What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
Hi All,
My mother created a life estate and included a house in it with following interest breakdown:
10% for my sister
10% for myself
80% for my older daughter who has lived away from me throughout her life
When my mother passed away - my sister or myself had no option but to live with the breakdown and we were sure of not ever getting anything since my daughter has life tenancy in that house as well in addition to 80% so she had no plans of selling the house ever.
Few months later- we came to know that my grandmother from paternal side left us a shared property and my sister and myself were suppose to get rental income from 1978- 2014. My mother was left as guardian for the money till we turn 18 however as it turns out my mother kept that amount throughout her life and never told me and my sister about it.
Based on rough calculation- my mother hence owed my sister and myself 100k+ without any interest alone.
My sister when she found out about this- started a creditor's claim via a top law firm and filed a petition. I didn't have any money to retain lawyer at that time so I waited for her petition to be filed and then I used a paralegal to file my claim as a copy paste of hers as well. We filed 19 days apart from each other.
Now to summarize- my daughter actually settled with my sister and she walked away with 100+ of settlement amount. Since I did a mistake in filing my claim ( minor signature missing) my court hearing was pushed to next week. My first worry was statue of limitations as my petition was not approved by court before 1 year but then i was able to find a attorney on contingency and he assured me that probate code says as long as i have started my petition process i am safe from 1 year limit.
For some reason my daughter was happy to settle with my sister however she is not willing to offer anything to me even though its a same case. I am even willing to take lower amount than my sister.
Anyways my worry is that 2 days before my hearing- my daughter has filed an objection asking court to dismiss my claim this time citing another clause from statue of limitation i.e. not 1 year one but 60 days after knowledge of claim. I wouldn't go into detail and my attorney mentioned that he will argue that my sister also filed claim after 60 days but she got it approved so my petition should be approved as well. Additionally my daughter has also filed a side petition that since i started claim against the estate hence regardless of the outcome i should loose my 10% as well.
I have trust on my attorney however he will still get his fees even if I loose , I on the other hand have everything to loose. So I wanted to get an opinion from a 3rd party as to what my options are. If my claim gets denied and I lose my 10% then its really not fair that on the same case my sister got huge amount, my daughter gets full house and I didn't get anything.
So is there a further claim or lawsuit I can file after this ? Or am i barred forever since it has been over a year and there is nothing I can do ? What are my options of getting something ?
Hi All,
My mother created a life estate and included a house in it with following interest breakdown:
10% for my sister
10% for myself
80% for my older daughter who has lived away from me throughout her life
When my mother passed away - my sister or myself had no option but to live with the breakdown and we were sure of not ever getting anything since my daughter has life tenancy in that house as well in addition to 80% so she had no plans of selling the house ever.
Few months later- we came to know that my grandmother from paternal side left us a shared property and my sister and myself were suppose to get rental income from 1978- 2014. My mother was left as guardian for the money till we turn 18 however as it turns out my mother kept that amount throughout her life and never told me and my sister about it.
Based on rough calculation- my mother hence owed my sister and myself 100k+ without any interest alone.
My sister when she found out about this- started a creditor's claim via a top law firm and filed a petition. I didn't have any money to retain lawyer at that time so I waited for her petition to be filed and then I used a paralegal to file my claim as a copy paste of hers as well. We filed 19 days apart from each other.
Now to summarize- my daughter actually settled with my sister and she walked away with 100+ of settlement amount. Since I did a mistake in filing my claim ( minor signature missing) my court hearing was pushed to next week. My first worry was statue of limitations as my petition was not approved by court before 1 year but then i was able to find a attorney on contingency and he assured me that probate code says as long as i have started my petition process i am safe from 1 year limit.
For some reason my daughter was happy to settle with my sister however she is not willing to offer anything to me even though its a same case. I am even willing to take lower amount than my sister.
Anyways my worry is that 2 days before my hearing- my daughter has filed an objection asking court to dismiss my claim this time citing another clause from statue of limitation i.e. not 1 year one but 60 days after knowledge of claim. I wouldn't go into detail and my attorney mentioned that he will argue that my sister also filed claim after 60 days but she got it approved so my petition should be approved as well. Additionally my daughter has also filed a side petition that since i started claim against the estate hence regardless of the outcome i should loose my 10% as well.
I have trust on my attorney however he will still get his fees even if I loose , I on the other hand have everything to loose. So I wanted to get an opinion from a 3rd party as to what my options are. If my claim gets denied and I lose my 10% then its really not fair that on the same case my sister got huge amount, my daughter gets full house and I didn't get anything.
So is there a further claim or lawsuit I can file after this ? Or am i barred forever since it has been over a year and there is nothing I can do ? What are my options of getting something ?
