How can me and my mother fix this?

Question

Now this is going to sound stupid. My father is a stupid man but he is a good man who is too nice for his own good, when he is sober anyway. Just read what I have to say and please answer as soon as possible. I'd love some legal advice.

Six years ago my Grandfather died. I'm now 18. I didn't really care at the time because I was 12 and barely ever seen the guy, let alone knew him. But now that I think about it, it was a horrible horrible thing. Not because he died. But because of the mess he left behind, that wasn't even his fault. He had over $90,000 in his bank that was supposed to be split between the family. My grandmother, who died years before my grandfather in 94, always said she wanted this house to be my father's. Well it is. Kind of. Anyway, my aunts took the over $90,000 dollars out of his bank account before he died. We didn't know this. We had no idea the money was even taken out until AFTER he died. My grandfather's will said that my aunts and my uncle and my father were to share and share a like. Simple enough, right? My dad only saw under 6,000 of that money. No lawyers were involved. Now I bet you're wondering how they did this. My aunt S. was added to my grandfather's account when he knew he wasn't going to make it. So she had ALL access to the account. Now I'm not bitching about money here. What this all comes down to is my parent's marriage. See we got the house. Kind of. It's in my oldest aunt's name. She's Aunt D. Aunt S. was granted the power of the executor and I understand this must be voted on by the close member's of the family. No one ever asked my father if he wanted Aunt S. to be the executor. There was no lawyer to ensure the money was split equally. That is, as I understand, illegal. They all got more than they were supposed to. Me and my family have been living in rented homes that were never truly ours and all of them were pieces of crap. Finally we think we have a house all our own. We don't. We still have to pay off my aunts' and uncle. My Aunt D. just got a brand spanking new house out in Nevada. Our house is in her name. What do you think she put down as collateral? This house I am currently sitting in. So my dad will never own this house even after he pays off his brother and sisters. He's crazy right? Kind of. He just chooses not to see that he is ******. We're paying taxes for my aunt. We can barely get by. We never had nice things and all our cars are used and end up dying in up to 3 months to a year. We've lived in this house for six years. My dad has been paying the taxes for my aunt and is paying off their "share" of the house. The house isn't even nice. My bedroom, that I'm currently writing this from, is rotting from the chimney. The electrical is bad and we are afraid that the house could burn down any day. The plumbing is even worse. My mom can barely wash dishes before the faucet starts spitting air. There's no siding on the house because my grandfather started renovating it before he found out he had cancer. The garage roof looks like it will last about another year before that caves in. We can't afford to fix all the things wrong with this house and the area of PA that we live in gets flooded bad every spring and it's terrifying. If this house would burn down we'd have NO help from my dad's side of the family at all. They see my mother as a piece of **** because she doesn't work and would rather raise her kids. (Four of us. All boys. The youngest turns 14 in July.) We can't really afford a lawyer to do anything for us and we aren't sure if we can get in trouble for this. My parents were tricked though. They didn't know anything until my mom started thinking four years ago. My Aunt D. has told us that we don't need to pay her anymore and my sees that as her knowing that my dad got ****** over in all this. And it has really hurt my mom. Is there anything we can do legally? Can we get in trouble for things they did with out our knowledge? But basically I want to know this to save my parents marriage. My mom wants to Leave my dad and it's not because she doesn't love him, I know that. It's because she doesn't want to live in a house that will never truly be theirs. A house that will never be nice. The house hasn't had siding put on in six years and probably wont for another six. And you know, I wouldn't blame my mother for leaving my dad. I wouldn't blame him either. I'd blame his greedy brother's and sister's that tricked them into this. There is NOTHING in writing. Absolutely no written agreements that we have to pay them. One year my mom applied for welfare and my aunt wrote a letter saying we rent and pay taxes. The woman there asked her if she had it all in writing and my mom lied and said yes cause she was afraid she'd get in trouble if she said she didn't. The lady said "I hope so..." I know I'm all over the map here but my mother just unloaded all this info on me. I've known some of it but not all of it. I mean my aunt's and uncle all have nice hou

Answer 1

1. You do not need to vote for an executor of an estate, that is the decedent's sole decision and will not be questioned.



2. You do not need a lawyer to make sure everything is split equally, you only need one when things go south, as happened here.



3. Typically, a dying person will add a living person to their bank account as a co-owner (also called a "joint tenant") of the account, that way the account is not technically part of the estate and it gets you out of estate taxes.



4. You can never have enough writings of a transaction, ever. I'm sorry, but if there is no writing, then everything is stacked against you. It's not what you want to hear, but I won't lie to you either.



5. If you were to pursue legal action, it would further split the family apart. It's a shame, but money drives families apart all the time (including money from inheritances).

Answer 2

The time to act on the inheritance was six years ago. The best thing your family can do is move and do it soon. That is however a decision that your parents have to make. You are 18 years old and can make your own decisions for yourself. Even if any of the savings your grandfather had is still around, it is long since stashed away in some other account. I would bet that it has been spent, and it has been probably spent legally. This is one of those cases where you must burn the bridges and get on with life.

Answer 3

Got to admit couldn't read the whole thing.



No lawyer is necessary in the execution of the estate, whoever told you that is wrong. There is also no voting on the executor, again whoever told you that was wrong.



If the executor was not fair in the execution, then you have to go to court and have a executor appointed to do an accounting. The biggest problem is that this was years ago, everything should have been done then.



If your aunt had access to the account, she could take every single dollar and not be held accountable.

Answer 4

Ok, what I would do is consult a lawyer.



I know your money situation, but if you want to solve this then your going to need a lawyer.



Here's what I suggest (any my family uses this program too =])



http://prepaidlegal.com/



Click that link. Basically, its like a subscription fee. You pre pay a fee to use them (monthly) and whenever you need a lawyer or legal advice, they'll do everything for you. You can call and have a rep come out and explain it better than I can, and it would be a great and inexpensive way to look at a lawyer. What harm could it do to check them out right?



I'm not a spammer trying to get you to use this, my parents both use pre paid legal.

Answer 5

You can do nothing, except get a good job and/or go to school. That should be your priority. Not your aunt's house.



I don't know the whole situation, but consider that you dad may be living there for reasons of his own. Maybe the rent's cheap? I don't know. But, as they say, it's not your problem.



Of course, if there is no lease agreement, he could walk away and rent somewhere else, but it is his choice, not yours.



It is natural to be angry at injustice. One just has to channel that anger toward good goals that one can accomplish. You aren't going to change your aunts or your father.

Answer 6

Wow. I am so sorry you have so much heartache at 18. You are at the beginning of adulthood and you have so much pain. My advice to you is to let your parents handle their business. If your mother or father feel the need to "dump" their problems on you tell them you are sorry. Then move on. You need to do all you can to get out of the mess you're in. Go to college and live in a dorm. There are programs out there that can help you. You've been through way too much and it won't get better until you decide enough is enough. Good luck!!!

Answer 7

Depends how old your son is. If he is 5 or 6, he is probably just having fun. If he is 14 or 15, he has a crush on the person doing his hair, or has issues with self-identity.