Not My Mother's Heir

[retiredbaker]

What is the name of your state? MI

When my mother passed away Dec. 14th, I found out today in the mail that she had changed her Will in 2003 and named her neighbor/caregiver as her Personal Rep. The only mention of me is she left me a small amount of money and my son the same amount of money. She got mad at me back then and, obviously, cut me out. It hurts me that she was such a vindictive woman. She was manipulated by this neighbor/caregiver and when my husband and I tried to talk to her about it, she got mad at us and has now had the final word.

I received notice of the petition for probate, a copy of the Will and her death certificate today. We live in Texas, so we have hired an attorney to look at the documents for us. I guess my question is......the Will states, "I give the residue of my estate to Personal Rep., etc. Does that include the house? It is not mentioned as such, but I'm assuming that's what it is.

I know the legal jargon in a Will states, ..."....being of sound mind and disposing memory....". What does it take to dispute that statement? My mother was NOT of sound mind. She did some pretty bizaar things.

Thank you

 

[BelizeBreeze]

What is the name of your state? MI

When my mother passed away Dec. 14th, I found out today in the mail that she had changed her Will in 2003 and named her neighbor/caregiver as her Personal Rep. The only mention of me is she left me a small amount of money and my son the same amount of money. She got mad at me back then and, obviously, cut me out. It hurts me that she was such a vindictive woman. She was manipulated by this neighbor/caregiver and when my husband and I tried to talk to her about it, she got mad at us and has now had the final word.

I received notice of the petition for probate, a copy of the Will and her death certificate today. We live in Texas, so we have hired an attorney to look at the documents for us. I guess my question is......the Will states, "I give the residue of my estate to Personal Rep., etc. Does that include the house? It is not mentioned as such, but I'm assuming that's what it is.

I know the legal jargon in a Will states, ..."....being of sound mind and disposing memory....". What does it take to dispute that statement? My mother was NOT of sound mind. She did some pretty bizaar things.

Thank you

She effectively disinherited you. Residual of the estate means everything not specifically disbursed of in the will. So yes, the house is the executor's

 

[Zigner]

My mother was NOT of sound mind. She did some pretty bizaar things.

Unfortunately, doing bizarre things does not mean that one is not of sound mind...

 

[BelizeBreeze]

Unfortunately, doing bizarre things does not mean that one is not of sound mind...

If jumping out of a perfectly good airplane is proof...

 

[sbldutma]

"Rest and residue"

This phrase should cover anything that your mother owned that was not specifically listed in any other part of her will. Generally, land interests, oil & gas well interests, etc.

This covers "anything she may have forgot to put down".

 

[Dandy Don]

Have a probate attorney in the state where the estate is being probated review the will and also find out if this lady had power of attorney. Was your mother specifically diagnosed by a physician as having a disease which would have affected her mental competency?

Was this will prepared by an attorney?

You may have grounds to challenge this will to claim undue influence by the PR.

What is the value of this estate?

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[retiredbaker]

Dandy Don.....

My mother would never let me talk to her doctor. The only person who accompanied her was her neighbor/Personal Rep. My mother would "talk" to my dad when we visited her. My dad died in 1987 and she hated him. She would tell him to "get out of here". She changed her Will more times than I can count. Whenever she got mad at someone she would go to the attorney and have it changed. She was very abusive verbally to me and my father. Two years ago when we visited her, she was going to have knee replacement surgery within a couple weeks and I never trusted her neighbor so I went to my mother's doctor's office and got the form for her to sign so I could be notified if there was any problems. I asked her to sign it and she screamed at me and told me if there was anything I needed to know, her neighbor would call me. She told us to get out and said she was going to call the police! She told me the only two mistakes she had made in her life was marrying my father and adopting me! After 55 years of her calling me names and telling me how much I had disappointed her, etc., etc., I had enough and we left. I vowed I would never go back.

Her neighbor/Personal Rep told us back in 2003 that we had to "play the game" with her. I was really upset that she had that attitude and it scared me that she was going to take my mother for everything she had. Well.....we were right and it looks like there isn't anything we can do about it. It's such a shame that old people get duped by people like this.

We're not talking about a huge amount of money....about $100,000, but it makes me sick that she couldn't see what her neighbor was up to.

Thanks again for your input.

 

[justalayman]

After 55 years of her calling me names and telling me how much I had disappointed her, etc., etc., I had enough and we left. I vowed I would never go back.
Her neighbor/Personal Rep told us back in 2003 that we had to "play the game" with her. I was really upset that she had that attitude and it scared me that she was going to take my mother for everything she had. Well.....we were right and it looks like there isn't anything we can do about it. It's such a shame that old people get duped by people like this.

We're not talking about a huge amount of money....about $100,000, but it makes me sick that she couldn't see what her neighbor was up to.

Thanks again for your input.

and you thought the neighbor was taking advantage of your mother?

You removed yourself from her life and then later are hurt because she left you little to nothing?

Don't you think that maybe the neighbor gave her something that you decided to not give her. Don't take this wrong though. If she was abusive to you, I do understand your decision to seperate yourself from her but don't get upset because you end up with all that went along with that which included being effectively disinherited.


The neighbor did "play the game" better than you. She was able to pacify your mothers ever changing moods and beliefs whether they were justified or not and was rewarded for her perseverence.

 

[retiredbaker]

Justalayman......

Don't you think that maybe the neighbor gave her something that you decided to not give her.

Yes, you are right....to a certain extent. I didn't decide to NOT give her the attention she wanted or needed......she just didn't want it from ME. She always pushed me away. She shunned her sisters, too, that tried to help her. I guess it just hurts that a stranger came in and was the daughter to her that I had tried to be all my life, but I could never please her.

Sometimes facing reality is the hardest thing in life. We all want to be loved and to realized that the woman who raised you didn't love you is pretty hard to take. I don't begrudge her neighbor for getting compensated. She put up with a lot from my mother. What you don't understand is how this neighbor twisted my mother's mind into turning her back not only on me but to her whole family. To me, that is unforgivable. It's how she went about getting my mother to give her everything. She cut her off from everyone and whenever we did visit her, they would always be right there. We could never have any alone time with her. She did the same thing with my mother's sister's when they came to visit. Eventually, everyone quit going to see her. That's exactly what the neighbor wanted.

I'm sorry....I didn't mean to get carried away with this whole thing.

 

[BlondiePB]

Sounds like your mother was an alcoholic, retiredbaker.

 

[Zigner]

Honestly, it sounds to me like your mom's mind was "twisted" (your word, not mine) long before the neighbor came in to the picture.
I seriously doubt you will see any of the $100,000. Is it worth your emotional state to push for it?