Texas | Wills and Trusts
Legal Question
My name is Jessica Elliott, born and raised in Dallas, Texas. From the age of 3 yrs old, I was raised by my grandparents from my mother's side. They tried to legally adopt me through the years but could never maintain contact with my father. I carried their last name all my life, even had a social security card in that name & all school records. When I discovered my real last name at about 16 years old I legally changed my last name to their last name. 8 years ago, at the age of 26 yrs old, my grandmother passed away after a long illness. 2 years before the her death she went to her lawyer and made sure her will was all in check and that along with her other 4 daughters that I was to be treated as the 5th daughter and all was to be divided equally among all 5 of us girls with her cash assets and her personal belongings, home , and vehicle were to remain with my grandfather, her husband. Her cash value was 1 million, when divided 5 ways would give me $200,000. Around 6 months before her death her Alzheimer's was severe and her emphysema was severe also. My grandfather had her sign a paper stating that everything she had was to go to him and then when he died all would be combined and then divided among the original 4 daughters. This left me completely out and that was his whole purpose in doing so. We had a falling out previous before her illness, when he went with my grandmother to organize her last will and testament and found that she wanted me equal as her daughter he did not approve of her wishes. There are no clues as to where the original will is. He has the piece of paper with her signature signing over all to him at which time she was not of sound mind. She was in Arlington Memorial Hospital strapped in a bed to keep her from escaping and her Alzheimer's was very bad. She did not know where she was at and there are more than enough records to show this. A couple of months after her death, his oldest daughter went with him to have a new will written up for him. He was advised at the time that this will would not hold valid, it doesn't even mention his wife's property. It is as though she never existed and then again at times it is like she never died because there were several accounts he held open of hers for some time. Do I have any rights and can he get away with this? The jealousy is tremendous with the other daughters and I am sure that one of them knows all about what he has done but has gone along with it to make sure I do not receive a single penny. I used to receive monthly money and was supposed to be taken care of when she passed and now it as though I was completely disowned. I would appreciate any advice as to what my rights are, any steps I could take to get down to some truth of the matter, has it been too long to even do anything about this, or if there has been any legal wrong doing on my grandfathers part. Thank you for time and I look forward to hearing back from you.
Sincerely,
Jessica Elliott


