How to divide estate

[strings4]

Pa - my mother died in 9/99 after a brief illness. she had written a general will while sick leaving everything to her 4 daughters to divide as they see fit. she had written on another piece of paper that she wanted 1 house to go to 1 daughter and 1 house to go to the other (she owned 2 houses). The houses are on 1 deed which was in the name of her and her ex husband. she was given the property in 1974 in a divorce but the deed was never changed. the ex husband was taken to court and signed over his interest in the property in 4/2001. the estate lawyer is filing the inheritance taxes with the value of the property as 1/2 of its value because it was not deeded to my mother alone at time of death. However he is saying that the 2 daughters that are getting the houses have to buy out the other 2 and is basing the buyout figure on 100% of the property value not 1/2 as stated on the taxes. My questions are: does the paper saying she wanted the 2 daughters to have the houses hold any weight and if they do have to buy out the other 2 daughters shouldn't the amount be based on the value of the houses at time of death (the 1/2 amount that is on the inheritance taxes).
Thank You

 

[ALawyer]

As you have a lawyer involved, it is not sensible for me to second guess him or her, but it looks as if the lawyer wants to have as low a value for estate tax purposes as possible (that's to the benefit of all 4 children), and while I might or might not have come to the same conclusion as the lawyer for estate tax purposes, that should have nothing to do with the allocation among beneficiaries of the estate.

Mother's written wishes, if not part of a Will or otherwise binding, have no place in the discussion of who is ENTITLED to what. If mother really wanted that to happen, it would have / should have been in her Will or made binding. Quite frankly, many times people put down what they thnik for a moment they would want without thinking it thru or clairifying their intent -- perhaps she wanted the houses to go to daughters 1 and 2 and an amount equal in value out of the other assets to go to 3 and 4 with the rest split evenly. If there were insufficient other assets, do you think she wanted 3 and 4 to get nothing or far less?