Re: OT: Family fights afte parent(s) death???

"Dee.Dee" wrote:



I hope that he had the good sense to make a will with you as sole heir. My
brother in law divorced his wife. Actually being a good Catholic, she did
not want a divorce but got an annulment instead. He was talking about
changing his will and leaving his chalet to the entire family. I tried
to
talk him out of it, because I could foresee huge hassles down the road. I
suggested instead that he leave it to his children. He died before
changing his will and his miserable ex wife got everything because his
original will stood.

The best thing is, if an elder trusts the younger, to do the whole thing
before death.


There were several reasons for me talking my brother in law out of leaving
the chalet to some sort of family trust. First of all, I thought that it
was unfair to his children. He had no other property. He had taken an early
retirement for health reasons, and he had taken out a second mortgage on
the place. His children were in their early 20s and not yet suitably
employed. His other sister was and actress, a fun career but which provides
spotty employment. Her kids were not in a position to contribute
financially to taxes and maintenance. My wife were the only ones with
steady employment and a good income. That would have left is paying the
bills for a place that we would not have to ourselves. As much as I would
have loved to spend time up there with his kids, it also would have meant
Big Niece would be up there freeloading.

I have also heard too many horror stories of family property ownership. We
had just got rid of a property that my wife's grandparents had bought for
long term speculation for their grandchildren. A cousin got her mother's
power of attorney and tried to force us to sell it in a deal that would
have been her husband's first real estate sale, and the offer sucked. A
friend of mine inherited a vacation property along with her brother and
sister. She is still battling with a nephew who thinks he owns a share of
it even though his father is still alive. The nephew thinks that since he
has 6 cousins and siblings that he owns 1/6 of it. She pointed out that,
when is father dies, and if he leaves him a share equal to his brother and
sister, that he will have 1/3 of his father's one third. She discovered
that, while he had been responsible for making sure that the taxes were
paid, had defaulted in them, hoping that the property would be sold for
taxes and he could pick it up cheap.

A friend of my wife's inherited a property with two cottages. The sister
in law has her claws deep into the property and every time our friend goes
up to her cottage it is full of her sister in law's friends. She spotted
trouble when one of the guests asked why she was always there. They had
trouble grasping the idea that it was her cottage, nor the sister in law's.
.

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