Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

Original Question:

My parents had been married for over 40 years and had a joint will. This past year my father passed away and the will was released to me and my sister, who I do not speak to or associate with due to personal matters. To give you some background information my mother owns her primary residence and another house that she rents out, but it could be used as a commercial property. In the joint will, my father left their primary residence to my sister and instructions to sell the rental/commercial property and to split the money among the grandchildren. Given that my mother's primary residence is across the street from mine my mother decided to change her will after my father's passing and without my sister's knowledge. My mother signed over the deed to her primary residence (across the street from me) to me, so as of now, I own my mother's primary residence. My mother then decided to leave the rental/commercial property to my sister (this property is actually worth more than my mother's primary residence). I do not care that it is worth more. I wanted my mother's primary residence for my kids one day.

So this leads to my question. My mother's will is quite short and leaves the rental/commercial property to my sister and includes nothing about primary residence because I now own it. What I want to know is does my sister have any say about my mother's possessions in her primary residence? My mother did not leave any personal possessions (furniture, pictures, family momentos) to my sister in her will. The only thing in the will my sister gets is the rental/commercial property. I'm just worried that when my mother passes away, my sister will try to claim furniture, pictures, and other family momentos in my mother's primary residence (which I now own).

Someone's Response:

Is your mother still living? Has HER lawyer reviewed the joint will and advised her about how it should be treated?

This is not your issue - your mother has the right to dispose of her property as she wishes.

You and your sister would have interests under the joint will if it required that your mother follow the same dispositions as she and your father had provided in the joint will. That is usually the purpose of such a will.

If you have concerns based on the copy of the will you were given, you should consult with your own lawyer.

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.

* Another reason for contacting a lawyer is that it is often impossible to give a good answer in the Internet Q&A format without having more information. The unique circumstances of your situation and things that you may not have thought to mention in your question may completely change the answer. If you want to be sure that you have a complete answer to your question and an understanding of what that answer means, establish a connection with a lawyer who practices in the area of your concern.

Miriam Jacobson

Law Offices of Miriam N. Jacobson

1900 JFK Blvd. Suite 1519

Philadelphia, PA 19103-1431

Answers to her questions:

My mother is still living and this new will was drafted by a lawyer. I went with her to this lawyer to have the deed signed over and fix the will to what was stated above. Yes, my mother can do what she likes with her possessions, but again, I stated she did not leave any personal effects to anyone. My question is because I now own the house, does the property items within her house revert to me after her passing or does my sister have any claim to anything.

* I did not mention this earlier, but it was a joint will incase they both passed away at the same time. When my father passed, my mother was the sole owner of everything and she had the will revised by a lawyer to what I said above in her own name so it is only her will now.


Asked on 12/27/12, 5:43 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Rachel Hunter

You have a lengthy post. However, this does not concern you but your mother. No lawyer here has seen your mother's will or what it reads. However, the fact that your mother deeded the home to you now does not dispose of the personal property in the home. That will pass as per your mother's will. If she does not specify in the will that the property will pass to a particular person, then it will pass as part of the "residue". There should be a "residue" clause in the will. The residue is basically whatever is left after specific bequests are made. Here is an example:

bequest 1, 2 .. and so on

residue: I leave all my other property, of whatever kind, real, personal or mixed to ....

The fact that your sister was only left the rental/commercial property does not matter. The will should also contain a clause stating something like:

"Other than the provision for x [name of your sister] set forth above, I have deliberately and intentionally made no other provision for her in my will, not out of lack of love and affection but for my own personal reasons and it is my wish and desire that she receive nothing else from my estate."

If there is no residue clause then a partial intestacy will result and the personal property will be divided equally between you and your sister. To solve that, your mother needs a residue clause but to really make sure that your sister gets nothing else the will should also contain a partial disinheritance clause like what I have suggested if that is truly your mother's intent.

If that is what your mother wants and her existing will does not have either of these clauses then your mother needs to see a lawyer who will draft a will that comports with your mother's wishes.

One final comment about the joint and mutual wills. However, chances are that your parents had this done a long long time ago when this was more common. People did this for all kinds of reasons and not necessarily to make their estates ironclad for both. Typically, nothing in your father's will would prevent your mother from making a new will. But as noted by Attorney Jacobson, it would be a good idea to have the old joint and mutual will reviewed just to make sure there is nothing there that somehow only left your mother anything only if she left the joint and mutual will intact

With the advent of computers and word processsors, it is now easy to create a will or make changes to it and I never do joint and mutual wills any longer and hopefully these things will go the way of the dinosaur. But 40 years ago, computers were not as prevalent as they are now and it was a hassle to draft/type a will.

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Answered on 12/27/12, 3:29 pm


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