My mother passed away. Me and my five siblings are still pretty young with little ones. Our Mothers oldest son is executor of her estate. Our mother stated in her will she wanted the executor changed to her youngest daughter. Our oldest brother (executor) has ignored that. Says it was never changed so the statement in her will does not matter. It wasn’t changed because her death was so unexpected. Our mom specified what she wanted done. Our brother the executor will not share details. Decided upon herself to cremate her immediately, no autopsy, no input from siblings. In one of my siblings case, she was to be given her share for her and her two sons. The executor sent her a small check. Stated everything else will go to her sons when they are of age. Can she not get proof of what her sons are getting or when? To make sure where it’s going? We all are thinking there’s nothing we can do. Personal items were kept, sold and thrown out without our input. We love our brother, always will. But we just don’t believe our mom was given the best in her passing. Our brother (executor) left home at 18. Was home once since leaving if we remember correctly. She’s now 40, shows up ready to do it the easy way, with bitterness and no remorse, sorry, fake remorse. We don’t want money. Not even the one who is really struggling. We just know our mom is upset. We just want her to be honored. Right. Any help, advice…thank you!
4 Answers
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The executor is the person the will says is. So if it says the daughter, its’ her, no matter what the son says. Your brother is NOT the executor. Produce the will and take control.
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If you disagree with how the Estate is being administered, get an estate attorney.
It sounds like you are looking for a free lawyer. No attorney that knows what they are talking about is going to do this for free.
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Probate takes years, so what were you doing all this time. Besides, Executor ‘s are named in the will. Given your statement that makes no sense. If the codicil of the will says, she wanted it changed; it did change to the new designee.
It may be too late to challenge anything if you have been sitting on this for years. Either that, or you do not know how to explain what happened. All Beneficiaries are notified about the Estate and that is the the proper time to challenge [during probate].
Contact the law schools in your state, they often provide pro bono assistance; these are done by the law students under the supervision of a professor who practices law. They may assist for free or for a minimum price.
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Your local Bar Association will have a list of resources usually with links to attorneys who will take cases pro bono, and links to free legal aid and such.
From experience. Good luck.
