When my dad was sick I was the one to take him 300 miles several times to a specialty clinic. He was sick for several months. My brother only visited him once. My 93 yr old mom then got sick. Broke her hip..sent to a hospital 1 hr away for 13 days and had congestive heart failure there and was in ICU 3 times there. She was then sent to a nursing home where she stayed Jan 10, 2017 to March 6, 2018. I went every day to make sure she was getting taken care of properly. When my dad died in 2006 I was the one that helped mom sell some land so she could get a new roof, sold dads antique cars so she could have money, sold the grocery store they owned to get her money, sold 6 acres for her so she could get a new furnace, took her shopping every week, did her taxes for her and dad every year since 2005, took her to all her doctors and eye appointments, got her out of jams when she fell for tele market scams, always had her for dinner at our house for every holiday helped her with problems with rentals, and so on and so on. My brother has only visited her once since 2006 and once while she was in the nursing home. Mom had me listed as POA and Financial POA. Now that she has passed away 2 days ago I read the will. She has my brother listed as executor and leaves him with everything ( all the rest and residue of her property whether real or personal) and it says she leaves me nothing because it says I have been provided for in other ways. WOW this is not right but what can I do about it? She has 3 rental properties where she just rents them the land to have their mobile homes on for $180.00 a mo each. Another rental property she was renting out but the renter stuck her with a 1400.00 water bill and it got added to the real estate tax bill so she quit paying real estate taxes 3 or 4 yrs ago so it would just be taken by the county. She has about 16,000.00 left in her checking account that I am a signer on. She also has small 4 ins policies for 6000.00, 8000.00, 10,000.00 and one more but not sure of that amount. The first two have transfer on death TOD to me and the other two have no benificiary listed. What a mess...any suggestions?
The rest - her property, whether real or personal - goes to your brother.
What can you do about it? Nothing. "Too late, too late" the cry.
On the plus side, you need not do a stroke more work for any of them or their estate, ever.
I imagine that these instructions were laid out many, many years ago and the net result - that you have moved heaven and earth, your brother has not lifted a finger, and yet he collects the bulk of the estate - is a sin of omission not of deliberate intent. She hadn't thought about it, had she, not for years.
So although in your position I would be extremely hurt, angry and bitter, apportioning blame is not going to help YOU. Do you have a grief counsellor or therapist who can help you come to terms with what has happened?
It is, of course, not impossible that your brother might not only see the injustice of the legacy but be prepared to remedy it. It's not *impossible*. Based on what you know of him as your brother, rather than as an absent unengaged son, what thoughts do you think he might have about that?
It’s certainly not fair! In our case, it didn’t matter what we did for the in-laws during their lives. But ranting and raving does no good. If you truly want to contest the will, you will need an attorney and go by the book.
How much more will he be getting?