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My brother took care of our elderly step-grandfather. He passed away last week. Before he died my brother had to put him in a nursing home because he kept falling. My brother had guardianship. Apparently guardianship expires after a certain length of time. Our cousin got guardianship, went out to the step-fathers house, My cousin get guardianship and went to step-grandfathers house, My brother lived there also. They went into the house without permission from my brother. They took all his paperwork, He was his payee of our step-grandfather. The neighbor had a key and let the cousin into the house. Then he gets served with a paper from the police giving him 24hrs to get out of the house. They stole the will . My brother was left the house. He was in the nursing home less than a month. He passed away and now the lawyer that has written up the will hasn't had my brother in for the reading. I think the lawyer is going to try to cheat him out of the house. Any advice would be greatly apperciated. My brother gave up his own home to take care of step-grandfather.

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Diamons, you don't say who the executor of the will is. The guardianship expired when your step-grandfather died, his estate is administered by his executor. I was POA for my bachelor uncle, but he named his lawyer as executor because he knew there would be family disputes otherwise. We asked for the will to be checked in case any funeral arrangements were included in the will, but otherwise I never did see a copy of the will until the estate was divided. I've never met anyone who had the will "read" like they show on Hollywood movies. The executor must administer the will as it is written, and he must inform the beneficiaries in writing. If you aren't named in the will, you aren't informed. Does your brother have a copy of the will?? Even if your cousin took the copy in the house the lawyer who drew up the will often keeps a copy on file. Have you talked to him directly? You also need to be aware that some estates take quite a long time to be settled, and a week is really not that long.
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Apparently the lawyer is executor. My brother has access to a copy of the will. At the funeral our step-grandfathers lawyer told my brother he would be in touch. I have never had to deal with a will. We live in a small crooked town. I am afraid the lawyer is going to try to beat my brother out of the house. Everything was left to my brother, he took care of him for 9 or 10 yrs.
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Lawyers have to uphold the law or they can be disbarred, even small town lawyers. Be aware though that an executor can pay themselves for the work they do, and I'm sure the lawyer will pay themselves the maximum allowable. (You might want to check with the bar association to see how much that is) Also any debts and taxes etc outstanding will also have to be paid from the estate. If your brother is the sole beneficiary the lawyer should have no problem keeping him up to date on the progress of the estate.
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Dia - the attorney / executor will be required to do a posting in the newspaper as to debts of the estate. Usually this is done at the same time the executor posts the "Letters Testamentary"to the probate court to open probate - I say usually as it makes it 1 trip to the courthouse if it's actually done in person but if this is all being done on-line the newspaper notice may be a week later. You all want to be on the lookout for this. Most places have it so that the notice has to run 3 times.

Why this is important - if your worried about lawyer being evil - is that there is no reason why your brother or you or whomever has paid for anything for the step grandfather cannot file their own claim against the estate. It is a debt of the estate. So if say you paid for yard work that totaled $ 500 last year & were not reimbursed, then you fill out a form to place a claim for that $ 500 (you want to have documentation to establish validity but usually do not have to include it in the initial filing at probate court only need it when hearing happen) against the estate. What is good about this is that the court will usually notify anyone who files a claim as to hearings scheduled for probate court OR if not they give you the docket # so you can go on-line to see when they happen. Then you make sure you get yourself to court that day. This will really cut down on any hanky-panky from happening. Often family get upset as they feel they didn;t get their due but didn't file anything to make this happen. Probate - I think - is all open court too so you can be there and then for a small fee pay for all court documents.
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It's as simple as calling the lawyer involved. I had to do this when my mother's sister died in another state. They called right back and answered my questions.

They're not all excited to get involved in something sneaky, either.
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First they have to find the original Will, not a copy. If no Will is found, the court will appoint a fiduciary. The fiduciary has to wait for all bills against the estate to be paid. This can be as little as 6 months or as long as two years. After that the fun/fight begins.
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In our state there is a 30-day waiting period before any estate assets can be distributed, and estate must be settled by 2 yrs. Anyone, I repeat, anyone may file a claim with the probabte court as an "interested party" which you are as a direct relative. You could file a claim,your brother could file, and nobody will.get the house until you get your chance to document why brother is to have house (assuming you do have the most current Will).
In our state there is Informal Probabte, which is not directly supervised, however if there are claim (s) against estate of a serious nature, it must go.thru regular (Formal) Probate. a lawyer is recommended for Formal Probate.
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I brother took care of our step-grandfather for 9 yrs. He had guardianship. When he kept falling my brother put him in the nursing home. Somehow one of our cousins wanted quardianship. She went to court and got guardianship. She gave it up and turned it over to the state the next day. As soon as court was over. Cousin went to the house that step-grandfather lived in. Somehow they served papers saying he had 24 hrs to get out. He didn't get a paper from the officer. Step-grandfather willed my brother the house. My brother paid all property taxes, house insurance,electric, water ect for years. He was only in the nursing home for 2 weeks. My cousin told the court that my brother wasn't family and they kicked him out. I'm am sure this is illegal. The officer told my brother that he never seen anyone that had to leave the premisis in a 24 hr period. We moved him out, he didn't get the paper from the officer. When we called the circuit court they did not have anything on file for this eviction. The officer said a lady brought it to him. It wasn't court ordered, the lawyer did this. My brother has multiple brain contusions from a car accident. He was step-grandfathers payee through social security. They actually went into this house and took my brothers papers, which included the will. My cousin promised to give his papers back but she didn't. After we inquired about this paper, nobody has it. My aunt decided she wanted that house and that is why he had to leave the premises. It didn't work the way they thought. The lawyer called my brother yesterday,said he had a letter to mail to him. He thinks he is going to cheat my brother out of this house, Brother gave up his new home, moved in with step-grandfather because he didn't want to leave his own home. We live in a dirty little small town. The officer told my mom that the family wanted my brother out because they were his family. He was married to my grandmother, she passed away years ago.step-granndfather He has one niece that it his actual relation. My cousin isn't anymore family than my brother was to him.
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Go file a claim at Probate. Even if you don't have " papers" that cousin took. File your claim, there's no other help except the courts at this point. Might help if you know who your step grandfather used as lawyer, or any other witnesses to support your claim.
Also, find out your state's inheritancy chart--I think stepchildren are in line before nieces.
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He actually used the lawyer that I spoke about in an earlier posts.
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I have checked our local newspaper, There hasn't been anything about probate of step-grandfathers house. This lawyer was my step-grandfathers lawyer. If I call the court clerk could she advise me how to get brother down there to file a claim when it goes in probate?
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This hasn't been posted in our local paper yet.Can my brother go to the courthouse and file a claim against the estate before it is put in probate. I'm afraid the lawyer (who was executor) isn't going to put the house in probate. He wrote up the paperwork to have my brother thrown out. The police thought it had to be a court order but we were told the paper wasn't onfile at the courthouse. The police officer that took the paper out to my brother told him he needed to see the county attorney. He had never known anyone getting kicked out of a house in 24 hrs. My brother took care of our step-grandfather, I have a greedy aunt that wanted that house. I do no want to see my brother cheated out of what was willed to him. This is the same lawyer that made the will. Would the courthouse have a copy of the will. My cousin stole all my brothers papers and the will was in it. I have proof she took the papers. She contacted me on facebook, she admits they went into the house, neighbor let them in. I think my brother should file charges against them.
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Stop trying to figure this out on your own and tell your brother to get a lawyer. If you don't trust anyone in your town, go to the next town or nearest city. You are talking about a house, so there are big $$$ to lose if you don't get this sorted out... well worth the legal fees.
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We went to the courthouse to get the will. They didn't have it on file. We spoke to the county attorney, he told us to ask court clerk if the will was in safety. We went over and asked the clerk, The will had been in safe keeping but it had been taken by the lawyer that is involved in this. County attorney said if we could get a copy of the will he would put it in probate for my brother. Brother went to the nursing home to get a copy, The lawyer has already gotten that copy also. My brother is going to go file a claim with probate court tomorrow. I cannot sit by and watch this dirty lawyer take what is rightfully my brothers. This hasn't even gone to probate, the county attorney said it should have been in probate by now. I am so frustrated with this. The other members of our family to do this because the greedy bunch wants a house. My brother cared for our step-grandfather, took care of him for 9 years and then when other family members thought the poor man was dying they were like vultures. I appreciate your answers to these questions.
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