Probate Legal Questions

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 More

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 More

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 More

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 More

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 More

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 More

If you received a citation or a summons, it certainly wouldn't hurt to consult with a lawyer.  The problem may not be as simple as "paying half the fine." When you inherit land with or without building on it, you become an owner of that real estate and under Louisiana law you have the legal responsibility of maintaining that property in good condition. That means cutting the grass, preventing the property from becoming a nuisance, and paying the taxes. You also run the risk of being sued if someone is injured on the property as a result of the property's ruin or neglect. If there is an inherent defect in the property that causes damage to a person or thing (for example, a termite-infested tree that blows over in the wind and damages a neighbor's house), you may be strictly liable for the neighbor's harm even though you did not know of the danger. Paying the fine may be just the beginning of your problems.  You may be required to make extensive repairs to bring the property up to code, and you will have the ongoing obligation of keeping the property up to code. If you can't afford or don't want to undertake the responsibilities of ownership, you should consider selling the property or donating it to someone who will properly care for it. Hope the above helps.... Read More