Can sister leave brother out of estate?

[justjess]

I had to attend a funeral this week, during which I learned of the following situation an old friend's family is going through.

From what I gathered, there are five siblings involved. All but the oldest have taken things from the estate. The youngest has decided she is in charge.

The father died about 20 years ago. The mother died a year ago. While she was ill, her younger daughter had power of attorney.

The older brother had received no contact or information about settling of the estate/reading of the will, except a letter recently from the younger girl saying that their mother decided "in her will" that the guns/family pieces left to him 20 years ago when his father died, which were to be collected upon his mother's death, are not going to be his after-all. "They are to stay at the farm." (another brother bought the family property)

If there was actually a will, wouldn't all siblings be advised of a time & location for the reading of the will?

Even if there IS a will, the mother doesn't have the right to change the will of the father, correct? (the guns/family pieces have been passed down from the father's side; nothing to do with mother)

If it is as the older brother believes, that being that his mother didn't have a will; much-less a current will (she had suffered very long with dimentia & alzheimer's), having "power of attorney" doesn't instantly make the younger sister the executrix of the estate, does it? And it doesn't give her any power to decide who gets what, correct?

The older brother has received nothing at all from his mother's estate. Not so much as a keepsake. His sister has sent him a nasty letter in which she tells him he doesn't get anything because she believes the brother's wife's family stole something from their family many years ago and it is petty for him to even ask.

The older brother is currently quite ill & he would like to secure the guns/family pieces he was given by his father's will before he himself passes, so that he at least has those things from his father to pass on.

 

[dee_dub]

I had to attend a funeral this week, during which I learned of the following situation an old friend's family is going through.

From what I gathered, there are five siblings involved. All but the oldest have taken things from the estate. The youngest has decided she is in charge.

That's very nice, but it's up to a court to decide who's in charge. She would be in charge if she was named as executor in the will, or applied to court in absence of a will to be named administrator. And in either case, if she is "in charge", she is tasked with distributing the estate according to the will or the laws of intestacy, not according to her own wishes.

The older brother had received no contact or information about settling of the estate/reading of the will, except a letter recently from the younger girl saying that their mother decided "in her will" that the guns/family pieces left to him 20 years ago when his father died, which were to be collected upon his mother's death, are not going to be his after-all. "They are to stay at the farm." (another brother bought the family property)

If there was actually a will, wouldn't all siblings be advised of a time & location for the reading of the will?

No. There isn't really an "official reading of the will". If there was a will, he may have simply received a copy of it in the mail. Or things may not have gotten to that stage yet.

Even if there IS a will, the mother doesn't have the right to change the will of the father, correct? (the guns/family pieces have been passed down from the father's side; nothing to do with mother)

Correct. If he received them in the father's will, they are his. The mother's will cannot change that. However, you said the guns/pieces were "to be collected upon his mother's death". To me, that implies they were not left to him, full stop, but were left to him only for the duration of the mother's life.

If it is as the older brother believes, that being that his mother didn't have a will; much-less a current will (she had suffered very long with dimentia & alzheimer's), having "power of attorney" doesn't instantly make the younger sister the executrix of the estate, does it? And it doesn't give her any power to decide who gets what, correct?

No, it does not. However, I would add that having dementia and Alzheimer's does not preclude her from having a valid will. Maybe she was lucid enough to make a will; maybe she made a will before she became incapacitated.

As always, the parties should seek the advice of an estates lawyer. Or lawyers, in this case. The sister may not be the correct person to distribute the estate, and has no idea how to do it. And the brother might get screwed out of his inheritance.

 

[lwpat]

You only have a short time to contest the distribution of an estate. Start by calling the probate court and getting a copy of the file. He should have been notified of any proceedings. You will also need a copy of the father's will showing the distribution of the guns.

Then he will need to make a written demand on the personal representative of the mother's estate for anything he was left in his father's will or either just go get them.