old probate ?

[45Frank]

What is the name of your state? New Jersey

My Grandfather died over 30 years ago, I reciently found a piece of property he owned and found that my Aunt had been paying taxxes on it so it's still in his name (worth several 100 thousand dollars). I checked with the county probate and she only filed what she dispersed, I was included and did recieve money over the years. Problem is my Aunt has died, her brother my uncle is now the Sub-Administrator, been thru probate I checked. Now he has a contract on it to be sold. My problem is he now states his lawyer says I the grandson should have never been included in the estate, to get my Dad's share, this was my Dad's Dad and my Dad did die 2 months before my grandfather. He says this is why and my mother was alive at the time of her fatherinlaw's death. There is no will !
Is this just greed or do I have to pay back what has been given as he says. Do I spend the money for a lawyer to fight this before the sale so he don't take the money and run. The probate court did tell me he has been bonded so don't worry is this true.

 

[seniorjudge]

What exactly has happened?

Is this guy just blowing hot air or did some burly dude come and serve some kind of papers on you?

Sounds like a bunch of **** to me, but tell us more details and facts on what exactly you are talking about.

 

[Dandy Don]

There's enough information here to ascertain what happened.

Your aunt should have probated the land along with the other items, but since she didn't do it it will have to be done now. If grandpa didn't have a will, then all of his children, whether living or dead, have a right to a share of this property and their names should have been added to the deed/title during the probate process, so her dad does qualify for a share of this.

Get an attorney now to protect your dad's share of this estate, or if dad had an executor tell the executor so he can act on this. Your attorney can notify uncle that the title is not clear yet so that he will know even when sale goes through that he will have to pay his fair share to heirs. Attorney may even need to consult with a real estate attorney or purchase an actual copy of of the abstract/deed/title to see whose names are officially on it now as owners and whether that needs to be changed through probate or not.

Congratulations to you on being smart enough to not accept what you were told at face value--it always helps to get a second opinion about some things!

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA (tiekh@yahoo.com)

 

[45Frank]

update

I did most of what was said and the your not intitled to anything had gone away but a new situation has come up.
My aunt who I said has died (and was executrix )left her part of the land to her Husband OK. The attorney now has found that my Grandad had many other things owned that we knew nothing of, a house at the time that was sold for $30,000 area in 1974 or 5, a mobile home and several other things. Her husband says he knows nothing of this and now has retained his own attorney. I don'r believe there will be anything left after the attorney's get done. But the ? is could her share now her husbands be deducted the amount that disappeared after all these years. Would a probate Judge use todays value of the property or the 1974 value.
We all now know why she never closed things out.

There's enough information here to ascertain what happened.

Your aunt should have probated the land along with the other items, but since she didn't do it it will have to be done now. If grandpa didn't have a will, then all of his children, whether living or dead, have a right to a share of this property and their names should have been added to the deed/title during the probate process, so her dad does qualify for a share of this.

Get an attorney now to protect your dad's share of this estate, or if dad had an executor tell the executor so he can act on this. Your attorney can notify uncle that the title is not clear yet so that he will know even when sale goes through that he will have to pay his fair share to heirs. Attorney may even need to consult with a real estate attorney or purchase an actual copy of of the abstract/deed/title to see whose names are officially on it now as owners and whether that needs to be changed through probate or not.

Congratulations to you on being smart enough to not accept what you were told at face value--it always helps to get a second opinion about some things!

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA (tiekh@yahoo.com)

 

[seniorjudge]

I did most of what was said and the your not intitled to anything had gone away but a new situation has come up.
My aunt who I said has died (and was executrix )left her part of the land to her Husband OK. The attorney now has found that my Grandad had many other things owned that we knew nothing of, a house at the time that was sold for $30,000 area in 1974 or 5, a mobile home and several other things. Her husband says he knows nothing of this and now has retained his own attorney. I don'r believe there will be anything left after the attorney's get done. But the ? is could her share now her husbands be deducted the amount that disappeared after all these years. Would a probate Judge use todays value of the property or the 1974 value.
We all now know why she never closed things out.

The lawyer you hired...what did he say when you told him all this stuff?

 

[45Frank]

The lawyer I mention is the lawyer my Uncle (sub-administrator )hired.
He says he must research the laws because of the age of the estate.
cha ching cha ching

The lawyer you hired...what did he say when you told him all this stuff?

 

[seniorjudge]

The lawyer I mention is the lawyer my Uncle (sub-administrator )hired.
He says he must research the laws because of the age of the estate.
cha ching cha ching

Okay, let me rephrase this:

The lawyer you hired after you finished reading this post (i.e., YOUR lawyer to protect YOUR interes)...what did he say when you told him all this stuff?

 

[45Frank]

I did not yet hire an attorney for me yet , I did contact a lawyer that I used in the past from the county that this is being probated. I do live in NC and this is all happening in NJ. He on the phone did say I was entitled to be included in the estate as you or someone had said.

I didn't contact him yet for this, I know if research is to be done which I know there will be he obviousely is going to charge me and rightly so.

I am trying to get opinions from people who may know more then me to see if it's all worth the time and money. If they can't do anything for the money thats disappeared, what's the point.
thank you for your time and sorry for any misunderstanding.

Okay, let me rephrase this:

The lawyer you hired after you finished reading this post (i.e., YOUR lawyer to protect YOUR interes)...what did he say when you told him all this stuff?

 

[Dandy Don]

Since a New Jersey attorney is obviously not reading this message board, post to www.lawguru.com and you will probably get some responses geared to your situation from attorneys in NJ.