Q: Can an heir have everything put in their name then refuse to settle everything equally among the other heirs?
My fiance has 3 sisters. One of them manipulated their mother to have everything put in her name. Now she is playing the executor of a Will that was never filed in court. She has been dividing some of their mother's money 4 ways. The problem is she has moved into their mother's house which is valued between $250,000 & $300,000. There's also 50 acres of prime land worth around $500,000. Both the house and property are in this 1 sisters name. Now that she's living in the house she feels like she doesn't have to split the amount of the house or property because it's in her name. The other thing is everyone agreed that my fiance should get their mother's car. This 1 sister puts a value of $3,000 on it and takes the money outof her part and divides it among the 3 other sisters. Is there a way for the 3 sisters to make the 4th sister to either sell the property and split the money or make her pay the 3 sisters 3/4 of the value of the property?
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A: If your fiance thinks he might have enough evidence to convince a court that the sister in possession of the house obtained titled by fraud, misrepresentation, duress or undue influence, he might be able to get the deeds and other transfers to the sister set aside and the property restored to his mother's estate. Then your fiance can petition the probate court to have himself appointed as executor to administer your mother's will correctly.
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A: If the mother's Will is not Probated, then it has no effect. Assuming the mother owned the land, it will owned by her heirs as tenants in common. Any of the owners can file an Action for Partition. As an owner the sister has as much right as any to live there. If there is a mortgage then someone must keep the note current pending Court Sale.
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