Probate Legal Questions

Have you physically met this person? There are alot of financial money scams on the internet targeting vulnerable elderly people from overseas. Speak with an attorney before sending any money. Is this the first time you are giving money to him? Based on your summary, this looks like it could be a scam. ... Read Answer

If the property has been purchased at a properly noticed and conducted tax sale, the three-year redemption window cannot be extended under current law. That doesn't mean the tax sale purchaser won't allow you to redeem after the deadline (although he may very well not). It means that the purchaser can bring a lawsuit to quiet title and ultimately obtain possession of the property interest he bought at the sale. You need to take immediate steps to protect your rights.  ... Read Answer

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your father. If your mother survived your father, it's her house now, if you're correct in that the two of them owned the property as joint tenants with rights of survivorship before your father's death. However, since you are asking this question, I will assume your mother died before your father, leaving your father (presumably) as the sole owner of the home and making the home now part of his probate estate. Someone needs to get appointed as the Executor or Administrator of the estate (depending on whether or not your father had a Will). The Executor or Administrator can then take steps to evict the girlfriend. That's how you get her out of the house. However, note that this assumes your father did not add the girlfriend to the title to the home before his death, and it also assumes that your father did not make a Will or a revocable trust that provides for her to receive the house (or the right to live in the house). And, if he did make a trust and transferred the house to it during his lifetime, then the Executor/Administrator of his estate may have no control over the house- the Trustee of the trust would be the one who has that control. So the real first step is to try to make sure that you know exactly how the house was owed as of the date of your father's death, along with any other assets he owned, and whether he had any estate planning documents in place and if so, what those documents say. My recommended next step would be to hire an experienced probate attorney to help you figure out the actual situation and what the next steps can and should be. Best wishes to you.      ... Read Answer

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your mother. As for your question, the Petition to Probate Will in Solemn Form is generally the petition that should be filed when a Will is offered for probate. It becomes binding more quickly on heirs or other interested parties, which is good for a number of reasons, and most probate courts prefer that you use it. I do urge you to get an experienced probate attorney to help you with the Petition and with other aspects of probate, however. While you can handle probate without an attorney in Georgia, that doesn't mean it's a good idea. There are a number of traps that you can fall into and issues you might encounter that could have been avoided, and having an experienced attorney help guide you can be very valuable in helping save you both time and money. Best wishes to you.  ... Read Answer

Most states have homestead protection for the surviving spouse that allows said spouse to have a life estate possessory interest in the deceased spouse home. This would be despite any contractual agreement with a third party to the contrary. Confirm with a probate attorney for specific advice to your situation. ... Read Answer

Your father's girlfriend has no legal claim on his assets unless she was a joint account holder or a transfer on death or trust beneficiary on any of his assets. If she hired probate counsel , then you should be receiving an inventory of his property. It's always a good idea to retain a lawyer. But as soon as possible, you need to contact the girlfriend's lawyer and ask him 1. for an inventory of all the estate property and 2. any life insurance or property that's going to pass outside of Probate. ... Read Answer

Usually, the name of the attorney or law firm's name appears on the Will itself, although there is no legal requirement.  You will possibly need to ask any siblings, other relatives, friends, and neighbors of your mother if they know.  Realize that the attorney who prepares a Will has no ongoing obligations after the Will is signed.  The estate-planning attorney isn't often the same attorney who is hired to probate the Will when the client dies.  Depending on how much time has passed, the attorney who prepared the Will may not remember and may not have any files or electronic information concerning the preparation of the Will.  Experienced estate-planning attorneys will not agree to retain the original of the executed Will for their client for a number of very good reasons.  For example, the client can revoke the Will by physically destroying the original any time before death.When the client dies, the family of the decedent typically locates the Will, often in a lockbox or safety deposit box, and the person named as executor/executrix then can, but is not legally required to, probate the Will.  If the executor/executrix and any alternates decline to serve, anyone named in the Will (including you), any creditor of the decedent, or any heir at law of the decedent can probate the Will.  ... Read Answer

Theoretically, you could open your father's succession, have an administrator appointed, and haul your sister into court to explain where everything went and what she did with the proceeds.  And then, theoretically, the court would order her to pay everything back that she was not entitled to. Realistically, the heirs might spend a lot of money to hire an attorney, and the estate might not be able to collect anything from your sister. Sadly this happens sometimes when the heirs do not open a succession promptly and administer a person's estate under court supervision. Based on your question, it appears that real estate is involved, so the heirs will sooner or later have to deal with property maintenance, payment of taxes and insurance, and a possible eventual sale of the property. And that will likely require formally opening the succession and getting the court involved.    ... Read Answer

Did your husband have a will? From the wording of your question, it sounds like he did not. Assuming your husband died intestate (which means “without a testament”), and further assuming that he was domiciled here in Louisiana and everything he owned on the date of his death was located here, Louisiana law will determine what everyone gets. Under Louisiana inheritance law, the separate property of a Louisiana’s decedent (the person who died), and the decedent’s half of the community property, go to all of his children equally, if the decedent had children. If any of his children predeceased him, then that share would go to that child’s children. In some cases a surviving spouse might be entitled to a usufruct over some of the property left by the decedent. If the property your husband’s son wants was acquired by your husband in his own name before he married you, then it is separate property. There’s a lot more information a good attorney will need to know in order to properly respond to your specific legal question, and the only way for you to get the answer you need and want is to schedule a consultation with a Louisiana lawyer and give him or her all of the facts.  ... Read Answer

If there was no Will then who receives the estate is determined by either title, named beneficiaries or intestate succession rules.  His personal property collection is part of his estate and if there is no Will, as the surviving spouse you have an interest in his estate. While it may be a shared interest with his prior family, you still have an interest. You are in a matter where the other party is an attorney, it would be reasonable for you to have your own attorney to protect your rights.... Read Answer