My jurisdiction is: Washington State
Our mother passed away a few weeks ago leaving no will, it was known to all of us that she wanted the estate split among her 5 children. The oldest child has lived in a trailer on the estate for 32 years and thought she would be able to keep the place. After she spoke to a probate attorney she seems to realize that without a will, she can't. The problem, she has possession of house keys, all personal papers and has already gone through everything in our mothers house and won't let any of us in. Her son was living with our mother and is still living in the house. She says she will handle the probate "but everyone needs to be patient" we find this hard to believe because she has never been a responsible person in her life and she has expressed in the past that they have "squatters rights" We were told that there is a seven year timeline that begins at the time of death. Can she draw out the probate for that long? What can we do to insure our rights and that probate proceeds in a timely manner? 4 of the 5 siblings (including the reluctant one) are financially strapped and could really use their inheritance. Are there laws regarding when a probate has to be started? The estate is worth probably around 300,000 with approx. 30,000 owed on the mortgage.
Our mother passed away a few weeks ago leaving no will, it was known to all of us that she wanted the estate split among her 5 children. The oldest child has lived in a trailer on the estate for 32 years and thought she would be able to keep the place. After she spoke to a probate attorney she seems to realize that without a will, she can't. The problem, she has possession of house keys, all personal papers and has already gone through everything in our mothers house and won't let any of us in. Her son was living with our mother and is still living in the house. She says she will handle the probate "but everyone needs to be patient" we find this hard to believe because she has never been a responsible person in her life and she has expressed in the past that they have "squatters rights" We were told that there is a seven year timeline that begins at the time of death. Can she draw out the probate for that long? What can we do to insure our rights and that probate proceeds in a timely manner? 4 of the 5 siblings (including the reluctant one) are financially strapped and could really use their inheritance. Are there laws regarding when a probate has to be started? The estate is worth probably around 300,000 with approx. 30,000 owed on the mortgage.
