Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Washington

Re: survivoring heir rights

First, please accept my condolences on your recent loss.

If you are in WA, every county Bar association will have a program so that you can have a consultation with a local attorney who handles probate and estate matters. Or alternatively you may know somebody who can recommend a lawyer to you. You need to go see that person, taking with you the papers that you know about, and get their opinion.

Most attorneys do not charge for initial consultations, or if they do the charge is minimal. This would be money well spent for you to put your mind at ease and ensure that you are not wasting energy on the wrong concerns.

Guardian ad litems are appointed for minor (or disabled) children to look after their interests during litigation.

Right now the big issue is determining whether or not your mother left a will. If she did, great; if she didn't then her estate is going to be distributed equally among her surviving children (it is a little more complicated than that).

Verbal promises are not valuable at this point. But, I'd be interested in who told you there would be an auction - is somebody acting as PR? Is there a probate opened?

If property is yours, then it isn't part of your mother's estate. Can you prove, somehow, that the property is yours? Do you have receipts, or do other people remember when you received it?

Sorry things are so messy for you right now. A local probate attorney can help. The notion that all attorneys will take vast sums of money from you before saying anything useful simply isn't the case. Go ask.

Hope this helps. Elizabeth Powell