courier2003
Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Virginia
This is an edited excerpt from a note I sent along with a Warrant in Debt this past week. I don't have enough money to afford an attorney, so I was hoping I could get some feedback and advice from this group. I just wanted to mention that doing this was painful in more ways than one. Money is useful, but there's one thing it can never do. It can never mend broken relationships, including ones with family. Some situations just can't be helped. The Warrant has already been served, and the "showdown" is scheduled for November 4th, 2021.
To the Louisa County General District Court,
It is with the utmost regret that I must file this Warrant in Debt against my estranged sister for money I feel was entitled to me from our late Father’s estate. In retrospect, I feel that my Dad was negligent in maintaining and updating his will to reflect the wishes he had verbally expressed to me just before his death in March 2019. There is plenty of evidence to suggest he never made any revisions to his will between its creation in 2008 and his death 11 years later. As a result, the conditions of his estate were carried out using outdated information. It has now created a very ugly situation that has destroyed a family relationship.
In 2008, I was still married with a stable job, income, and a house in North Carolina. By 2019, however, my life had changed drastically. I was now divorced and struggling in many ways. I lived in transitional housing in Northern Virginia for several months. I had to declare bankruptcy in 2018, and I’m now dealing with a barrage of health issues which include type 2 diabetes, neuropathy, restless leg syndrome, sleep apnea, major depressive disorder, and most recently, a newly discovered heart condition (right bundle branch blockage). I’ve been working as best I can to seek assistance from services where I live in Fairfax County, including the Department of Aging & Rehabilitative Services (DARS). My ability to find stable employment was complicated further by the pandemic and also from my existing health vulnerabilities. Despite my efforts, I’m still dealing with a situation that has become very overwhelming, which has been compounded even further by having absolutely no money to fall back on. I still plan to work, but my health has become too much of an issue. In fact, DARS had to recently deactivate my case until I was able to deal with these health issues and thus be functional for employment. Attempting to accomplish this has been difficult and complicated with only my Medicaid coverage. I’ve been flat broke and struggling in more ways than one for a long time. The only reason why I’m not living on the street or out of my pickup truck is because I’ve been blessed to have a family take me into their home for the last 18 months. I don’t pay rent, so I’ve been earning my keep by helping them with various household chores and repairs.
I think other circumstances surrounding this situation should also be noted. I lived with my Dad for most of the last three years of his life as his unofficial caregiver. In the meantime, my estranged sister did next to nothing to help me with this burden. It was during this time that our relationship began to deteriorate as my outrage at her intensified along with the feeling of being left completely alone with a difficult situation. Dealing with an elderly parent with health issues is challenging enough, but I was also dealing with health issues of my own.
I’d also like to note that my estranged sister already owned two houses at the time of our Dad’s death—the one where she and her husband currently reside in Louisa County and a riverside property in Middlesex County, which she was awarded in 2003 by another deceased relative. I was awarded $27,000 from my Dad’s estate, which was the amount in his bank account at the time of his death. That money didn't last very long because of my situation. A good portion of it was used to pay off my outstanding medical bills. I didn’t have insurance to cover these bills at the time. I didn’t have insurance because I didn’t have a regular paying job. I didn’t have a regular paying job because I was being an unofficial caregiver to my Dad. Are you getting the picture yet?
It’s very unfortunate that none of us seemed to be on the same page with any of this. The three of us should have gotten together before Dad died to make sure his will was consistent with his current wishes----not the ones from 11 years prior! During the last few years of his life, I didn’t want to pester him with those kinds of questions. I trusted that he had his affairs in order. Well, I was wrong, and now it has left an ugly fallout.
I thought my estranged sister and I would split the amount obtained by the sale of my Dad’s house in Wilmington, NC (not necessarily 50/50). I learned instead that she sold the house in June 2019 without even telling me, and then pocketed the entire amount of the sale. She later had the audacity to wonder why I had felt taken, or to quote her, “short changed.” To this very day, I’m still livid over this, and I’m not going to take it lying down. I realize the statute of limitations for contesting my Dad’s will has long passed, but that doesn’t mean I still can’t sue my estranged sister directly. I’m requesting 25% of the amount she received from the sale of my Dad's house in Wilmington, NC.
This is an edited excerpt from a note I sent along with a Warrant in Debt this past week. I don't have enough money to afford an attorney, so I was hoping I could get some feedback and advice from this group. I just wanted to mention that doing this was painful in more ways than one. Money is useful, but there's one thing it can never do. It can never mend broken relationships, including ones with family. Some situations just can't be helped. The Warrant has already been served, and the "showdown" is scheduled for November 4th, 2021.
To the Louisa County General District Court,
It is with the utmost regret that I must file this Warrant in Debt against my estranged sister for money I feel was entitled to me from our late Father’s estate. In retrospect, I feel that my Dad was negligent in maintaining and updating his will to reflect the wishes he had verbally expressed to me just before his death in March 2019. There is plenty of evidence to suggest he never made any revisions to his will between its creation in 2008 and his death 11 years later. As a result, the conditions of his estate were carried out using outdated information. It has now created a very ugly situation that has destroyed a family relationship.
In 2008, I was still married with a stable job, income, and a house in North Carolina. By 2019, however, my life had changed drastically. I was now divorced and struggling in many ways. I lived in transitional housing in Northern Virginia for several months. I had to declare bankruptcy in 2018, and I’m now dealing with a barrage of health issues which include type 2 diabetes, neuropathy, restless leg syndrome, sleep apnea, major depressive disorder, and most recently, a newly discovered heart condition (right bundle branch blockage). I’ve been working as best I can to seek assistance from services where I live in Fairfax County, including the Department of Aging & Rehabilitative Services (DARS). My ability to find stable employment was complicated further by the pandemic and also from my existing health vulnerabilities. Despite my efforts, I’m still dealing with a situation that has become very overwhelming, which has been compounded even further by having absolutely no money to fall back on. I still plan to work, but my health has become too much of an issue. In fact, DARS had to recently deactivate my case until I was able to deal with these health issues and thus be functional for employment. Attempting to accomplish this has been difficult and complicated with only my Medicaid coverage. I’ve been flat broke and struggling in more ways than one for a long time. The only reason why I’m not living on the street or out of my pickup truck is because I’ve been blessed to have a family take me into their home for the last 18 months. I don’t pay rent, so I’ve been earning my keep by helping them with various household chores and repairs.
I think other circumstances surrounding this situation should also be noted. I lived with my Dad for most of the last three years of his life as his unofficial caregiver. In the meantime, my estranged sister did next to nothing to help me with this burden. It was during this time that our relationship began to deteriorate as my outrage at her intensified along with the feeling of being left completely alone with a difficult situation. Dealing with an elderly parent with health issues is challenging enough, but I was also dealing with health issues of my own.
I’d also like to note that my estranged sister already owned two houses at the time of our Dad’s death—the one where she and her husband currently reside in Louisa County and a riverside property in Middlesex County, which she was awarded in 2003 by another deceased relative. I was awarded $27,000 from my Dad’s estate, which was the amount in his bank account at the time of his death. That money didn't last very long because of my situation. A good portion of it was used to pay off my outstanding medical bills. I didn’t have insurance to cover these bills at the time. I didn’t have insurance because I didn’t have a regular paying job. I didn’t have a regular paying job because I was being an unofficial caregiver to my Dad. Are you getting the picture yet?
It’s very unfortunate that none of us seemed to be on the same page with any of this. The three of us should have gotten together before Dad died to make sure his will was consistent with his current wishes----not the ones from 11 years prior! During the last few years of his life, I didn’t want to pester him with those kinds of questions. I trusted that he had his affairs in order. Well, I was wrong, and now it has left an ugly fallout.
I thought my estranged sister and I would split the amount obtained by the sale of my Dad’s house in Wilmington, NC (not necessarily 50/50). I learned instead that she sold the house in June 2019 without even telling me, and then pocketed the entire amount of the sale. She later had the audacity to wonder why I had felt taken, or to quote her, “short changed.” To this very day, I’m still livid over this, and I’m not going to take it lying down. I realize the statute of limitations for contesting my Dad’s will has long passed, but that doesn’t mean I still can’t sue my estranged sister directly. I’m requesting 25% of the amount she received from the sale of my Dad's house in Wilmington, NC.
