will contest

[conniegarsee]

What is the name of your state? Louisiana

I put a message on the family practice page. So now I'm trying this page, hope this is the right place to post about wills.

I have a very long and complicated case. I will try and make this as to the point as I possibly can.

My father died in 1992 after a lengthy hospital stay. He wrote a will saying he wanted all his separate and community property to go to my mother. My mother in turn wrote the same will saying if she died first everything separate and community would go to my dad. When they both had pasted then the four children from their marriage one and only marriage would divide equally. My father wanted this will written due to my brothers taking large sums of money from him and never repaying anything as promised. They left my parents paying all their bills, which they did.

We got an attorney to start succession for my father. We found out he was a crook and took money and land from my mother. He never did anything toward the case. He would tell us everything was going as planned not to worry he was taking care of business. I am not educated in law nor have I had to deal with attorneys. We were told by many other attorneys and people this lawyer was a very good one. He was good at lies and stealing! He gave the case to someone else and he left his practice.

My siblings sued my mother from their part of their inheritance. When we went to court that is when we found out we had a new lawyer. I thought anyone would be better than the guy we had, not so! This new lawyer was forced to take the case and was not to happy about it. He was new in the practice. We found out later they made our first lawyer leave because of all the malpractice in his numerous cases. But no one told us.

My mother was named executrix in my fathers will. My siblings had her replaced by a appointed attorney to over see the case. That is when our second lawyer stepped down. My mother had enough money to live comfortably until the attorneys used it all. She now lives paycheck to paycheck. I am having to act as our attorney and thats not good! I am a teacher/softball coach. I know nothing about law. She does not have the money to hire an attorney now, thanks to attorneys!

He wrote his will March 13 1992. He had an attorney he knew write it for him, one of my brothers friend. He told him to have a notary be present and sign and seal it along with 3 witnesses, we had 3 nurses sign. My siblings are saying now after all these years I made him write the will or I talked him into it. I was not even there when it was signed or written. I told them it did not write anyone out. He was just making sure our mother would be provided for.

My fathers family land has mineral rights now which is a gas well. My brothers stopped my mothers royalty check for the past 4 years. They do not want to honor the will now. They do not want our mother to get anything from our fathers inherited land, which he will to her until her death. The will was signed by a judge November 9, 1994 with Latin words (I believe) that mean do not change.

My siblings lawyer called a meeting with all 4 children. ( We have not seen each other in years.) He said that the executor would be their that is the only reason I went. We were suppose to sign papers to release the royalty that had been placed in escrow for 4 years.
Their lawyer said the executor just didn't show. He never call him back when he called. He also couldn't remember the splits on the amounts each person was to get. He said he gave his file of the case to the executor. I told him I know our mother was suppose to get 1/2 of inherited property due to daddy's will. My brother said it had been voided. We never were contacted about it being voided. We did all agree to have the money released and I signed. After I signed their lawyer started talking about our mother not getting anything. I showed him the will. He threw it back as soon as he saw last will and testament. My brother kept saying it's null and voided. Their lawyer said nothing and changed the subject quickly. I just kept quite.

When I got home I called the executor and told him what had happened. He is in the same building as my siblings lawyer. He said he was never was invited. He also did not have any will so the property would be divided by the siblings only. I said i didn't understand how a last will could not stand if it cut no one out. He said he was never told there was a will! I faxed it to him. He said it would stand. He said he believe the time had run out to contest. My siblings are saying they will contest the will. Can they still do it after all these year?. Since 1994

I'm sorry this is so lengthy but I am trying to get as much help for my mother as possible.

 

[nextwife]

What is the name of your state? Louisiana

I put a message on the family practice page. So now I'm trying this page, hope this is the right place to post about wills.

I have a very long and complicated case. I will try and make this as to the point as I possibly can.

My father died in 1992 after a lengthy hospital stay. He wrote a will saying he wanted all his separate and community property to go to my mother. My mother in turn wrote the same will saying if she died first everything separate and community would go to my dad. When they both had pasted then the four children from their marriage one and only marriage would divide equally. My father wanted this will written due to my brothers taking large sums of money from him and never repaying anything as promised. They left my parents paying all their bills, which they did.

We got an attorney to start succession for my father. We found out he was a crook and took money and land from my mother. He never did anything toward the case. He would tell us everything was going as planned not to worry he was taking care of business. I am not educated in law nor have I had to deal with attorneys. We were told by many other attorneys and people this lawyer was a very good one. He was good at lies and stealing! He gave the case to someone else and he left his practice.

My siblings sued my mother from their part of their inheritance. When we went to court that is when we found out we had a new lawyer. I thought anyone would be better than the guy we had, not so! This new lawyer was forced to take the case and was not to happy about it. He was new in the practice. We found out later they made our first lawyer leave because of all the malpractice in his numerous cases. But no one told us.

My mother was named executrix in my fathers will. My siblings had her replaced by a appointed attorney to over see the case. That is when our second lawyer stepped down. My mother had enough money to live comfortably until the attorneys used it all. She now lives paycheck to paycheck. I am having to act as our attorney and thats not good! I am a teacher/softball coach. I know nothing about law. She does not have the money to hire an attorney now, thanks to attorneys!

He wrote his will March 13 1992. He had an attorney he knew write it for him, one of my brothers friend. He told him to have a notary be present and sign and seal it along with 3 witnesses, we had 3 nurses sign. My siblings are saying now after all these years I made him write the will or I talked him into it. I was not even there when it was signed or written. I told them it did not write anyone out. He was just making sure our mother would be provided for.

My fathers family land has mineral rights now which is a gas well. My brothers stopped my mothers royalty check for the past 4 years. They do not want to honor the will now. They do not want our mother to get anything from our fathers inherited land, which he will to her until her death. The will was signed by a judge November 9, 1994 with Latin words (I believe) that mean do not change.

My siblings lawyer called a meeting with all 4 children. ( We have not seen each other in years.) He said that the executor would be their that is the only reason I went. We were suppose to sign papers to release the royalty that had been placed in escrow for 4 years.
Their lawyer said the executor just didn't show. He never call him back when he called. He also couldn't remember the splits on the amounts each person was to get. He said he gave his file of the case to the executor. I told him I know our mother was suppose to get 1/2 of inherited property due to daddy's will. My brother said it had been voided. We never were contacted about it being voided. We did all agree to have the money released and I signed. After I signed their lawyer started talking about our mother not getting anything. I showed him the will. He threw it back as soon as he saw last will and testament. My brother kept saying it's null and voided. Their lawyer said nothing and changed the subject quickly. I just kept quite.

When I got home I called the executor and told him what had happened. He is in the same building as my siblings lawyer. He said he was never was invited. He also did not have any will so the property would be divided by the siblings only. I said i didn't understand how a last will could not stand if it cut no one out. He said he was never told there was a will! I faxed it to him. He said it would stand. He said he believe the time had run out to contest. My siblings are saying they will contest the will. Can they still do it after all these year?. Since 1994

I'm sorry this is so lengthy but I am trying to get as much help for my mother as possible.

So WHO took the ACTUAL will and filed it with the probate court in dad's county where he lived and was appointed executor? The estate needed to be PROBATED.

WAS it probated????? Why not?

 

[conniegarsee]

Her first attorney had the will signed by a judge. The copy of the will I have as NE.VEN...(?) with the date of November 9, 1994 and a judges signature. I do not have the will in front of me at this moment so I do not remember the spelling. I did look up the phrase and it means do not change.
My brother and his business partner borrowed some money, $20,000. My father was taking care of a family friends giving her a place to live and helping her pay her bills. She was 90 at the time and in her right mind. My father told my brother he did not have the money to give. The lady told him to use her money he told her it was really not a good idea. My brother and his business partner told her and my father they only needed the money for 3 months and would sign papers to prove they would stand good for the money. The lady insisted on letting them use the money. She would in turn get a very nice profit. They did sign something saying they would pay it back in 90 days. They never paid it back. My father told them repeatedly it had to be paid. They were always going to pay it next week. A month or so later The old lady had a massive stroke. She never really recovered from it. She could no longer speak she was just there. At this point in time her family wanted her to come home. They saw the note that had not been paid so they went after my father. They sued him for the money that was not paid back to her estate. The judge found him responsible because of her age. He could not pay the 20,000. back so they placed a lein against his home. The attorney said he had to wait until the lein was to be resigned, which he told us it was seven years, so we were told we had to wait until the lein was not resigned and taken off. That is why we were waiting. When they did not resign the lein he went forward with the succession. But he did have the will signed.
My dad lived and died in Louisiana. Everything he owned was in the state of louisiana except for one property he and my mother bought in Texas.

 

[conniegarsee]

Her first attorney had the will signed by a judge. The copy of the will I have as NE.VEN...(?) with the date of November 9, 1994 and a judges signature. I do not have the will in front of me at this moment so I do not remember the spelling. I did look up the phrase and it means do not change.
My brother and his business partner borrowed some money, $20,000. My father was taking care of a family friends giving her a place to live and helping her pay her bills. She was 90 at the time and in her right mind. My father told my brother he did not have the money to give. The lady told him to use her money he told her it was really not a good idea. My brother and his business partner told her and my father they only needed the money for 3 months and would sign papers to prove they would stand good for the money. The lady insisted on letting them use the money. She would in turn get a very nice profit. They did sign something saying they would pay it back in 90 days. They never paid it back. My father told them repeatedly it had to be paid. They were always going to pay it next week. A month or so later The old lady had a massive stroke. She never really recovered from it. She could no longer speak she was just there. At this point in time her family wanted her to come home. They saw the note that had not been paid so they went after my father. They sued him for the money that was not paid back to her estate. The judge found him responsible because of her age. He could not pay the 20,000. back so they placed a lein against his home. The attorney said he had to wait until the lein was to be resigned, which he told us it was seven years, so we were told we had to wait until the lein was not resigned and taken off. That is why we were waiting. When they did not resign the lein he went forward with the succession. But he did have the will signed.
My dad lived and died in Louisiana. Everything he owned was in the state of louisiana except for one property he and my mother bought in Texas.

 

[conniegarsee]

Her first attorney had the will signed by a judge. The copy of the will I have as NE.VEN...(?) with the date of November 9, 1994 and a judges signature. I do not have the will in front of me at this moment so I do not remember the spelling. I did look up the phrase and it means do not change.
My brother and his business partner borrowed some money, $20,000. My father was taking care of a family friends giving her a place to live and helping her pay her bills. She was 90 at the time and in her right mind. My father told my brother he did not have the money to give. The lady told him to use her money he told her it was really not a good idea. My brother and his business partner told her and my father they only needed the money for 3 months and would sign papers to prove they would stand good for the money. The lady insisted on letting them use the money. She would in turn get a very nice profit. They did sign something saying they would pay it back in 90 days. They never paid it back. My father told them repeatedly it had to be paid. They were always going to pay it next week. A month or so later The old lady had a massive stroke. She never really recovered from it. She could no longer speak she was just there. At this point in time her family wanted her to come home. They saw the note that had not been paid so they went after my father. They sued him for the money that was not paid back to her estate. The judge found him responsible because of her age. He could not pay the 20,000. back so they placed a lein against his home. The attorney said he had to wait until the lein was to be resigned, which he told us it was seven years, so we were told we had to wait until the lein was not resigned and taken off. That is why we were waiting. When they did not resign the lein he went forward with the succession. But he did have the will signed.
My dad lived and died in Louisiana. Everything he owned was in the state of louisiana except for one property he and my mother bought in Texas.

 

[seniorjudge]

So WHO took the ACTUAL will and filed it with the probate court in dad's county where he lived and was appointed executor? The estate needed to be PROBATED.

WAS it probated????? Why not?

Answer these questions.

 

[conniegarsee]

Judd Tooke was the attorney who we gave the will to at my mothers first meeting with him. He sent copies to all three other siblings and never got any response from them. He then Filed the will, again it was signed by a judge on Nov. 9 1994 with the latin phrase do not change. If that is probating a will then he did it and had it done. At this point in time my mother was still acting as excutor. A few years later they file a suit to get their part of our father estate, and they wanted to be executor of the estate. My mother said no. Neither side would agree on a person to be executor so one was appointed by the judge, Gary Mitchell. I guess that is what we are trying to do now probate the estate. Get everything finished. Mr. Mitchell told my siblings and myself he is not either sides attorney. He is there to represent my fathers wishes, which until I had a will faxed to him he had no idea their was one. He told us he would divide the estate by what the law states. He seems to think the will will stand because it writes no one out. It only provides for our mother while she is alive and them all will be divided by the four siblings at her death.

 

[Dandy Don]

Go down to the courthouse and find out for certain whether the will has been filed for probate or not.

What is the total value of your mother's estate?

How did the brothers get the royalty check stopped and how much was it? Who is getting this money now? Please make sure that the executor knows about this situation--he is the only one with authority to handle it properly.

The greedy siblings have only complicated the matter by contesting the will, which they have virtually no chance of winning since they are on shaky legal ground with no valid claim. Father should have left them something in his will in order to avoid a will contest, but he had the right to leave his assets to whomever he wanted to. The fact that this attorney was a friend of your brothers doesn't help the situation.

This is just one big stupid mess--how can they claim you unduly influenced him with the will when they hired the lawyer that prepared it?

Ask your attorney about a provision in the Louisiana Civil Code that mentions that children must be named in a will and whether this gives the siblings grounds to contest or whether it is a minor provision.

Exactly how did an attorney "steal money and land" from your mother? Are you saying these were used to pay attorney fees? Have your attorney examine this attorney's billings to see if his fees are exorbitant and unjustified or permissible. Executor fee is normally 2% for your state so it seems he may have overcharged and you may want to consider filing a complaint against him with the Louisiana State Bar Association if they handle fee disputes. Did someone sign a fee agreement with him or not?

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[conniegarsee]

Thank you very much for your response!!!!!!!

I'm going tomorrow to Shreveport to check on the will.

My mother has almost 1 & 1/2 acres in Shreveport. It is right in the middle of commercial property. She had a 5 bedroom house over 2500 sq ft. My sister and her son gutted her house and through all her furniture and appliances out in the yard with all the insulation, paneling, flooring, you name it she through it out. The property now is really all there is. We have had a couple of offers of 50,000.00. My siblings have everything else. She has been left with nothing!

All I know about the royalty check being stopped is they told the oil company there was no will the children should get the royalties. They stopped it that quick. Judd Tooke who was her attorney at that time said he was going to get her check reinstated, but he never did. At first the check was around 2,000.00 a month. I have been told it dropped to around 700.00 a month. The money was held in an escrow account, there is 40,000.00 in the escrow account right now.

The attorney that my father contacted about the will was my brothers friend. He sent the will to my father by mail. He told me to have a notary present and be sure he had 3 witnesses. Jack Nossman died about 5 years ago, he never told my brother about the will. I told my brother he was not suppose to discuss my dad's personal business with anyone, even him, the attorneys best friend.

They did not hire the attorney that prepared it, Jack died. This guy is someone they just hired.

My siblings have never like me. What I did to them I do not know. My mother even said she can not understand what I did. There is a large age difference I have a brother 13 years older a sister 9 years older and a brother 5 years older. So I was like a only child. My siblings were gone when I was in 6th grade.

My mothers attorney told her he would take payment when the case was over. She never signed anything. She had land she and my father bought in Texas in a gated community on a lake. He said he sold it for payment on working on the case. He said he sold it for 12,000.00. It cost more than that when they bought it. It was paid off. I don't know how he sold it without her consent. He never gave a bill! I could never get in touch with him. I left messages and sent letters went to his office and I never got to see or speak with him. So someone paid him for land and he keep the money. Judd Tooke is no longer practicing law. He stayed in trouble with the bar. I found this out after he left. I asked him about the money and land. He never answered.