Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Texas

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Hello

My Mother passed away on 07 March 2010.

I and my sister were the only beneficiaries of my Mothers Will, 50/50.

My sister was appointed Executrix, which at that time was fine with me because I used to trust my sister 100%.

My Mother had a large Estate. We or should I say Pam, my sister, has already had the Estate Sale, one of the largest in Dallas according to Ruth Taylor.

My sister and I went through everything, closets, cabinets, drawers, store houses, etc.

There was me, my sister and her husband. (I did not feel comfortable and felt it unethical for my sister having her husband there).

My sister has a control problem and has kept me excluded in every aspect that she can. I am unable/Not allowed to consult the Estate Lawyer.

The Estate Lawyer, Heather Kemble of Dallas, returns any request of mine with the note �I have not read this, I represent Pam only, not the Estate or Will Roach.

How can she only represent Pam, my sister when it is the Estate paying for the legal fees, half of which will come out of my pocket?

The main problem (That is saying it lightly) the main tragedy is that during our cleaning of the house we both found a large stash of jewelry. This is no ordinary jewelry!

Both my sister and I spent hours going through this jewelry. There were at least 7 large paper grocery bags full of jewelry. We categorized this jewelry into grades A, B, C, and Costume.

We worked on this all night until around 2:00am.

The next morning around 9:00am when I went into the room we were in the night before, there was standing my Brother in law and my sister.

My Brother in law should not have been present in that decision making process and both my sister and I had agreed upon that the night before.

Immediately, when I entered the room I noticed something terribly wrong. All of the grade A jewelry was not present!!!!

This grade jewelry dated from the late 1800s to the early 1900s and was comprised of items such as very large brooches, rings and necklaces. All of this particular jewelry obviously comprised one �lot�. As in it was around the same circa and of the same style. No doubt some pieces were crafted by the same jeweler. It is from a certain period of time such as the Art Deco time, or the Victorian times or the Edwardian period. This is the type of jewelry you might see on Antique Road show one piece at a time, not a full �Lot� of it. Otherwise you may see similar jewelry in a Museum.

This Grade A lot of jewelry consisted of large brooches made of 18kt gold and surrounded by diamonds, rubies, emeralds, pearls, etc. There were various stones of various sizes and quality among each piece. Each piece was stamped with the gold content plus the circa along with some signatures of the jeweler. There was at least one large garbage bag full of this Grade A that was stolen. Perhaps even up to 2 garbage bags full.

I estimate that the jewelry both my sister (The Executrix) and her husband stole from the Estate to be worth anywhere between $500,000 to $1,000,000. This is the most valuable of any assets that My Mother had to leave us. This jewelry is worth more than the outcome of the Estate Sale in which 90% of everything in the Estate was sold for.

This stash of jewelry was what I believe to be the most precious and valuable �Find� that my mother left. It represents a large amount of money. It is like someone leaving gold ingots to their children or an expensive coin or stamp collection.

Since my sister is the Executrix and since she has been so secretive and efficient at it and has attempted to keep any and all information concerning my family�s Estate away from me, I have been helpless to do anything about it.

The current method of Executing a Will desperately needs revision by the State of Texas. It leaves all control over an Estate in the hands of one person, even if that person is an equal beneficiary. That is a direct conflict of interest!

I am not even able to call the Estates Lawyer to garner any information!!! How fair is that?

My main concern now is retrieving my fair share of all of the Grade A jewelry that my sister, the Executrix and her husband stole from our Estate.

The Home and Property has yet to be sold and no assets have been distributed yet.

Is there anything I can do at this point to stop this madness?

Please offer some suggestions should you have any.

Regards

Will Roach

[email protected]

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