Before I write anything, let me just say that I am very aware of how lucky I am to be in this situation and I am not complaining, but I need some advice and this place comes through frequently.
At the end of her life, I was the only one who cared for my grandmother. I used to go to her house and do all the things that needed doing, take her for walks, etc. Unbeknownst to me, she altered her will within the last year of her life and left literally everything to me--nothing to any of my parents, my 2 uncles and 1 aunt, or my siblings and cousins. Just me. The inheritance totals about $10.5 million, including the value of her house. BUT, as you might expect, I have a lot of angry relatives.
Basically my relatives feel as if they've been deceived by me in a way, although I obviously never intended for this to happen. They expected to split the inheritance evenly which is what was written into the original will, penned by my attorney uncle. However, they were surprised to learn that my grandmother went to a different lawyer to adjust the will.
Now here's the tricky part: my uncle has subtly told my mom that he intends to take legal action. His belief is that I manipulated my grandmother into changing the will and he feels he can prove it in court. What worries me here is that I don't know anything about law and he is the person who wrote the original will. I'm afraid he might be able to doctor documents to screw me over.
My mom suggested that I be a bigger man in all of this and willingly offer to split the inheritance. That way we don't have some ugly drawn out battle that costs money and probably ruins relationships. But here's the thing, I could really, really use the money. I work a backbreaking manual labor job and don't get paid much at all. This money, invested intelligently, can set me up for the rest of my life. I can quit my job and pursue something I enjoy, etc. The money opens up doors I never expected to be open. At the same time, I don't want to go to court and I don't want my own family hating me.
So my dilemma is what to do with the money. Keep it, invest it, live a more fulfilling life. Or share it and avoid hassle and headaches.
Please provide any advice you have. Thanks everyone for taking the time to read and respond.
I recently inherited my grandmother's $10+ million estate, but there are some complications. Advice, please?
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You can live a very comfortable life on $5 million. Talk to an attorney. Make an offer to your relatives for them to divide up the estate less your $5 million in exchange for agreeing not to contest the will, and give them a fairly short time frame to make a decision. Then it's up to them to get their share of $5 million+ or risk getting nothing.
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3/10 - good story, but a little lengthy.
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$10.5 million?
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I guess it's impossible to start a thread without people accusing you of trolling. This is not a trolling attempt. I hate that I even have to clarify that.
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0/10
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Ask John Grisham for advice. Sounds suspiciously like the plot of his latest yarn, Sycamore Row. Do you live in the deep south as well?
Don't forget about taxes. Government keeps 50%ish above $5M or so, so you'll only net $7.5M. -
First you'll have to pay me about $4 million. If your Grandmother's attorney had her list your other relatives and an amount they were to inherit (even as little as a dollar), then you'll have a better chance to prove she knew what she was doing. Otherwise, think about keeping $3M and share the other $3m.
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people, do you not know the fvcking definition of trolling? Everyone thinks they are so clever to immediately call someone out for trolling. This post has zero characteristics of a troll attempt.
Trolling is using your words to slyly bring out a fierce reaction in people. This story about inheriting an estate is not doing that. Sure, maybe the story is false, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT'S A TROLL ATTEMPT.
anyway, I have zero legal knowledge to help you with. I agree that you should settle to keep most of it but not all of it so you don't have to battle in court. also fvck your greedy relatives. -
Given that they seem to assume you have manipulated your grandmother into this, are they going to hate you regardless of the outcome?
Also, you shouldn't need the full inheritance to get you out of your working/financial situation. If you are into manual labor, you could probably buy some rental property with the inheritance and be the maintenance guy and live off a couple $million pretty comfortably indefinitely. -
It seems a little odd that Grandma would cut EVERYONE else out. It's a shame she did that because it probably weakens your case. (I'm not an attorney, but it doesn't seem like the actions of a sound mind to me.)
Your uncle is an attorney, so you need to see an attorney immediately. I just don't know the law.
It seems to me if you offered something to the rest of the family in return not to contest the will, you might be able to come out of this with family somewhat intact. Of course, some relatives will not like you... guess what... that happens all the time among relatives. It's not a huge deal.
You can take care of your mom and your own siblings, of course, and you should.
Again, see an attorney... maybe see a couple of attorneys. Talk to your Mom. Get a better perspective before you act. -
Tell them all to run a marathon on a track. Whoever comes back to win after being lapped gets to split it 50/50 with you.
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It seems a little odd that Grandma would cut EVERYONE else out. It's a shame she did that because it probably weakens your case. (I'm not an attorney, but it doesn't seem like the actions of a sound mind to me.)
Your uncle is an attorney, so you need to see an attorney immediately. I just don't know the law.
It seems to me if you offered something to the rest of the family in return not to contest the will, you might be able to come out of this with family somewhat intact. Of course, some relatives will not like you... guess what... that happens all the time among relatives. It's not a huge deal.
You can take care of your mom and your own siblings, of course, and you should.
Again, see an attorney... maybe see a couple of attorneys. Talk to your Mom. Get a better perspective before you act. -
0/10
Too long
Too over the top
You wasted your time typing all that.
Everyone who was responded is an idiot for buying in. -
They can't do anything. When she changed her will, she mostly likely had an attorney do the paper work and was present at the time she signed it. The witnesses to the will also can testify to her state of mind. Keep all the money and leave it in the bank. Take time to figure out what you want to do.
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Thank you to the people who've chimed in with advice. I do intend to see a lawyer about this. Another concern I've thought of is what if I offer a split and then get taken to court anyway. Will it hurt me that I offered a split, making me look guilty?
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It flat out comes down to 1 thing. In court can it be proven that your grandma was not of sound mind to make this decision. What was her level if any of dementia. If she had another will made by another lawyer I suspect hr found her of sound mind and the money is yours.
Sounds like your lawyer relative is a total prick and any family member who threatened to sue me instead of just asking for help would be dead to me anyway so I wouldn't worry about them hating you BC they will either way. -
The see a lawyer part of the responses are all correct. For all other suggestions I suggest you run them by a lawyer. Hell run this advice by a lawyer too.
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Solution wrote:
Ask John Grisham for advice. Sounds suspiciously like the plot of his latest yarn, Sycamore Row. Do you live in the deep south as well?
Don't forget about taxes. Government keeps 50%ish above $5M or so, so you'll only net $7.5M.
The first Million would be taxed at a 34.5 avg tax rate. Everything above $1M would be taxed at 40%.
If she was really looking out for you, or if this story was real, she would have been gifting $14,000 to you annually to lessen the tax bite.
If she was very old (and therefore knew death was soon) and she really had $10.5 M, she should have been gifting that amount to EVERYONE in her original will, every year, and that would have helped smooth this over a little and cut down on taxes ... albeit only a little. -
Talk to an attorney, preferably an attorney competent in estate litigation. The best way to find an attorney is to get a referral from another attorney.
Until you find an attorney, don't sign anything, and you should generally avoid discussing the matter with other family members. Estate fights are some of the ugliest of legal matters.
