Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New York

Re: Inherited house; dueling family members

If your grandmother died with a will and it was probated, the person appointed as executor by the court is in charge of the estate. In that case, only the court can appoint a successor executor. However, if no court proceeding was ever brought to appoint an executor or administrator then there is no one in charge of the estate presently.

Re: Inherited house; dueling family members

This is a difficult situation and it might be best to find one family member who is not an heir and have a family meeting to make a plan of how to deal with this problem. This problem is going to get worse, not better.

1. Grandpa may abandon his rights by telling anyone who has an interest in making sure the house is kept up and then leaving the house.

He has no technical or legal duty to do anything except tell one of the children that he is leaving soon.

2. You don't indicate if there has been a will or if the estate went through probate. I am guessing, "no, the estate never went through probate".

(a) That makes this very delicate because grandpa has certain rights to the estate as of law as a 'surviving spouse'.

(b) In whose name is the deed to the house inscribed? Changing it can be a very simple process, but leaving it in grandma's name is not a good solution.

(c) A decision needs to be made regarding what to do with the house. (i) have one child move in and pay off the other 2 is a common solution. (ii) If the deed is reformed to show the 3 children as owners, then it can be sold and the money divided among the children.

You need to get together, the 3 of you or your own spouses (whichever group is more likely to come to an agreement) and then stick with the agreement.

Until then this is more of a family problem and not a legal problem. After you make some decisions, then you should get a lawyer to accomplish the goals that you have agreed upon.