legal question

[Tinkerer]

To make a long story short - My dad passed away last sunday. I am the youngest of three and my oldest sister has been living in my dads house while He lived in the room in the barn for the last 20 years. She has been mooching off of him for at least 30 years. She has always been very good at getting him to give her what she wanted. She got him to sign a will that that gave her everything. About one year ago she started getting Social Security and didn't need his $ any more. She stopped taking him to the store ( he was 90 YOA ) or anywhere else unless he paid her $30. She was living in the house he built and paid all of the utilities and taxes. He even indirectly bought her car. He got fed up with her crap and talked to an attorney. He called me and with his direction we made all of his bank accounts Joint in both our names. So now I and my other sister will at least get something ( $70,000.00 each ) My oldest sister will get two houses worth $ 380,000.00. BTW she wants her share of the $.
She was never married but supposedly changed her name to his ( I don't know if she actually did this.) The will is in that name. According to her she changed her name back 4 years ago. The will is in her other name. The will states the properties go to my daughter Nancy XXXXX. Is the will valid if this is not her current legal name - especially if she never had the name on the will.

[Ratickle]

Wow, that really sucks.

Talk to an attorney, a good one, is about all you can do. I believe the name change makes no difference, the courts would still recognize it as her for his intentions.

Make sure you have frozen every account, or better yet just pull the money out of all of the accounts immediately since they are joint. Plus, get the latest iteration of the will and see exactly what it says. Does it really leave her everything, or just the two properties, or?????? The other thing to chat with an attorney about, during the changing of the bank accounts, was there any written intention of changing the existing will?

[Ratickle]

Everything I read says there are only 4 or 5 legal reasons for contesting a will. If you are positive your father wanted something different done than what is in the existing will, I'd look at the Undue Influence clause. Especially since there are grounds to show the change seen by your father with his changing the bank accounts to joint with her not on them.

http://www.lastwillandtestament.us/contesting-a-will/

http://www.probateprince.com/Probate...or-Trust.shtml

http://www.probateprince.com/Probate...Michigan.shtml

[Tinkerer]

I plan on removing the money tomorrow. One of the CD's is in an IRA so I am leaving that there until we find out the best way to take it out. I have had the most recent version of the will for about 10 months now. My dad wanted me to hire an attorney and remove her form the will and her name off of the deed to the house. I told him NO and that we couldn't do that to her. I talked to my other sister and we both agreed that we would be OK with 1/2 of the money in the accounts. We have that wrapped up. There are other assets that she doesn't deserve that we would like to have. BUT I guess we are just screwed. Heck life isn't fair.

[Ratickle]

If you have anything in writing from your father about taking her off the will and the deeds, you may be good even if you didn't do it. I would at least have the conversation with an attorney, even though a decent one is $200 an hour minimum. You can certainly review it and then have a meeting about splitting the assets the way you believe your father wanted them split, even if an attorney says you have a legit case.

Is she also executor?

[Tinkerer]

My other sister and I last night decided not to go after anything other than the money that we already have. The MOOCH will probably try to fight us but won't have a leg to stand on. The Law is on both of our sides with respect to what we have of my dad's properties.
Thanks
Steve

[Ratickle]

Anytime. If there are personal mementos the two of you would like to keep, I'd strongly consider the actual wording of the will. If you would like this thread to disappear because of its personal nature, let me know.