When the daughter filed the request for the court to give her and her brother the real estate after the life estate terminated with the step mother's passing. We were forced to retain a probate attorney even though the mother's personal estate was valued at less than $25000 in order to object to this filing. The hearing was delayed from June 2023 until February 2024 at which time the attorneys argued that the will did not name a remainderman so it was unsure what to do with the real estate. The real estate was the only thing that was not given directly to the mother. The will stated at her death the residue of the estate would go to her estate. The attorney's argued that the residue was not the real estate even though it was all that remained of the husband's estate. The court then ordered that the estate should be sold and the money divided 50% to the brother and sister and 50% to the mother's estate. The personal daughter used $15,000 of the estate for a group of attorneys for the hearing, she also paid over $4000 to have her step-brother evicted from the property before the hearing even though he had been living there in a 5th wheel for 3.5 years prior to her passing. In addition to this she paid her primary attorney at least an additional $15,000. She also did not name the step-mother's children as heirs even though they were named in the will. The husband and wife's wills were written to compliment each other so the change giving the 50% to the husband's 2 children from a previous marriage an additional 1/5 of the same money from the step-mother's will because the residue was to be divided into equal shares in the mother's will. This gives the husband's children each 35% of the real estate and each of the wife's children only 10%. The home had a VA home loan for the house prior to marrying his wife. The house was paid off long after they were married and they lived together in the home for 40 years. We tried to do everything right, but even retaining an attorney has only cost the estate $16,000 more and we will be lucky to get anything after the daughter is through.
