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State of North Dakota.
My father passed away early May of this year (2023). He left a will. His brother (my uncle) is the executor of the will. His wife (my step-mother) had already been in dementia care for 2 years. She was incapacitated and needed a conservator to represent her decisions. Well, my father and her sister were made to be conservators.
Within a few days after my fathers death, conservator goes to bank and withdraws all cash, well over 6 figures. These accounts were joint for my father and his wife. Executor signs off on it.
A few days later, my brother and I are read the will. My brother and I are to inherit via TOD the real property, personal property, my father's classic cars and anything left behind on my father's property. As well, we are to inherit his mineral rights via TOD. These mineral rights were in his name only. Never his wife's.
A year prior (2022) to my father's death he had removed his wife's name from the house deed. 10 days later he had added my brother and I as TOD to the real estate. This is all recorded at the county recorders office. So, his wife's name is no longer on the deed. She is in assisted living so she would never to return to the property.
The conservator is furious because she feels everything should go to my father's wife. She hires an attorney to contest the will. We had already retained a probate attorney, which we eventually lost due to my uncle being too difficult to deal with. They decided to not represent us. We were able to retain another attorney.
We know that under North Dakota state law, the wife is entitled to 50% of the augmented estate if the will is contested. That is all well and good. Problem is, the conservator has close to a half a million dollars in cash that belongs to the estate.
After a month or so, conservators attorney sends out a Quiet Title to my brother and I saying the wife's name was never legally taken off of the deed so the TOD is void. Our attorneys respond and we have heard nothing in close to a month.
Next could be the mineral rights, then the cars and anything else. Basically, she is trying to take everything and leave us with nothing.
Here is the thing, my father's wife had an aunt who had passed several years prior and when she passed she left money to my step-mother, her sister (conservator) and their two other siblings. My step-mother received a very large sum and the conservator received very little. So we believe she (conservator) is resentful and wants this money from my step-mother now that she is incapacitated. You see, the conservator is the beneficiary to my step-mothers assets.
Here is my question: If we know my father did this all legally (the deed transfer), which he did, why is this not as simple as proving it via court documents? I realize this stuff can be complicated and take some time but it seems the proof is right there. We are now waiting on the judge to place a number on the augmented estate and we go from there. The conservator had access to my father's house while she was dealing with all of this and has also stolen my father's (our) computer and taken it back with her to her home state. None of of us live in North Dakota, so none of us are there at the same time.
This is all a mess, I know, but we are patiently waiting for this to all work itself out.
Any feedback on this would be appreciated, we really just need to know if we are doing this right. Thanks.
My father passed away early May of this year (2023). He left a will. His brother (my uncle) is the executor of the will. His wife (my step-mother) had already been in dementia care for 2 years. She was incapacitated and needed a conservator to represent her decisions. Well, my father and her sister were made to be conservators.
Within a few days after my fathers death, conservator goes to bank and withdraws all cash, well over 6 figures. These accounts were joint for my father and his wife. Executor signs off on it.
A few days later, my brother and I are read the will. My brother and I are to inherit via TOD the real property, personal property, my father's classic cars and anything left behind on my father's property. As well, we are to inherit his mineral rights via TOD. These mineral rights were in his name only. Never his wife's.
A year prior (2022) to my father's death he had removed his wife's name from the house deed. 10 days later he had added my brother and I as TOD to the real estate. This is all recorded at the county recorders office. So, his wife's name is no longer on the deed. She is in assisted living so she would never to return to the property.
The conservator is furious because she feels everything should go to my father's wife. She hires an attorney to contest the will. We had already retained a probate attorney, which we eventually lost due to my uncle being too difficult to deal with. They decided to not represent us. We were able to retain another attorney.
We know that under North Dakota state law, the wife is entitled to 50% of the augmented estate if the will is contested. That is all well and good. Problem is, the conservator has close to a half a million dollars in cash that belongs to the estate.
After a month or so, conservators attorney sends out a Quiet Title to my brother and I saying the wife's name was never legally taken off of the deed so the TOD is void. Our attorneys respond and we have heard nothing in close to a month.
Next could be the mineral rights, then the cars and anything else. Basically, she is trying to take everything and leave us with nothing.
Here is the thing, my father's wife had an aunt who had passed several years prior and when she passed she left money to my step-mother, her sister (conservator) and their two other siblings. My step-mother received a very large sum and the conservator received very little. So we believe she (conservator) is resentful and wants this money from my step-mother now that she is incapacitated. You see, the conservator is the beneficiary to my step-mothers assets.
Here is my question: If we know my father did this all legally (the deed transfer), which he did, why is this not as simple as proving it via court documents? I realize this stuff can be complicated and take some time but it seems the proof is right there. We are now waiting on the judge to place a number on the augmented estate and we go from there. The conservator had access to my father's house while she was dealing with all of this and has also stolen my father's (our) computer and taken it back with her to her home state. None of of us live in North Dakota, so none of us are there at the same time.
This is all a mess, I know, but we are patiently waiting for this to all work itself out.
Any feedback on this would be appreciated, we really just need to know if we are doing this right. Thanks.
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