- Jurisdiction
- Illinois
Today a friend of mine with no family/children gave me the honor of being executor on their will. She told me that she is leaving half of the estate to myself and to use to split any portion with my brother if i wanted,40% to the church, and 10% for the individual who finds homes for all her pets (18 of them)
The issue is after i read the will i see many areas for concern. My biggest concern is i have seen people fight over wills and contesting verbiage and truly want what is best, fullfils her wishes, and no one questions intent. My biggest concern is ever getting into a fight legally or just personally with family over misinterpretations(the way the will reads it seems like it must be 50/50 split between my brother and i). The part that lists assets for myself reads exactly "50% of the entire estate i am leaving to xyz(me) and/or (brother).
i called her and said that is perfectly good with me i was likely going to just split 50/50 with (brother), and she said no i put that there incase something were to happen to you it would go to your brother. She said since you(ie me) are the executor then you would decide that split. After speaking w/ an attorney that is not the case, the way it is drafted if i did not split equal id lose a legal battle as the language does indicate the 50% estate assets is split between brother and i. The other issue is 10% of estate goes to the indivdual who finds a home for her many pets. Again the concern is I am happy to ensure i see who is responsible (i assume a vet friend of hers or someone i can find to place each pet) and ensure that they get 10%, but since the will just says the person responsible gets 10% i am not comfortable someone will not dispute who was responsible, so i would rather her designate myself or someone else to have sole discretion of determination and on the distribution of the 10% to that person or persons.
now here is my quandary… i dont care about splitting with my brother in the slightest, and the pet issue is not the biggest, but i do not know if i should bring up and say "can you please make sure you spell out the items of concern so i fullfill what you want, and make sure no room for contesting", which scares me bc anyone asking someone to change their will to clarify their portion just sounds weird and makes me uncomforitable as i try to always be a decent human being and i dont ever want to come off like i am out for myself…or do i just let it be, split 50/50 and tell my brother she wanted it this way and hope no one ever contests the pet issue and i just deal with later to the best of my abilities the person i think helped find the pets homes the most(prob a vet friend of hers, or multiple ones, but thats why i feel it has to be clarified in writing who picks that)
I just feel weird bringing up issues on a sensitive topic, but based on all the unknown scenerios, families fighting thinking someone stole, etc… i just would feel so much better having it all clarified while she is young, healthy, and in sound mind to leave no room for misinterpretation now or later in writing, but I overthink everything and not sure if it is worth it and its ok as is.
The issue is after i read the will i see many areas for concern. My biggest concern is i have seen people fight over wills and contesting verbiage and truly want what is best, fullfils her wishes, and no one questions intent. My biggest concern is ever getting into a fight legally or just personally with family over misinterpretations(the way the will reads it seems like it must be 50/50 split between my brother and i). The part that lists assets for myself reads exactly "50% of the entire estate i am leaving to xyz(me) and/or (brother).
i called her and said that is perfectly good with me i was likely going to just split 50/50 with (brother), and she said no i put that there incase something were to happen to you it would go to your brother. She said since you(ie me) are the executor then you would decide that split. After speaking w/ an attorney that is not the case, the way it is drafted if i did not split equal id lose a legal battle as the language does indicate the 50% estate assets is split between brother and i. The other issue is 10% of estate goes to the indivdual who finds a home for her many pets. Again the concern is I am happy to ensure i see who is responsible (i assume a vet friend of hers or someone i can find to place each pet) and ensure that they get 10%, but since the will just says the person responsible gets 10% i am not comfortable someone will not dispute who was responsible, so i would rather her designate myself or someone else to have sole discretion of determination and on the distribution of the 10% to that person or persons.
now here is my quandary… i dont care about splitting with my brother in the slightest, and the pet issue is not the biggest, but i do not know if i should bring up and say "can you please make sure you spell out the items of concern so i fullfill what you want, and make sure no room for contesting", which scares me bc anyone asking someone to change their will to clarify their portion just sounds weird and makes me uncomforitable as i try to always be a decent human being and i dont ever want to come off like i am out for myself…or do i just let it be, split 50/50 and tell my brother she wanted it this way and hope no one ever contests the pet issue and i just deal with later to the best of my abilities the person i think helped find the pets homes the most(prob a vet friend of hers, or multiple ones, but thats why i feel it has to be clarified in writing who picks that)
I just feel weird bringing up issues on a sensitive topic, but based on all the unknown scenerios, families fighting thinking someone stole, etc… i just would feel so much better having it all clarified while she is young, healthy, and in sound mind to leave no room for misinterpretation now or later in writing, but I overthink everything and not sure if it is worth it and its ok as is.
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