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Any lawyers? Inheritance Law
NofrikinfuN
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
My girlfriend and I have stumbled across a problem recently. I got into a verbal battle with her mother and pissed her off something fierce. (I'm never going to be part of her family, I'm not allowed talking to her/being around her, etc.) This wouldn't be too big a deal, except we've been living on her property for 3 years now, so things are pretty tense.
Anyway, last February when my girlfriends father passed away, among the possessions that girlfriend took was a .45 that her dad loved. Her mother wanted to sell it, as it is worth $1000 or so, but girlfriend wanted to keep it as a momento. Now, her father lived on this property as well, my girlfriend and I in one house, her father in a trailer and her mother in another house. They were divorced and never remarried and the only copy of a will he had on file has cancelled written on it. One of the documents we have concerning his death states that girlfriend is his next of kin.
After the fight I mentioned earlier, her mother got into our house while we were at work and stole the .45, claiming two things. First, she claimed she took the gun because she was "afraid I was going to kill her". (An absolutely absurd claim, as the closest thing I have to a criminal record is a speeding ticked from over 4 years ago.) Second, she claimed she had a legal right to inherit all his possessions despite their divorce because she paid the cremation costs. Does her mother have any legal right to this gun?
What is our legal recourse in this situation? I understand full well that we will probably get kicked off the property for fighting back, but frankly this woman has given me hell since I met her and my girlfriend is extremely upset at losing one of the few momentos she really had.
tl;dr - Girlfriends father died last year, now her mother is claiming she has legal rights to his possessions despite their divorce because she paid cremation costs. Is she bluffing?
Anyway, last February when my girlfriends father passed away, among the possessions that girlfriend took was a .45 that her dad loved. Her mother wanted to sell it, as it is worth $1000 or so, but girlfriend wanted to keep it as a momento. Now, her father lived on this property as well, my girlfriend and I in one house, her father in a trailer and her mother in another house. They were divorced and never remarried and the only copy of a will he had on file has cancelled written on it. One of the documents we have concerning his death states that girlfriend is his next of kin.
After the fight I mentioned earlier, her mother got into our house while we were at work and stole the .45, claiming two things. First, she claimed she took the gun because she was "afraid I was going to kill her". (An absolutely absurd claim, as the closest thing I have to a criminal record is a speeding ticked from over 4 years ago.) Second, she claimed she had a legal right to inherit all his possessions despite their divorce because she paid the cremation costs. Does her mother have any legal right to this gun?
What is our legal recourse in this situation? I understand full well that we will probably get kicked off the property for fighting back, but frankly this woman has given me hell since I met her and my girlfriend is extremely upset at losing one of the few momentos she really had.
tl;dr - Girlfriends father died last year, now her mother is claiming she has legal rights to his possessions despite their divorce because she paid cremation costs. Is she bluffing?
NofrikinfuN on
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Estate laws are so complicated (and primarily depend on where the deceased resided at the time of death) that without having all the pertinent documents and a lot more information, no one can really give you a definite answer on what your GF is entitled to and/or what the ex-wife can/can not keep from her.
My advice is for you to find a reputable local attorney and speak to him/her about this situation. If you can not afford an attorney, contact your local neighborhood legal services and see if an attorney is willing to put some pro bono work in on your behalf. You should do this sooner rather than later in order to protect her rights.
I was hoping to avoid talking to a lawyer directly as it may get costly, but if what you say is true, it may be the only option we have left.
Thank you very much for your input on the situation.
See, this is why she needs to speak to a lawyer. Now.
I didn't say anything about who resided on the property gets everything (or even has any right to anything) upon his death. What I said is what state he resided in at the time of his death will determine the controlling estate and intestacy laws that will affect who gets what when.
Like I said, you need a lawyer in this situation. Most attorneys will at least give you a free consultation in order to determine what you need. It might get costly, but it's better than her losing everything.
Fortunately, the most at stake is his collection of tools (He was a mechanic and an all-around handyman) and his guns, which I believe the .45 was the only one my girlfriend asked for. She works in maintenance and is hoping to make good use of the tools (Very do-it-yourself minded) and was really hoping to keep the .45 as her last momento.
The only reason I'm really seeking any advice is I'm tired of being bullied by her mother. Unfortunately, aside from a free consultation to call her bluff, I don't think we could support any kind of real legal battle.
Again, sorry for the misinterpretation, thanks for the advice.
In CA, the divorce settlement comes first, then the estate/will.
In CA, in order for her to take the gun, either:
a) the gun was given to her in the divorce settlement
b) her husband's estate owes her money and the gun is being used as payment (partial or whatever)
Otherwise, the .45 is still owned by his estate, which is passed down to next of kin as long as they are of legal age, meaning your gf owns the firearm.
Of course, this is only with solid legal work in place before death.
The biggest problem I'm seeing is that everything was played kind of fast and loose when he died. I'm not sure how easily any of his possessions could be traced back to him. He certainly didn't owe her anything, though I wouldn't put it past her to make something up, to be honest. Their divorce was final many years ago, but I can't honestly say how things were legally divided. I'm fairly sure he gave her control of the land/houses, but don't know about individual possessions, like the gun and tools. They were always treated as his possessions and it was always said that my girlfriend would inherit them, but saying is one thing...
There are a few witnesses that my girlfriend believes would vouch for her claim that her dad owned the tools, guns and a lot of antique furniture that were family heirlooms from his side, but the legal documentation up to his death was handled by her mother, so it's not clear where everything stands.
Here's a question. For a will to be legally binding, does it need to be officially executed when the person is declared dead, or in a case where there was a year and a half lapse before anything was contested, would the will still be legally binding as it was written? (I hope this doesn't vary by state as well.)
This is NOT ok. A separate, unbiased party needs/needed to handle all of that.
I don't have an answer for you. How long ago did all of this happen?
As for the unbiased party, I'll have to ask my girlfriend, but I don't believe there was any such party involved after his death.
My understanding of divorce states that if it was finalized, all possessions were div'ed up at that time into thier respective residences. So the father's stuff is at his place, and the mothers stuff is in her place. Divorce would also mean that the mother is pretty much guarenteed to be excluded from inheriting fuck-all unless a will, made after the divorce, says otherwise. So the girlfriend is most likely and very arguably the owner of anything kept in her father's residence.
The cremation has no bearing on the estate whatsoever, other than to say the burial costs may need to be rendered out of the estate. So the mother is completely full of it.
That being said, if she gets a lawyer, and you don't have one, she could pretty much rape you blind. Possession is just a half-step shy of precedent, and getting back something specific like that can take a court order and some cash- prolly more than what that item is worth.
You might take her to small claims, but without finding out the state of the divorce and the division of the estate itself first, I don't think a judge can render on that. ('Gimme the gun, Judge!''Who does it belong to?' We don't know, but we really, really like it!')
Really, it would be best if you could work out things with your girlfriend's mother, because really, the only people who win in a protracted probate battle are the lawyers.
I guess when it comes down to it, we will either have to bite the bullet and lose something or pay off a lawyer and find a new home. (Though given recent threats/arguments, I'm not convinced we won't be forced to find a new home anyway.)
I appreciate all of the input, though. I'm currently looking over some of the Ohio Revised Code to see if my girlfriend or I can pick out anything that may be somehow relevant. If we think we have any chance for a case, perhaps we will put in a few calls to some practicing lawyers in the area.
I'm not saying you have to mean it, just make her think you mean it.
It wasn't until she cornered my girlfriend alone a few days later that all this hate came to light. She apparently wasn't willing to say anything of the sort in front of me and asserts that she was afraid I would harm her. (A baseless claim at best.) So I only heard all of this through my girlfriend, really. She has stated to my girlfriend that she refuses to speak to or be otherwise exposed to me, so I pretty much have no further recourse. Even my girlfriend suggests at this point that I not break silence between myself in her mother.
It's funny, I've apologized and even meant it for several past episodes and was supposedly forgiven, but every time I raise my voice around the woman she adds it to the list of shit that she throws at me when she isn't getting her way in a conflict. She doesn't really forgive, much less forget.
It's all kinds of an unfortunate situation, but I'd prefer that my girlfriend walk away from the debacle with more than a kick in the teeth.