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Your Family War Stories

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I watched your show yesterday and I know it was a repeat but I wish I
had seen it several years ago, as it would have helped me a great deal, and
it is what prompts me to ask this question. Is there a statue of limitation on
Wills? My son's father died and he was never given any info regarding
the Will and it has always left many questions unanswered knowing that his father would NEVER exclude. I believe that if the will had wording such as "my children" that possibly this child was not included, being from a previous marriage. My biggest regret may be that it is now too late to
do anything about it.

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Where do I start? I came from a family of 13 offspring. We were very close. I am #7. I was chosen by my father to be his personal representative. The jealousy and greed took over, nine siblings turned against me and two sisters stood by me. Because of all the fighting, the judge took the position away from me and gave it to one of his cronies (friends). This attorney took advantage of the feud, perpetuated it, and raped my father's estate.

By the time he took over, a year after my father passed, I had most of it done. He stretched it out with frivolous hearings and motions, played one side against the other, let his auctioneers go into my fathers house and take whatever they wanted. He failed to collect a $10,000 note from my sister and the judge looked the other way. I could go on and on. He ended up with $20,000 of my fathers money. Our family will never repair. Not after the harassment, the horrible things they said to me, left on my answering machine, voice mail, and work fax machine. But the Probate Court and the attorneys did not help, in fact, the took advantage of us.

We were emotionally distressed from losing our Dad, they should have been the rational and reasonable ones. It would take me a week to fill you in on the disgusting things this attorney got away with. It is legalized thievery. The judges and attorneys are all in bed together. I hope you have a chapter in your book about the Probate Court system, the attorneys and alternatives. I could not even find an attorney to sue him after it was all over.

JK Adrian, MI

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I heard your show on the radio Friday. I have seen a family explode and dissolve before my eyes and wish that there was something that could have been done at the time.

Grandma's will was revealed 4 months before she died and her children all ganged up on one sibling to have the will changed in her dying days. Grandma would say whatever her current visitor wanted to hear to try and keep everyone happy. In the end they all accused each other of lying and still to this day behave like adolescents when they see each other. People who are Granparents giving each other obscene gestures in grocery store parking lots.

The sad thing is they are so selfish they don't see what they've done to the next generation. Having been first generation in this country they were the only family they all had. My children have a whole family they will never know. There is very little forgivness in their vocabulary.

I appeal to anyone and everyone to do what you can to avoid this kind of situation.

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My mother died recently after a 17 year battle with breast cancer. Through her life she changed her will many, many times. Her last will was made one year before her death, when the cancer had already spread to her organs and brain. She was very dependant on my brother who ran her business for her and he profited richly from doing that. My sister and her family live far away and are modestly self-supporting. My other brother is on disability and barely survives. I raise my children alone as a working poor parent and have no assets whatsoever. My car is falling apart and I can't save a dime, trying to keep it on the road so I can continue my job. The 3 struggling children (and our 4 children) couldn't afford to spend a lot of time with mom. The brother living in the lap of luxury did all he could to undermine our relationships with her. He was very sly and conniving. We'll never know all the sneaky underhanded things he did to become the sole beneficiary of her multi-million dollar estate.

We hope to expose some of the truth through lawyers and courts. My brother's wife snickered and scoffed at me when I asked where the money is that my mom collected for a decade, from the public, specifically for my children's college fund. My children are bewildered how their beloved grandma could have left us like this. So we haven't seen a photo, a dish, a spoon or a dollar. Mr. Big Shot has it all, lock stock and barrel. He worked hard while she was alive to prevent her donating any charity to us so there would be more for him. Mom lived in a rat trap of a house and had a pathetic little wardrobe. Most of her things no charity would even want. Guess who was living in high style.

It was really impossible for me to talk to mom about her will. Uncle greedy had control of her mind. I couldn't even ask her opinion about something because she would say, "I don't know, I'll have to ask/check with/put you through to, Uncle "greedy". Anyone who has advice or prayers to offer, it's most welcomed. I'm trying not to despair.