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If you respond, please remember that I am just an ordinary gal, not a
single clue in my head about legal stuff, so go easy on me. :)
Okay, I am VERY confused. You know how in the movies, someone dies and
all the heirs are gathered up a week or two later to attend the
"reading of the will"?? Well I always figured that was what happened
in real life too. Doh!
My father died in July of 2003. He was survived by five adult children,
2 ex-wives, and his third wife, plus 2 siblings. On the day of the
funeral, as we all gathered at his third wife's home for post-memorial
food and such. Right before we left, we were all handed a stapled
stack of papers with a bunch of confusing legal stuff, this was the
Affidavit of Heirship, and it pertained to our inheritance of 1/5th (by
"our" I mean his kids, the five of us) of the Mineral Rights on some
North Texas ranch land. This amounts to about $700 a year (so far,
could go up or down) in money paid from the oil companies with leases
on the land.
Knowing my father, and what he had, and how he lived, and how he and
the 3rd wife were separated and planning on divorce up until he found
out he had a terminal illness, (she'd moved out and into a bigger house
which he co-signed for her).... I really did expect there to be a
"reading of the will". The Affidavit of Heirship says he died
"testate". Doesn't that mean he died WITH a will?
I certainly wasn't going to ask on the day of the funeral! I will make
no secret of the fact that me and my stepmother (his 3rd wife) were
never exactly buddies... but I figured she'd be in touch after a
reasonable an appropriate amount of time had passed. After all, my Dad
had a ton of things in HIS house when he died that she'd have no
interest in anyway (photos of me, paintings my mom painted).. and he'd
also made verbal promises about this or that item, sentimental stuff
mainly. I never DREAMED he'd leave it all to her... but the light bulb
is going off and I'm thinking maybe that's what happened?
He saw to it that she was well taken care of, and I (and my brother, I
don't know the other sibs as they are half-sibs) just kind of figured
he'd leave his extra cars, extra house, extra stuff, military
memorabilia, etc. to us, the kids, either directing who got what or
ordering it sold and the money split five ways.
Well, time has passed and I am wondering just what's happened here. I
never heard a word about a will, and when I look more closely at this
"Affidavit of Heirship" and try and figure out what it's for, I read
over and over again that it's generally for when there is no will??
Right there on the first page of it it talks about "interviews with the
family" that determine heirship and agreement and all that. I never
saw this document until the day of the funeral. I was certainly never
"interviewed" or asked about anything.
Basically I am wanting to know what this paper means, what it's for,
and what, if anything, I can find out. Do I have a right to at least
see the will? Is it too late to do anything about it, if she's already
submitted it for probate (another thing I don't understand)??
I certainly wasn't expecting to get a big fat inheritance when my
father died, but I wasn't expecting him to leave everything to HER,
either. No one really was. She already had more than enough, a new
house, his military retirement and civil service pensions and such, new
car. He left behind savings, 3 more cars, his house, and some rental
properties, plus a buncho of stuff you can't put a price on, that he'd
promised to me, to my brother, even to my mom very recently. I do
honestly believe it only came about when he got really sick, because at
that point he moved in with her, and from looking at court records
online I can see when he deeded the house to her and made other
changes, AFTER he got so ill he couldn't live on his own anymore. All
of the verbal promises he'd made don't amount to much, do they, in this
situation?
Anyway, sorry to go on and on with the full story, but I want to make
it clear this isn't just about money. I could have learned to respect
his decision if anyone had bothered to explain it to me, show me the
will, etc., but it's been nothing but silence since his death, and I
want to know what happened.
Thanks!
Sheri
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Sheri,
First thing to do is go to courthouse in the county where your father
lived and see if the estate has gone through probate, if there is a will,
who is/was the executor. The office of the Clerk of Court may help you to
find this stuff. Be sure to bring enough money to cover copying fees. Might
be a good idea to phone first. Read over what you find and then speak with
the executor if you have questions.
For sentimental stuff you should go directly to the wife. She's likely to
say yes if the request is reasonable. Sadly, your father's verbal promises
died with him if he did not leave a will.
Good luck,
Dave M.
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thelionsden@satx.rr.com wrote:
If you respond, please remember that I am just an ordinary gal, not a
single clue in my head about legal stuff, so go easy on me. :)
Okay, I am VERY confused. You know how in the movies, someone dies and
all the heirs are gathered up a week or two later to attend the
"reading of the will"?? Well I always figured that was what happened
in real life too. Doh!
My father died in July of 2003. He was survived by five adult children,
2 ex-wives, and his third wife, plus 2 siblings. On the day of the
funeral, as we all gathered at his third wife's home for post-memorial
food and such. Right before we left, we were all handed a stapled
stack of papers with a bunch of confusing legal stuff, this was the
Affidavit of Heirship, and it pertained to our inheritance of 1/5th (by
"our" I mean his kids, the five of us) of the Mineral Rights on some
North Texas ranch land. This amounts to about $700 a year (so far,
could go up or down) in money paid from the oil companies with leases
on the land.
Knowing my father, and what he had, and how he lived, and how he and
the 3rd wife were separated and planning on divorce up until he found
out he had a terminal illness, (she'd moved out and into a bigger house
which he co-signed for her).... I really did expect there to be a
"reading of the will". The Affidavit of Heirship says he died
"testate". Doesn't that mean he died WITH a will?
I certainly wasn't going to ask on the day of the funeral! I will make
no secret of the fact that me and my stepmother (his 3rd wife) were
never exactly buddies... but I figured she'd be in touch after a
reasonable an appropriate amount of time had passed. After all, my Dad
had a ton of things in HIS house when he died that she'd have no
interest in anyway (photos of me, paintings my mom painted).. and he'd
also made verbal promises about this or that item, sentimental stuff
mainly. I never DREAMED he'd leave it all to her... but the light bulb
is going off and I'm thinking maybe that's what happened?
He saw to it that she was well taken care of, and I (and my brother, I
don't know the other sibs as they are half-sibs) just kind of figured
he'd leave his extra cars, extra house, extra stuff, military
memorabilia, etc. to us, the kids, either directing who got what or
ordering it sold and the money split five ways.
Well, time has passed and I am wondering just what's happened here. I
never heard a word about a will, and when I look more closely at this
"Affidavit of Heirship" and try and figure out what it's for, I read
over and over again that it's generally for when there is no will??
Right there on the first page of it it talks about "interviews with the
family" that determine heirship and agreement and all that. I never
saw this document until the day of the funeral. I was certainly never
"interviewed" or asked about anything.
Basically I am wanting to know what this paper means, what it's for,
and what, if anything, I can find out. Do I have a right to at least
see the will? Is it too late to do anything about it, if she's already
submitted it for probate (another thing I don't understand)??
I certainly wasn't expecting to get a big fat inheritance when my
father died, but I wasn't expecting him to leave everything to HER,
either. No one really was. She already had more than enough, a new
house, his military retirement and civil service pensions and such, new
car. He left behind savings, 3 more cars, his house, and some rental
properties, plus a buncho of stuff you can't put a price on, that he'd
promised to me, to my brother, even to my mom very recently. I do
honestly believe it only came about when he got really sick, because at
that point he moved in with her, and from looking at court records
online I can see when he deeded the house to her and made other
changes, AFTER he got so ill he couldn't live on his own anymore. All
of the verbal promises he'd made don't amount to much, do they, in this
situation?
Anyway, sorry to go on and on with the full story, but I want to make
it clear this isn't just about money. I could have learned to respect
his decision if anyone had bothered to explain it to me, show me the
will, etc., but it's been nothing but silence since his death, and I
want to know what happened.
Thanks!
Sheri
I'm not a lawyer,but have had personal experience with the Probate
Courts of my home state...so here are some thoughts.
First,I'm pretty sure that only one state (Louisiana) makes any clear
provisions for children to be entitled to inherit from one or
both parents so,if I'm correct,if your father left a *valid* will
(validity being ultimately determined by a state's Probate Courts)
in which you were left nothing,then I believe there's nothing that you
can do on that score...*unless* you believe that your father had a
serious mental disorder or unless you believe that somebody forced,
tricked or coerced him in to writing a will that he otherwise wouldn't
have written.These two issues are where Probate Courts...and
lawyers....can become involved,usually at great expense and angst
to all involved.In short,a couple of things that you wrote suggest
to me that a consultation with a lawyer who specializes in challenging
wills *might* be a worthwhile thing for you to do,particularly if
you believe that serious mental illness and/or some kind of
underhanded stuff might be involved here.
However,be aware that your Dad was almost certainly legally entitled
to leave everything to anyone he wanted (including his "widow") and
was also entitled to leave nothing at all to whomever he wanted (with
the probable exception of his "widow").
As for matters involving "personal" items or items of sentimental
value (particularly ones that didn't have a lot of monetary value)
it seems that there are several approaches...including one or more
"friendly" phone calls or that visit to a lawyer that I mentioned.
Good luck.
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