Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Missouri
My uncle just recently passed away unexpectedly. My father and him owned a business together for 50 years. My uncle did not have a will, however the deed to the business states as such "upon my death my assests of this business shall be passed down to my heirs" - Ok so my uncle has 5 children, 4 out of the 5 children are of age and 1 being a minor age of 16. Now 4 children are willing to sign over their portion of the business to my father with one child not wanting to do so. She wants her portion of the business. My father found a sheet of paper that my uncle had notarized stating that my uncle wanted his portion of the business to be given to his brother (which is my dad) upon his death. The notarized sheet of paper was not witnessed only notarized. What can we do? Will this case have to go into probate court and if so what type of attorney should we get to represent us, if we need representation? Thank you for your assistance.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Your question raises more questions. First, what do you mean by the "deed to the business"? The deed to the real property in which the business was located? The "business" and the property may not necessarily be the same thing. Deeds normally pertain to real property only, not the business inside. It is very unusual for someone to try to pass property other than real estate via a deed -- and I'm not sure it would be effective.
A second issue is the minor child. In all likelihood a conservatorship estate would need to be opened for that child, and the conservator would be charged with making any decisions on behalf of the child.
It seems certain that the probate court would be involved to some extent, but more investigation is needed to move foward.
What type of business? What was/is the business form? Is it a corporation? LLC? General Partnership?
Lots of questions.
We can probably help you with this if you wish - we're about 25 minutes from the 64106 zip code if that's where the business is, or, more importantly, perhaps, where your uncle resided.
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