- Jurisdiction
- New York
My mother passed away a little over one year ago and left a will. There are four children. In the will she named the brother who lived with her as executor and my sister was named co-executor.
She gave a parcel of land to the brother who is executor, and willed her personal residence to the four of us to be divided equally.
When the will was read three of us told the attorney we wanted absolutely nothing to do with the inheritance and we wanted to release our shares and any interest to the brother who is executor. The attorney had us sign a paper that he claimed would release us from the inheritance and any responsibility. Before I signed I noticed that there was a stipulation in the paper that said "Parties agree that they will each join in the execution of a deed from the Parties to (my brother's name is inserted)". I questioned this and we were told it was just a formality and because we released our inheritance to our brother his name would be put on the deed.
Shortly after we received a letter from the attorney stating that he now only represented my brother who is executor.
Last week I received a N.Y. Deed-Warranty With Lien Covenant to sign along with N.Y. state tax papers. there was an out of state tax form because I'm the only one who lives out of state (Tennessee). Why do we have to sign this? How can we guarantee him a free and clear deed, we never had any interest in this property? He has lived in this house for over 40 years.
Now it's being said we only signed an agreement to release our inheritance to our brother and because our mother willed the personal residence to the four of us it means we each own a share and are now responsible for one-fourth of all expenses and upkeep on the house and property. How can we be owners when we made it very clear we didn't want this and we were lead to believe we signed a release? If the three of us refuse to sign the deed then my brother and his attorney are going to request a receivership and force us to pay one-fourth of all expenses and he's going to request we reimburse him for property and school taxes and all utilities he paid.
What if any recourse do I have? I'm not a wealthy person and do not have any extra money to pay for any expenses.
She gave a parcel of land to the brother who is executor, and willed her personal residence to the four of us to be divided equally.
When the will was read three of us told the attorney we wanted absolutely nothing to do with the inheritance and we wanted to release our shares and any interest to the brother who is executor. The attorney had us sign a paper that he claimed would release us from the inheritance and any responsibility. Before I signed I noticed that there was a stipulation in the paper that said "Parties agree that they will each join in the execution of a deed from the Parties to (my brother's name is inserted)". I questioned this and we were told it was just a formality and because we released our inheritance to our brother his name would be put on the deed.
Shortly after we received a letter from the attorney stating that he now only represented my brother who is executor.
Last week I received a N.Y. Deed-Warranty With Lien Covenant to sign along with N.Y. state tax papers. there was an out of state tax form because I'm the only one who lives out of state (Tennessee). Why do we have to sign this? How can we guarantee him a free and clear deed, we never had any interest in this property? He has lived in this house for over 40 years.
Now it's being said we only signed an agreement to release our inheritance to our brother and because our mother willed the personal residence to the four of us it means we each own a share and are now responsible for one-fourth of all expenses and upkeep on the house and property. How can we be owners when we made it very clear we didn't want this and we were lead to believe we signed a release? If the three of us refuse to sign the deed then my brother and his attorney are going to request a receivership and force us to pay one-fourth of all expenses and he's going to request we reimburse him for property and school taxes and all utilities he paid.
What if any recourse do I have? I'm not a wealthy person and do not have any extra money to pay for any expenses.