Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in North Carolina

You need to first take a deep breath and calm down. Where did grandmother live at the time of her death? NC or elsewhere? Was an estate ever probated for your grandmother and if so, who is the personal representative? Where did your father live at the time of his death? Did your father have a will? If so, who is his personal representative? Although your mother is deceased did your father remarry and was his wife alive at the time of his death?

The way things will go down is like this in general barring any other provisions in the documents - grandmother left all to her children, which included your father. Since he died much after grandmother, your father's share of grandmother's estate will be paid to your father's estate and disbursed as per his will if he had one. If he did not, you indicate that your mother predeceased your father, I assume your father was a widower and not remarried at the time of his death. In such case, since you are the sole heir of your father, you would inherit from your father and any inheritance would include your father's portion from your grandmother.

I would take the wills (if your father had one), a list of all the heirs//beneficiaries under your grandmother's will and father's will and a list of all known assets and debts of both your father and grandmother. Take to a probate attorney (or attorneys if there are different states or counties within a state) and pay the attorney(s) to review all of the information. If there is an estate probated then get a copy of the court file in each case so the attorney can review what has been done. If there is no court file, then this brings up another set of questions/problems. Are there probate assets justifying probate?

Depending on what the probate lawyer finds out, he may be able to contact the lawyer for your grandmother's estate (if any) or the personal representative directly. If the personal representative fails to respond then the lawyer can file a petition to have her removed. All this costs money of course, but if we are dealing with sizeable estates then it may justify the cost.