Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Ohio

Please accept my condolences for your loss.

If your mother actually deeded the home to your youngest sister, then your mother no longer owned the home and your sister became the new owner. If this is the case, unless a legal basis exists to undo or void that deed to your sister, she currently has no legal duty to share with anyone else the legal ownership of the the home or sale proceeds if it is sold.

Alternatively, your mother might have established a Transfer on Death deed or a Trust which named your sister and or other people to receive the home without probate upon her death. Without seeing the actual recorded deed or other documents it is not possible to know for sure.

Regarding a copy of the Will, once the Will is filed with the county Probate Court, it becomes a public record and you and your siblings can then obtain a copy of it. If your sister is appointed Executrix by the Probate Court, then she has an obligation to send you a Notice, unless you sign a Waiver, to notify you that the Will has been admitted to probate; technically, she does not have an obligation to give you a copy of the Will, though a copy is typically provided with the Notice.

If your mother's Will states that her probate assets are to be divided equally among her children, then the Executrix must follow those directions and after payment of valid debts and expenses, divide the probate assets equally. It is also possible that the Will leaves the estate unequally; there is no requirement that a will must leave things equally to children or anyone for that matter.

You must also keep in mind that a Will only controls "probate assets." In Ohio an asset is a probate asset only if it was owned individually by the decedent and there was no joint owner or designated beneficiary. I bring this to your attention because you indicated mother had substantial bank accounts, and it is often the case that bank accounts have a joint owner named on the account. If so, the presumption under Ohio law is that the those funds go directly to the joint owner, and not to the probate estate.

As you are probably beginning to understand, there are many issues and factual details that can come into play in the situation you have described. I recommend you find an experienced probate attorney to review all the details and possibly to protect your interest, or determine if the Will or transactions prior to your mother's death are subject to being challenged or overturned.