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Grandfathers Death but no Will.
- Thread starter DRB
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adjusterjack
Senior Member
No, there wasn’t really any compensation to it. He asked me to move in a few years ago to care for him, so I did. There were no payments or compensation involved.
adjusterjack
Senior Member
Taxing Matters
Overtaxed Member
I take it from your post that your grandfather had two children still living with him, a son and a daughter. Were either one of them your parent? This matters because in Kentucky when a person dies intestate (without a will) and without a surviving spouse then the intestate succession rules say that the person's estate goes to his descendants per stirpes. What that means is that the estate would be divided equally among the decedent's children if they all survived him. But if a child died before the decedent, then that child's share will get divided among that child's children (assuming the child had any kids). So suppose Homer has three children, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. When Homer died he was living in Kentucky and his wife Marge and Bart both died before Homer. Under Kentucky's rules Bart, Lisa, and Maggie would have each gotten one third of the estate had they all lived. But since Bart died before Homer, Bart's one third share goes to his kids, if he had any, and Lisa and Maggie would still get their one third share each. If Bart never had kids, then Lisa and Maggie split the estate half each.
So if your parent that was the child of your grandfather died before your grandfather did then you would get a share of his estate. But if one your grandfather's surviving children is your parent, then your parent gets a share of your grandfather's estate and you wouldn't.
Note that not everything your grandfather had would necessarily be part of the intestate estate. Some assets might pass to others outside the estate. For example, if your grandfather had financial accounts for which he designated a pay on death beneficiary those accounts would go to the named beneficiary outside the estate.
Taxing Matters
Overtaxed Member
That assumes all his children were living when he died. If one or more of his children died before he did, the kids of the deceased child (if there were any) would divide their parent's share of the estate.
I had a place to live before and during that time, i just slept in the guest room. I encouraged it. His son wants everything for himself. At one point he said he had a will but there’s no record of it and no one can find it.
Has anyone filed for probate? It sounds like he did own real estate? Who paid the utilities, etc? Are you still living in his hom? Settling asn estate takes time. You need to be making alternate living arrangements which might be renting the place you are living now from the estate. If grandfather was paying bills from his accounts, you have to worry about having the utilities cut off for non-payment.
If you are willing to serve as executor of his estate and be responsible for making sure debts are paid and property distributed (even if you are not entitled to anything), consult an attorney. The attorney is paid by the estate.
With no will his son (your uncle?) does not get everything. If would be better to have someone else ad the executor of the estate. Where is grandfather's daughter (your aunt?) in all of this.
Being the executor of an estate can be time consuming and requires attention to detail. It can be very fristrating dealing with beneficiaries. Read up on the responsibilities before deciding to take on that job.
There are many more problems that must be solved before the property can be legally distributed. Unfortunately, some estates are not settled properly because of the greed and dishonesty of the beneficiaries and/or executor.
If you are willing to serve as executor of his estate and be responsible for making sure debts are paid and property distributed (even if you are not entitled to anything), consult an attorney. The attorney is paid by the estate.
With no will his son (your uncle?) does not get everything. If would be better to have someone else ad the executor of the estate. Where is grandfather's daughter (your aunt?) in all of this.
Being the executor of an estate can be time consuming and requires attention to detail. It can be very fristrating dealing with beneficiaries. Read up on the responsibilities before deciding to take on that job.
There are many more problems that must be solved before the property can be legally distributed. Unfortunately, some estates are not settled properly because of the greed and dishonesty of the beneficiaries and/or executor.
Is your parent who is the child of your deceased grandfather still living? If so, then you have no right to any inheritance. It is conceivable, but probably not likely that you could successfully make a claim against your grandfather's estate for compensation for being his caregiver. There are two obvious problems with that. First, you mentioned that, while you weren't paid for being a caregiver, you were a "live-in caregiver." I assume that means you lived in your grandfather's home, and I further assume that you did not pay rent. If that's the case, then, while you didn't receive payment, you did receive a place to live as compensation. Second, family members claiming a right to payment for being a caregiver of a close family member are generally not successful in the absence of a written agreement. Why? Because family members typically care for each other without expectation of compensation.
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