Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Michigan

Evil stepmother-probate/need i say more

My husband and his brothers and sisters are having a rough time with their deceased father's wife. Now it seems like there will be an all out war with her. They were married 10 years,he sold his house she sold her house they bought a house together,they acquired stuff together and separately. That is not of concern to us, what is is a 10 acre property that from day one of purchase. (When he was with the kids mother, the parcel was to be left to the kids.) The bad thing is that when it was purchased, it was purchased in my husband's name, not in the fathers name. It was only quick-claim deeded to the fathers name only 2 years ago, because he had an appointment to draw up a will. We were told by the court that there is no will, but could there be one out there that is just not registered. And probably destroyed by the wife. She found the deed to the property and it showed only his name on it. He probably used a UAW lawyer to draw it up but they will not even speak to us. Also, property that is in the house they had, there is stuff that he had before the marriage, are the kids entitled to that? And should we also hire a lawyer, there is only the probate lawyer she hired and she became executer. Please help.


Asked on 7/26/02, 3:54 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Patricia Prince Patricia Gormely Prince, P.C.

Re: Evil stepmother-probate/need i say more

The evil step-mother, by law, has rights to a certain amount of your father-in-law's property. What those rights are specifically will depend on various factors, including the size of the estate, the types of assets and certain elections she can make. To protect the children's interests it would be wise to retain a lawyer.

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Answered on 7/29/02, 5:39 pm


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