Augustgrad
Member
What is the name of your state? SC
My mother passed in April of last year. She had virtually no assets other than a car and was living in a trailer she could not afford that I was trying to talk her into moving out of. She inherited it from her mother who purchased it somewhere in the mid 90s. My 56 year old half brother (separate fathers) who has rarely held down a job throughout his life, was living with my mother at the time. The home was in complete disrepair hence why I was trying to get my mother out. Upon her passing, the bank quickly foreclosed since my brother is for all intensive purposes a bum. My father flew out and paid for a portion of the funeral services.
After this happened, my brother quickly started looking at me as his next meal ticket and started poking and prodding about living with me. I live in my own home about 50 miles away. Two weeks after the funeral, he was hitting me up for her bank card to empty the meager amount of funds in her bank account. When I went no contact, I eventually got a schizo style text from my brother accusing me of stealing my mother's will and threatening to get me locked up since the will would clearly state my mother wanted him to have her car. Convenient since it was her only asset and none of the financial burden of the loss fell on him. I am absolutely positive my mother had no will considering her financial situation. The accusation is doubly bizarre to me considering from my understanding any will would be on file with the law firm it was filed with and would instantly be known about upon my mother's death. Had I known how things would have played out, I would have paid for my mother to have one written myself. Lesson learned.
Ultimately I ignored this text and any other contact and tried to file for representative of her estate. As did my brother. While he also continued to squat in the trailer and illegally drive my mother's car with no insurance or license. And change the locks to where I could no longer gain entry to the home. Since we were contesting one another, every time I would go to any court clerk in the town my mother resided, I would routinely be told I needed legal representation. So basically my brother got every benefit and I was told to change anything, I would need legal representation for an estate likely not worth that investment-it is just my mothers car a 2011 Kia Optima. Its not like were talking a luxury SUV here. So I had pretty much given up.
The trailer sold about a month ago. And even though I own my own home, I never even thought of the equity that had been paid into the home over the past 25 years or so. Long story short, once the home was sold I got a letter from a lawfirm about surplus funds from the sale of the home. The total is roughly 25k. So now potentially legal action is worth it. My ultimate goal is for any funds to go to my mother's remaining funeral expenses which are sizable. I've always been under the impression than when it comes to an estate, funeral expenses take priority over all other debts. Is this correct? Does it vary by state? At this point, is legal action worth it?
I've tried to stick to the facts here but there are a litany of reasons my brother is trash and I figured I needed to include some for context. Like the fact that he was estranged from my mother for a decade and only reached out when he needed a place to stay. He is in current possession of her car solely because she was letting him drive it while she was in the hospital before she passed. Regarding debts, my mother had no other creditor debts that I know of that could be a factor for these surplus funds. However, considering that I am now considering legal actions if there is anything I'm overlooking that may make this a waste of time, I'd like to know about it.
My mother passed in April of last year. She had virtually no assets other than a car and was living in a trailer she could not afford that I was trying to talk her into moving out of. She inherited it from her mother who purchased it somewhere in the mid 90s. My 56 year old half brother (separate fathers) who has rarely held down a job throughout his life, was living with my mother at the time. The home was in complete disrepair hence why I was trying to get my mother out. Upon her passing, the bank quickly foreclosed since my brother is for all intensive purposes a bum. My father flew out and paid for a portion of the funeral services.
After this happened, my brother quickly started looking at me as his next meal ticket and started poking and prodding about living with me. I live in my own home about 50 miles away. Two weeks after the funeral, he was hitting me up for her bank card to empty the meager amount of funds in her bank account. When I went no contact, I eventually got a schizo style text from my brother accusing me of stealing my mother's will and threatening to get me locked up since the will would clearly state my mother wanted him to have her car. Convenient since it was her only asset and none of the financial burden of the loss fell on him. I am absolutely positive my mother had no will considering her financial situation. The accusation is doubly bizarre to me considering from my understanding any will would be on file with the law firm it was filed with and would instantly be known about upon my mother's death. Had I known how things would have played out, I would have paid for my mother to have one written myself. Lesson learned.
Ultimately I ignored this text and any other contact and tried to file for representative of her estate. As did my brother. While he also continued to squat in the trailer and illegally drive my mother's car with no insurance or license. And change the locks to where I could no longer gain entry to the home. Since we were contesting one another, every time I would go to any court clerk in the town my mother resided, I would routinely be told I needed legal representation. So basically my brother got every benefit and I was told to change anything, I would need legal representation for an estate likely not worth that investment-it is just my mothers car a 2011 Kia Optima. Its not like were talking a luxury SUV here. So I had pretty much given up.
The trailer sold about a month ago. And even though I own my own home, I never even thought of the equity that had been paid into the home over the past 25 years or so. Long story short, once the home was sold I got a letter from a lawfirm about surplus funds from the sale of the home. The total is roughly 25k. So now potentially legal action is worth it. My ultimate goal is for any funds to go to my mother's remaining funeral expenses which are sizable. I've always been under the impression than when it comes to an estate, funeral expenses take priority over all other debts. Is this correct? Does it vary by state? At this point, is legal action worth it?
I've tried to stick to the facts here but there are a litany of reasons my brother is trash and I figured I needed to include some for context. Like the fact that he was estranged from my mother for a decade and only reached out when he needed a place to stay. He is in current possession of her car solely because she was letting him drive it while she was in the hospital before she passed. Regarding debts, my mother had no other creditor debts that I know of that could be a factor for these surplus funds. However, considering that I am now considering legal actions if there is anything I'm overlooking that may make this a waste of time, I'd like to know about it.
