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01-04-2011, 12:01 PM | #1 |
BR549
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Almost to the end of our rope with probate issues
Kinda wondering if there are any Florida Attns here, or maybe an underwriter for a Title company? I don't know where else to turn. I will try to lay out the issues in as short a space as possible and then you can see where we are and maybe someone can help. More lawyers are probably the answer, but with the wife out of work for almost 2 years and the siblings not being able to help, we aren't able to spend lots of money at this point.
Here it is: My wife's mother died in November 2008. She had a joint will with a prior husband. He died in 1989 and his estate was probated and she got all his stuff including the house that we are now trying to sell. She didn't go and make a new will she just kept that one. This will had a "simultanous death clause" that stated if the two of them were to die together- here is what we want done with our stuff, and named my wife and her three siblings, and also his 5 kids from a previous marriage. When we went to court and the judge construed the will in 2009 she ruled the simultaneous death clause invalid since they died 20 years apart. When you take away that provision there was no other direction so the judge ruled that the will was valid, but since there was no direction then for all intents and purposes she died intestate. The judge further ruled that the other 5 people named as heirs was removed from the estate, since they weren't blood relatives. So far so good. The problem is that even though my wife as personal representative of the estate has an order allowing her and her alone to sell the property the title company is requiring that all nine individuals named in the will sign a quit claim deed. Easier said than done. My wife and 2 of her siblings, and three of her step siblings have already signed. Two of the step siblings and her step brother have not. They think there is something in it for them and so far have refused to sign. And if there are no sigs then there is no sale. The title company has said they don't care what the judge says that they are gonna require the sigs. We have spoke to two other title company's and they say that they might can do it without the sigs but you are into them for $500.00 by the time they can make the decision and we can't afford to pay that kind of money to find out if they can or not. It is on my wife and I to spend any money that needs to be spent cause the others aren't financially able to pay anything towards any costs. There is no money in the estate and this house is worth $30,500.00 so it isn't like we're talking about millions here. I have a call into the county judge, and the probate judge. If there is anyone here who can help PM me and I will give you my phone number, I will drive 4 or 5 hours to see you, whatever it takes at this point to move forward. My wife wants this done, and it is affecting her mentally and physically and it needs to be over. I can see probate taking a long time for big estates but this is a thirty thousand dollar estate and to still be in it over two years later is a testament to idiocy of the system. Any help at all would be highly appreciated at this point. Thanks Greg G |