greedy mom

My father passed away last January. He and my mother had a "problem" marriage. When his will was reviewed by my mother she was surprised to find that he left all of his "worldly possessions excluding cash and investments" to her. Afraid of losing out on any money she insisted on executing the will herself without the aid of a lawyer. There are four children including myself who were told by my father that he had left a small amount of money to each of us. She will not share the will with us, declares she does not need to probate the will and is spending money at the rate of several hundreds of dollars a week. What can we do to find out if we are heirs to any money as well as keep mother from getting into legal trouble for ignoring my father's will? We live in Rochester,NY.

[randalljd]

You may want to have a lawyer review the documents and her handling of the estate. If she has done anything incorrectly the lawyer will see it and correct it--or he/she may file in court to undo any wrongful act.

It should not cost you too much to have such a review.