What is the name of your state? PA
Older brother set this up with my elderly father to take all after my twin brother's death left me with nothing. What recourse and options do I have? Please help me.
I live in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please advise me of any information that would be helpful for my situation. I did hire an attorney and he gave me nothing but bad news. I am here for a second opinion and to know what my next step is. Thank you again and I appreciate your time.
My mother died when I was young which left us a family of four. My parents divorced when I was young. All that was left was my father, my older brother, me, and my twin brother. I was very close to my twin brother and father after my mother’s death. My older brother and I talked from time to time but we were not close. He was always a bully with me and I did not put myself around him unless I had to.
My twin brother tragically and unexpectedly passed away on September 26, 2019, without a will and without naming a beneficiary on his 401K/IRA. My twin brother was not married and has no kids. I wanted my twin brother buried with my mother but my father wanted him buried next to his sister. We disagreed and it was the funeral home who directed my father to make decisions and advised him that he is next of kin to inherit per intestacy laws. With this information, my father had him cremated and filed with the court to be appointed as executor of his estate on 10-18-2019. The only items filed so far are the death certificate, the petition to be appointed, and issuance of letters of administration to my father all done on 10-18-2019. My attorney advised me the PA inheritance tax would have been due on or about 6-26-2020 (which was not completed). An inventory of what was in the estate was supposed to be filed by now as well (which is also not done). Attorney said they would have shown up on docket if there were filed.
Because my twin brother died without a will, the laws of intestacy apply. Under those laws, if there is no surviving spouse and no children, then the next in line is any surviving parent, which is my father. That parent, my father, is entitled to 100% of the net estate.
My twin brother died owning a house with a ballpark value of about $200,000 and a mortgage of approximately $130,000 and an IRA of about $150.000. So, his gross estate was about $220,000. The inheritance tax would take a bite of 4.5% of the net estate (after the funeral and administrative expenses), so that would be about $9,000; assuming $20,000 in estate expenses, the net estate would be about $190,000. The house is still titled in my twin brother's name.
The IRA is usually distributed in accordance with the beneficiary designation made by the owner. My brother did not put down a beneficiary so I am told the IRA would go to his estate. The beneficiary of his estate goes to my father since there is no will and he was next to inherit per intestacy laws.
My father passed away on October 28, 2020, at the hospital. Before that, my older brother and I came to see him at the hospital. My father was weak and could not talk from time to time. I was under the assumption at that time during the hospital stay that my father had no will because we could not make medical decisions for him and the hospital did not have one on file. My older brother never told me my father had a will until my father died. The older brother told me to sign off cremation papers for the funeral home for my father to be cremated. I signed the papers and never heard from my older brother again. I was calling him for days which turned into weeks but he never returned my calls. I was asking and texting him to see the will but he never showed it to me and I ended up hiring an attorney who contacted him directly but heard back from his attorney.
Older brother’s attorney shows my father left a will dated 11-11-2019 which named my older brother as sole beneficiary (other than a watch designated for his grandson of my older brother). My older brother was my father’s caregiver. I am married and kept in touch with my father. We were never estranged. We had a relationship. I cannot imagine my father cutting me out. My father talked about distributing my twin brother’s money to us (me and my older brother) and he died while my twin’s estate is in probate-incomplete and before he could keep on his promise to distribute the money to us. I know my father rolled my twin brother’s IRA to his account already and took out a check for $40,000, that he told me was being mailed to his house where he lived with my older brother when he got checked into the hospital.
The issue is that my attorney says that if my father was competent to make a will, and was under no undue influence from my older brother, then the will is effective. Whatever amount is left in my twin brother’s estate would have considered having followed into my father’s estate. How could that be? There was no will in my brother’s estate. My father died during probate as it was not completed and the house is still under my twin brother’s name. How does it all go to my older brother? (tax not paid and no return filed) …
Attorney says even though the house was not titled in his name, I am guessing its value is still taxable to the estate. So your father’s estate will be subject to the inheritance tax of 4.5% of the net estate.
I looked at the will. It is signed by a notary who is also signed as the first witness. I looked her up online to talk to her about this and I found out she passed away on August 13, 2020. I cannot read the second signature’s name (witness) so I now find myself now stuck…
My attorney advised me that my only avenue are to challenge the competence or the possible influence of my older brother. How do I do this when I did not live there and do not know what went on? I talked to my father from time to time and made visits to my twin brother's home where my father and older brother lived. I do not remember seeing or knowing anything suspect. Since my older brother was living with my father, and he was my father’s caregiver, chauffeur, and living companion, I could see my father maybe recognizing him by giving him more but how could he give my older brother everything, which I do not believe he would do and to cut me out completely? My attorney says I am out of luck because unless there is a witness that would describe a scene where they saw my older brother taking my father’s hand and helping put his signature on the will, without him knowing what he was signing, then it is a very hard case to prove and I would be taking a chance and losing money on my end to fighting this.
My older brother is a narcissist and I know deep down he plotted this and knew about this while hiding it from me. He wanted to benefit because he is selfish. He was always jealous of the fact the twins got all the attention growing up. I feel cheated and know he is up to something which is why he stopped speaking to me after my father's death.
My attorney says in my best case if I won a challenge and the will was thrown out, the court might look back to a will that had previously existed; which I do not believe there is one. Or if there was no other will, then under the laws of intestacy, if my father had no surviving spouse (which he doesn’t), then his estate would be shared equally by his surviving children. So, it would be 50/50 between me and my older brother which I believe and know my father wanted. But as my attorney keeps indicating to me is that I would probably not be entitled to have my attorney fees and court costs paid out of the estate, so I would be out of pocket on those items along with everything else.
My attorney shared with me that I am eligible to be named as co-executor of my twin brother’s estate. That conceivably could entitle me to an executor’s fee which would depend on how much hourly work I put into the task but with no pot of gold at the end for me, it would be perhaps a thankless task. My attorney sees no other benefit here for me and sent me a bill which I paid.
My older brother’s attorney wants me to sign off on not being the executor of my twin brother’s estate. My older brother will not talk to me directly and only wants to speak through attorneys. How can I propose a settlement agreement to my older brother through our attorneys into giving me $55,000 from the estate as my father had told me he wanted me to have before he died? I would be willing to forget all and move on if he agrees with the $55,000.
If that’s not the case and there is no settlement agreement, please tell me how can I dispute this will and have this will have thrown out?
Thank you again and God bless. Jerry
Older brother set this up with my elderly father to take all after my twin brother's death left me with nothing. What recourse and options do I have? Please help me.
I live in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please advise me of any information that would be helpful for my situation. I did hire an attorney and he gave me nothing but bad news. I am here for a second opinion and to know what my next step is. Thank you again and I appreciate your time.
My mother died when I was young which left us a family of four. My parents divorced when I was young. All that was left was my father, my older brother, me, and my twin brother. I was very close to my twin brother and father after my mother’s death. My older brother and I talked from time to time but we were not close. He was always a bully with me and I did not put myself around him unless I had to.
My twin brother tragically and unexpectedly passed away on September 26, 2019, without a will and without naming a beneficiary on his 401K/IRA. My twin brother was not married and has no kids. I wanted my twin brother buried with my mother but my father wanted him buried next to his sister. We disagreed and it was the funeral home who directed my father to make decisions and advised him that he is next of kin to inherit per intestacy laws. With this information, my father had him cremated and filed with the court to be appointed as executor of his estate on 10-18-2019. The only items filed so far are the death certificate, the petition to be appointed, and issuance of letters of administration to my father all done on 10-18-2019. My attorney advised me the PA inheritance tax would have been due on or about 6-26-2020 (which was not completed). An inventory of what was in the estate was supposed to be filed by now as well (which is also not done). Attorney said they would have shown up on docket if there were filed.
Because my twin brother died without a will, the laws of intestacy apply. Under those laws, if there is no surviving spouse and no children, then the next in line is any surviving parent, which is my father. That parent, my father, is entitled to 100% of the net estate.
My twin brother died owning a house with a ballpark value of about $200,000 and a mortgage of approximately $130,000 and an IRA of about $150.000. So, his gross estate was about $220,000. The inheritance tax would take a bite of 4.5% of the net estate (after the funeral and administrative expenses), so that would be about $9,000; assuming $20,000 in estate expenses, the net estate would be about $190,000. The house is still titled in my twin brother's name.
The IRA is usually distributed in accordance with the beneficiary designation made by the owner. My brother did not put down a beneficiary so I am told the IRA would go to his estate. The beneficiary of his estate goes to my father since there is no will and he was next to inherit per intestacy laws.
My father passed away on October 28, 2020, at the hospital. Before that, my older brother and I came to see him at the hospital. My father was weak and could not talk from time to time. I was under the assumption at that time during the hospital stay that my father had no will because we could not make medical decisions for him and the hospital did not have one on file. My older brother never told me my father had a will until my father died. The older brother told me to sign off cremation papers for the funeral home for my father to be cremated. I signed the papers and never heard from my older brother again. I was calling him for days which turned into weeks but he never returned my calls. I was asking and texting him to see the will but he never showed it to me and I ended up hiring an attorney who contacted him directly but heard back from his attorney.
Older brother’s attorney shows my father left a will dated 11-11-2019 which named my older brother as sole beneficiary (other than a watch designated for his grandson of my older brother). My older brother was my father’s caregiver. I am married and kept in touch with my father. We were never estranged. We had a relationship. I cannot imagine my father cutting me out. My father talked about distributing my twin brother’s money to us (me and my older brother) and he died while my twin’s estate is in probate-incomplete and before he could keep on his promise to distribute the money to us. I know my father rolled my twin brother’s IRA to his account already and took out a check for $40,000, that he told me was being mailed to his house where he lived with my older brother when he got checked into the hospital.
The issue is that my attorney says that if my father was competent to make a will, and was under no undue influence from my older brother, then the will is effective. Whatever amount is left in my twin brother’s estate would have considered having followed into my father’s estate. How could that be? There was no will in my brother’s estate. My father died during probate as it was not completed and the house is still under my twin brother’s name. How does it all go to my older brother? (tax not paid and no return filed) …
Attorney says even though the house was not titled in his name, I am guessing its value is still taxable to the estate. So your father’s estate will be subject to the inheritance tax of 4.5% of the net estate.
I looked at the will. It is signed by a notary who is also signed as the first witness. I looked her up online to talk to her about this and I found out she passed away on August 13, 2020. I cannot read the second signature’s name (witness) so I now find myself now stuck…
My attorney advised me that my only avenue are to challenge the competence or the possible influence of my older brother. How do I do this when I did not live there and do not know what went on? I talked to my father from time to time and made visits to my twin brother's home where my father and older brother lived. I do not remember seeing or knowing anything suspect. Since my older brother was living with my father, and he was my father’s caregiver, chauffeur, and living companion, I could see my father maybe recognizing him by giving him more but how could he give my older brother everything, which I do not believe he would do and to cut me out completely? My attorney says I am out of luck because unless there is a witness that would describe a scene where they saw my older brother taking my father’s hand and helping put his signature on the will, without him knowing what he was signing, then it is a very hard case to prove and I would be taking a chance and losing money on my end to fighting this.
My older brother is a narcissist and I know deep down he plotted this and knew about this while hiding it from me. He wanted to benefit because he is selfish. He was always jealous of the fact the twins got all the attention growing up. I feel cheated and know he is up to something which is why he stopped speaking to me after my father's death.
My attorney says in my best case if I won a challenge and the will was thrown out, the court might look back to a will that had previously existed; which I do not believe there is one. Or if there was no other will, then under the laws of intestacy, if my father had no surviving spouse (which he doesn’t), then his estate would be shared equally by his surviving children. So, it would be 50/50 between me and my older brother which I believe and know my father wanted. But as my attorney keeps indicating to me is that I would probably not be entitled to have my attorney fees and court costs paid out of the estate, so I would be out of pocket on those items along with everything else.
My attorney shared with me that I am eligible to be named as co-executor of my twin brother’s estate. That conceivably could entitle me to an executor’s fee which would depend on how much hourly work I put into the task but with no pot of gold at the end for me, it would be perhaps a thankless task. My attorney sees no other benefit here for me and sent me a bill which I paid.
My older brother’s attorney wants me to sign off on not being the executor of my twin brother’s estate. My older brother will not talk to me directly and only wants to speak through attorneys. How can I propose a settlement agreement to my older brother through our attorneys into giving me $55,000 from the estate as my father had told me he wanted me to have before he died? I would be willing to forget all and move on if he agrees with the $55,000.
If that’s not the case and there is no settlement agreement, please tell me how can I dispute this will and have this will have thrown out?
Thank you again and God bless. Jerry
