Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

Her five children are her legal heirs. First, Her father's estate has to be probated to move the legal ownership down to your grandmother's generation, and then she, and possibly her siblings' estates, if they are also deceased have to be probated. Each person in that family tree is the heir, and their fractional interests become smaller and smaller as you go down the generations. Picture cutting up a pie into the smaller and smaller pieces. If any of them had wills, that would help, but it won't simplify this administration.

Sounds like you need a lawyer with estate administrations experience in the county where she resided to start figuring out what to do.

You could help by drawing a family tree beginning with your grandmother's father, and showing each generation and the children and spouses at each level, with dates of birth, dates of marriage, divorce, if applicable, and dates of death of each person.

THIS RESPONSE IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE, SINCE I DO NOT HAVE ALL OF THE INFORMATION THAT WOULD BE REQUIRED, AND I DO NOT HAVE A REPRESENTATION AGREEMENT WITH YOU.

* If the answers to your question confirm that you have a valid issue or worthwhile claim, your next step should almost always be to establish a dialog with a lawyer who can provide specific advice to you. Contact a lawyer in your county or township.

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You have a nightmare on your hands. Its not your fault - but its going to be difficult. You will have to go back to your greatgrandfather's estate and see if he had a will. Most people of that generation did not probate estates and I can't see any reason for probating one now. But you still need to see if he had a will and if he was survived by a wife and any children besides your grandmother. If he had no will, then his property would pass to his wife and children, of which your grandmother would be one. Then you have to see what passed to your grandmother. Since she did not have a will, then her property, which would include the share of any property inherited from her father, would pass to her heirs.

When you say your grandmother has 5 children, do you mean 5 children total or 5 surviving children? It makes a difference. If she has 5 surviving children and others who are dead, you have to see if the dead children had any children of their own. If so, then the grandchildren would get to inherit the share of the deceased parent. If your grandmother had only 5 children all of whom are still alive, then they would inherit. If there is land, then they would each own a 1/5th share of land.

An estate should be probated for your grandmother. What I would suggest is that her 5 children have a family meeting and decide which of them is best fit to administer an estate - ideally, it should be someone who is responsible and who lives closest to the county/state where the estate will be probated. That person should go and talk to a probate attorneywho practices in the county/state where the estate will be probated. While a probate attroney is not always necessary, the fact that no estate was probated for your great-grandfather in all likelihood is going to be a complicating factor. And 5 or more people owning land is a recipe for disaster. Either the land should be sold and the proceeds divided or those who want it should buy out the share of those who don't. If none of the 5 children are able to administer the estate and have no interest, then you can certainly apply to be the administrator.

I have a question - if nothing has been done and your grandmother died about a year ago, then who is paying taxes on the land? Why has nothing been done? Are you certain? Or could it be that one of your aunts/uncles is taking care of this and excluding the others? You need to be certain that no estate is pending. If an estate is pending, then you need to make sure that it is properly administered and that your parent gets their share of the land/proceeds.

You need to consult with an attorney. Unfortunately, this is too complicated to resolve without a lawyer to assist in handling. Someone, most likely one of the heirs, needs to probate your grandmother's estate. Feel free to call for a no obligation consultation. (800) 433-9700.