of.
Sorry for the novel, but I am just looking for a little bit of advice. My family (husband, daughter and I) have struggled tremendously when we didn't feel like we had to. I just want to be done with this bank.