Grandchild denied inheritence; parents say, 'the amount she would have gotten was used to raise her.' AITA? + UPDATE
"Found out I was a major part of my grandmas will, was supposed to get my part at 25 and 30. I’m 38 and have received nothing…"
To start, her will was done in Washington. I knew I was in my grandma’s will, but didn’t know to what capacity, so had to go contact the county the will was done in to get a copy.
I received the will in the mail this week and was shocked to find out how big of a part I had in the will, but didn’t start until I was 22. The assets were to be split into 3 when I was 22.
My 2 uncles were supposed to get a third each and the rest was to be saved for me. When I was 25, I was to get a half of what was left, when I was 30 I was to get the rest of it and the trust was to be terminated. The estate was closed in 2005, I was 19. I got zero notification and actually no notification of anything about this.
The original lawyer no longer works for the firm that he was at, he’s now an attorney for a city in WA. The lawyer he passed all his files to, passed away in 2018. To say this has been an adventure is an understatement.
Ended up getting in touch with the Bar Association with that county and they gave me the name of someone, but still waiting to hear back if it’s conflict of interest. I’ve spoken to 83857 law offices this week it seems like.
I’ve reached out to the executor of the estate (which is one of the uncles that was to get 1/3rd of the estate.) Radio silence. Can anyone help me? I just want what’s mine or if there is nothing left, I’d like to know why.
Here were the top rated comments from readers in response to the OP's initial post:
You need to hire a legal malpractice attorney. You will be suing the attorney for the city of port Angeles, WA. Frankly I’m kind of shocked he would he probate a will and screw someone over like this. You will likely also being suing your uncles.
heatheranne2004 (OP)
One of the uncles that was in this will died in 2021. The uncle that’s the executor of the will is still alive.
If you don't get what you were supposed to with the interest front he executed of the will , I hope you can use the other dead uncles rate to claw out the remaining part since they both split the profits. I don't know if it is possible or even legal but I sincerely hope you get made full. I would also sue the lawyer who has now moved since he made the mistake.
If I were you, my first step would be to contact the court that oversaw your grandmother’s estate and obtain all of the information you can (there should have been periodic statements filed with the court with copies to the beneficiary of the estate).
The next step will be to contact the trustee of the trust to obtain a full accounting (and forensic audit if necessary) and get their take on what did or did not take place, if there was a departure from the direction of the of your grandmother’s will and the trust created as a result of that will for your benefit.
Once you have all this information you will know the next step to take and whether retaining counsel to go after the trustee, attorneys involved in the matter or the individual(s) who received your inheritance, if the assets and/or funds are not still held by the trust. This is not intended as legal advice but rather practical and/or legal information for your consideration…
I’d ask your parents as well. My mother stole my brothers inheritance from our great grandmother because he was under 18 when she passed.
Eight months later, the OP returned with an update.
I guess it’s time to update this, I wish there was a better update but essentially my uncle won. I get and got nothing. I finally found a lawyer that would take on the case and we started out with a letter that essentially told him that we know and we demand accounting.
He responded by letting her know that he received the letter and since he was on a Mormon mission, he doesn’t have access to it at the moment. My lawyer then received a phone call from a lawyer in the Tri-Cities WA area and was speaking on behalf of him, but not his lawyer.
My lawyer was told that the amount I would have gotten was used to raise me (She died when I was 12. My dad also had a trust and they were given a good amount of money every month as child support to raise me also, so that was a lie I’m pretty sure) and that there is nothing left of it.
She was also told that my uncle doesn’t want any family strife…if you would have paid me when I was supposed to get paid, there wouldn’t be any! My uncle never formally responded so there’s really nothing that can be done. If anyone has some other ideas, I’d be willing to listen, but there’s not much I can do at this point.
Here were the top rated comments from readers in response to the OP's update:
OP should look into suing the uncle since he violated the terms of the will. An executor can't all willy nilly do what he wants with the estate he must abide by the terms of the will.
Yeah, weird update. "We sent a letter, the lawyer said eff you, the uncle said nothing so I guess that's it." No! The letter is the first step, not the last!
Confused about the update? Hiw exactly did the uncle win?? Didn't sound like they went to court or anything.
Sounds more like “I choose to take at face-value some lie my uncle told a lawyer to type up and send me.” This guy needs to hire an actual lawyer of his own. Someone stealing money—and then saying “oops, I guess I spent it all!”—doesn’t negate their responsibility for facing charges and paying it back. Garnish the uncle’s wages until the (stolen) debt is paid/reimbursed.
"My lawyer was told that the amount I would have gotten was used to raise me."
That makes it sound like her dad was getting money out of the trust on her behalf. I'd like to know what her dad says on this. Depending on how it was written, this could be feasible since she was a minor, but it depends on the language of the will.
Not that I'm saying he was stealing her inheritance, but I'm wondering what his thoughts are on this little tidbit. Did she have some kind of outrageous medical expense as a child that it might have been used for?
It's just a little strange that the first post said it was to be split into thirds -- her two uncles and her -- with no mention of the dad. And then suddenly in the update it says her dad got a share, which would mean four shares. Maybe that's a different trust from a different inheritance?
She's 30 now and her grandma died when she was 12... that's 18 years later. That money is gone. And she says the assets were to be split into thirds when she was 22. That can't be right. That would mean that her uncles could have spent the majority and there wouldn't have been anything left to split, if they had wanted.
I'd need to see this will to understand its parameters because I don't think she does. Or she lacks just enough understanding to properly explain. I dunno. Not really enough information here for anyone to give her many helpful ideas.