Was the house sold before or after your father died?
In the copy of the living trust you received, are the kids named as beneficiary of anything and have you received anything from this estate, from the will OR from the trust? Are you saying that it is possible that the copy of the trust you received was later dissolved and replaced by another trust?
If needed, would you be able to provide medical records or doctor testimony that he may have perhaps been under medication or not in his right mind when the house was sold or when the newer revocable trust may have been drawn up?
You need to find out from the surviving spouse whether your father left a will or not. I think you are right to suspect that you may have been cheated out of your share of this estate. It sure would have been nice if father had mentioned exactly in what form or from what source the kids would be getting their $35,000 apiece. You or your attorney also needs to look at the deed involving the sale of the house to see whose names were involved--did your father as an individual sell her the house or did the trust sell her the house?
One consideration is that you don't know whether all of the assets were put into the trust and others were left/mentioned in the will--that is why you need to ask widow if a will exists and who got the life insurance.
You need to check at the county courthouse probate court to find out FOR SURE whether any type of probate was opened up for your father's estate or not. (You can't just automatically assume that there was no probate!) If there was a will and nothing has been filed, this would seem to indicate that maybe widow is withholding the will and doesn't intend to file it so that you all don't get anything, which is illegal and improper.
Would you be willing to pay a local private investigator $100-$200 to do a financial background check on your dad that would at least show you where he did his banking (what happened to his bank accounts?) and whether he owned any stock or other valuable assets?
If no one has filed to be executor, if you think there are still assets out there that you are entitled to, then you or your attorney could file to be administrator and that would give you the authority to claim any and all assets that you find out about. It would also give you the authority to request copies of your father's tax returns for the past couple of years (state and federal) to give you some clues as to his sources of income, since the tax agencies will only release that information to executor/administrator. Perhaps your filing as administrator would force widow to produce a will if there is one, but you would need to consult with a local probate attorney to find out if this strategy is wise or not.
DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA (
[email protected])
