Contesting a will

[Delores 22]

I'm not sure whether to contest my mother's will. I have one brother.

Potentially, her estate could be worth a great deal of money. How can I find out?

Thanks

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

I'm not sure whether to contest my mother's will. I have one brother.

Potentially, her estate could be worth over a million dollars. How can I find out?

Thanks

I'm sorry for your loss. Unfortunately, your inquiry is something that we really can't advise you on without knowing why you would want to contest it.

 

[justalayman]

I can see it now; op contests the will and will is invalidated then discovers op was left everything in the estate in the will but now has to share with sibling. Whoops.

 

[Eekamouse]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

I'm not sure whether to contest my mother's will. I have one brother.

Potentially, her estate could be worth over a million dollars. How can I find out?

Thanks

Why would you want to contest it? Do you think you were left out of it?

 

[latigo]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

I'm not sure whether to contest my mother's will. I have one brother.

Potentially, her estate could be worth over a million dollars. How can I find out?

Thanks

Potentially, if you keep breaking into the nurses' station and playing with the computer you are going to get caught and moved to a more secure ward!

Besides I've talked to bro and he tells me mom is living on SSI.

 

[Delores 22]

Why would you want to contest it? Do you think you were left out of it?

The will was written by hand seven years ago with two notary signatures. It was short. Some sentences were scratched out and rewritten which she initialed. I was shocked. I was with her until the very end. She wrote I would get nothing. She had a bad temper and may have done it when she was angry. According to my doc, who knows the situation very well, she was mentally ill, but it wasn't obvious, like hallucinations or Alzheimer's so it wasn't visible to outsiders except a few who experienced her irrationality (head games). At other times she could be very fun loving.

She also favored my brother since birth because he's male. They sometimes enjoyed playing two against one. I tried to help both of them be more rational to no avail. People I know are telling me I should contest it, but it may not be worth it.

There's a chance that there's a lot of money at stake ago but she was always secretive and very frugal. So, it might be worth contesting, but then again, maybe not. Brother and I are negotiating, but the issue now is knowing what her estate is worth. He's the executor.

(And please, no sarcasm necessary when responding. I will ignore immature replies.)

 

[Delores 22]

I'm sorry for your loss. Unfortunately, your inquiry is something that we really can't advise you on without knowing why you would want to contest it.

Thanks for your reply. Please read my previous response so I won't have to duplicate what I just wrote. Much appreciated.

 

[Zigner]

Thanks for your reply. Please read my previous response so I won't have to duplicate what I just wrote. Much appreciated.

I suggest that you contact an attorney about this matter.

 

[Delores 22]

I suggest that you contact an attorney about this matter.

Are you saying there's no way to find out the worth of her estate other than to contact an attorney? Would you happen to know an approximate range for the fee to find out the worth of the estate without actually contesting?

 

[Dandy Don]

Are you and your brother both mentioned in the will as beneficiaries? Are there other beneficiaries named in it?

Do you have a copy of it?

Does the will specifically disinherit anyone and give a reason for disinheriting?

Did the will name the person she wants to be executor? Who is that person, the brother or you, or someone else?

It's natural that you would be concerned about the value of the estate, but it's too early in the process to know right now. Eventually, the executor will gather information about the assets and report to the court about it. You wanted to know the value of the estate so that you could decide whether or not it would be worth your while to contest, right?

A forensic accountant or a private investigator could do it for anywhere from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars, depending on how extensive you wanted the search to be.

If brother told you he was going to "negotiate" with you, that statement is made out of ignorance or perhaps a deliberate misrepresentation. The law is going to determine what each person gets, not a negotiation, which is why you need to take anything that your brother or his attorney tells you with a grain of salt. You need to at least have an initial consultation with a probate attorney (the first hour or two of consultation is generally free or very inexpensive) to get professional advice about what your course of action should be.

 

[Delores 22]

Are you and your brother both mentioned in the will as beneficiaries? Are there other beneficiaries named in it?

Do you have a copy of it?

Does the will specifically disinherit anyone and give a reason for disinheriting?

Did the will name the person she wants to be executor? Who is that person, the brother or you, or someone else?

It's natural that you would be concerned about the value of the estate, but it's too early in the process to know right now. Eventually, the executor will gather information about the assets and report to the court about it.

Yes, I have a copy of the will. It was written in 2008. She said she's in sound mind and good health. She named my brother first saying "he will get all my worldly possessions, the money, stock, condo, car, and everything else. Then she wrote my name (misspelled it..my name is common and can be spelled in various ways) and that I get a small amount of money or whatever's left. Then she scratched it out and in it's place she wrote: Nothing. Then initialed it, then wrote that she wanted my brother to be her representative.

She did not say why I was left out. In her rages (and she raged a lot), she'd scream horrible things and sometimes it was, "You'll get nothing from me," but she also raged that she'd break both my legs, or sometimes it'd be my hands, and crazy things like that, but she never meant what she said, and she was blowing off steam -- so I thought. She left some voice messages, too. Once she raged about the fact that it was my fault when she lost the sale to my brother's condo. She tried to sell it at the peak of the housing bubble and lost the sale when she held out for $5K more. She never got another offer and lost about $200K. She believed she lost the sale because I was jealous. I was no way near that transaction, nor did I give her advice on that transaction. I posted photos of the condo on the Net for her, but that's all. That's the kind of craziness I mean when I said she was mentally ill. She was irrational, but I doubt blaming someone is considered insanity in the eyes of the law -- if so, probably most of us would be deemed insane. This was the way she was when she was mad, then she'd get over it -- so I thought.

 

[justalayman]

How to find out what her estate is worth;

Wait until brother opens probate and files an accounting of the estate.

 

[Delores 22]

How to find out what her estate is worth;

Wait until brother opens probate and files an accounting of the estate.

Good idea, but I think she put the cash and stocks in his name -- everything except for her condo. In her will, she put "Lady Bird Deed" which is a new type of "will" that passes without going through probate in Florida. However, she *didn't* file the form, so she did it wrong and that's the one thing going through probate.

 

[justalayman]

Well, if she put those assets in his name, even if the will said you get everything you still wouldn't get those assets as they were already his at the time of your mother's death.

 

[Delores 22]

A forensic accountant or a private investigator could do it for anywhere from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars, depending on how extensive you wanted the search to be.

If brother told you he was going to "negotiate" with you, that statement is made out of ignorance or perhaps a deliberate misrepresentation. The law is going to determine what each person gets, not a negotiation, which is why you need to take anything that your brother or his attorney tells you with a grain of salt. You need to at least have an initial consultation with a probate attorney (the first hour or two of consultation is generally free or very inexpensive) to get professional advice about what your course of action should be.

I missed this part of your message. A forensic accountant may just work.

I also think you may be right about "deliberate misrepresentation". He's been siding with her against me and has twisted stories to put me in a bad light. Sibling rivalry to it's extreme, but I think he really believes he's the good guy and she was a good mother. He told me I should stay and listen to her rage at me because she's our mother. I disagree.

The last thing I ever thought I'd do is to get into a legal battle let alone with a relative. It's against my moral fiber, but I may have to do it. The question is, is it worth the stress and possibly your health.