I don't know what to do..

[smcgarry]

What is the name of your state? Texas.

I had POA for my 80 yr old Mom and she passed recently.

She was private pay at the nursing home, and I was putting money into a trust every month so there would be something for her later down the line when she was broke and had to go on medicaide. (She didn't live long enough to go on medicaide.)

I gave a couple of gifts from Mom's checking, one to my brother and one to my 2 minor children, set up in a savings account for them.

My Mother didn't have a will, but passed away about 2 weeks ago. I have a brother and 2 sisters and Mom left a house, that was put into the trust and a small amount of cash.

My brother would like to buy the house, and we had an appraisal done and it is worth $67,400. My sisters don't want him to have the house and think we could get more if we sold it to a stranger. My brother has worked really hard to go in and clean it up, paint it and do some repairs that should have been done years ago and we would like to keep the house in the family in memory of Mom...it's the only house I ever knew and I grew up there.

My sisters didn't come to see Mom for over 2 1/2 weeks before she passed and when they finally came they wanted to know about the money and how much they would get. They also went and got an attorney because they said they want to see "the books."

I have replaced the funds I gifted to my kids and my brother, but am a little worried about what is going to happen now.

Can someone please advise?

Thank you.

 

[seniorjudge]

What is the name of your state? Texas.

I had POA for my 80 yr old Mom and she passed recently.

She was private pay at the nursing home, and I was putting money into a trust every month so there would be something for her later down the line when she was broke and had to go on medicaide. (She didn't live long enough to go on medicaide.)

I gave a couple of gifts from Mom's checking, one to my brother and one to my 2 minor children, set up in a savings account for them.

My Mother didn't have a will, but passed away about 2 weeks ago. I have a brother and 2 sisters and Mom left a house, that was put into the trust and a small amount of cash.

My brother would like to buy the house, and we had an appraisal done and it is worth $67,400. My sisters don't want him to have the house and think we could get more if we sold it to a stranger. My brother has worked really hard to go in and clean it up, paint it and do some repairs that should have been done years ago and we would like to keep the house in the family in memory of Mom...it's the only house I ever knew and I grew up there.

My sisters didn't come to see Mom for over 2 1/2 weeks before she passed and when they finally came they wanted to know about the money and how much they would get. They also went and got an attorney because they said they want to see "the books."

I have replaced the funds I gifted to my kids and my brother, but am a little worried about what is going to happen now.

Can someone please advise?

Thank you.

Since there is no will, the property (mixed, personal, and real) will be distributed according to the law set forth below. You need to open a probate estate.

Texas Intestate Succession Laws

If any part of a Texas decedent's estate is not effectively disposed of by will, the intestate share will be distributed in the following order and manner:

1. Surviving spouse. A surviving spouse is generally first in line to get any assets from the intestate estate. However, the amount a surviving spouse is entitled to depends on these situations:

* If there are surviving children or direct descendants of the decedent, the surviving spouse takes one-third of the personal property in the estate, with the balance going to the children and descendants. The surviving spouse is also entitled to an interest in one-third of the land in the estate for the rest of his or her life (a.k.a., a life estate), with the remainder going to the decedent's children and descendants.
* If there are no children of decedent or their descendants, the surviving spouse is entitled to all the personal property in the estate. The surviving spouse also gets outright ownership of one-half of the decedent's lands. The other half of any lands passes according to the distribution rules below (except that the surviving spouse gets everything if there are no surviving father, mother, or siblings, and their descendants, of decedent).

2. Heirs other than surviving spouse. Any part of the intestate estate not passing to the surviving spouse as indicated above, or the entire intestate estate if there is no surviving spouse, passes in the following order to:

1. Decedent's children and their descendants.
2. Decedent's parents equally if both survive. If only one parent survives, however, the estate is divided into two equal portions, one of which passes to the surviving parent and the other half passes to the decedent's brothers and sisters and their descendants If no siblings or their descendants exist, the whole estate is inherited by the surviving parent.
3. Decedent's siblings and their descendants.
4. If none of the above are available, then the inheritance is divided into two equal shares ("moieties"), one for decedent's paternal kin and one for decedent's maternal kin, and distributed in the following order:
1. To the grandfather and grandmother in equal portions.
2. If only one of the grandparents is living, then the estate is divided into two equal parts, one of which goes to the survivor and the other goes to the descendants of the deceased grandparent. If there be no such descendants, then the whole estate is inherited by the surviving grandparent.
3. If both grandparents are deceased, then the entire portion goes to their descendants, and so on without end, passing in like manner to the nearest lineal ancestors and their descendants.
4. If there is no surviving grandparent or descendant of a grandparent on either the paternal or the maternal side, the entire estate passes to the decedent's relatives on the other side in the same manner as the half.

3. State of Texas. If there is no taker under any of the above provisions, the intestate estate passes to the state of Texas.

Texas Intestate Succession Law Fun Facts

* Relatives of the half blood inherit the same share they would inherit if they were of the whole blood.
* Decedent's children or lineal descendants conceived before decedent's death, but born thereafter, inherit as if they had been born in decedent's lifetime. Other persons, however, have to be alive at the time of decedent's death and be capable in law to take as heirs.
* An individual who fails to survive the decedent by 120 hours is considered to have predeceased the decedent for purposes of Texas' intestate succession laws. However, these rules don't apply if the end result is that the state of Texas gets the intestate estate.
* Texas' intestate succession laws, as well as other laws dealing with wills and decedents' estates, can be found in the Texas Probate Code.

Copyright 2002 - 2005, CCH Tax and Accounting - A WoltersKluwer Company. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.finance.cch.com/pops/c50s10d190_TX.asp

 

[smcgarry]

Thank you for that info.

I guess what I am truly concerned about is the gift thing while she was still alive and I had POA.
Will I get in trouble for giving brother money as a gift on Mom's behalf?

 

[BlondiePB]

Thank you for that info.

I guess what I am truly concerned about is the gift thing while she was still alive and I had POA.
Will I get in trouble for giving brother money as a gift on Mom's behalf?

I highly recommend that you be able to produce evidence of every penny of mom's money since you became her POA and get to your attorney's office immediately.

 

[seniorjudge]

Thank you for that info.

I guess what I am truly concerned about is the gift thing while she was still alive and I had POA.
Will I get in trouble for giving brother money as a gift on Mom's behalf?

I don't know how much trouble you will get into but you may have to pay it back if the court tells you to since you had no authority to make the gift.

Now, in making that statement, I am assuming that you made the gifts after mom's death. If you made the gifts BEFORE mom's death AND the POA gave you that authority, then that may be a different story. OR if MOM made the gifts (which does not seem to be the case), then that could be a different story too.

 

[smcgarry]

I made the gifts before Momma died because in my POA it stated I was allowed to give gifts to anyone, including me, as the agent. Since she passed I haven't touched any funds except to pay her bills.

 

[seniorjudge]

I highly recommend that you be able to produce evidence of every penny of mom's money since you became her POA and get to your attorney's office immediately.

Excellent advice....