Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Wisconsin

Re: probate

There is much missing information, but let me make some assumptions based on educated guesses that may be helpful. First of all you seem to focus on the family home. I am going to assume that this is the primary, if not the only asset. In any event I am addressing only the home.

Do you know how your mother held title to the home? If she retitled the home as survivorship marital property or joint tenancy, (in the absence of fraud) the home will become the property of the surviving titled owner REGARDLESS OF WHAT ANY WILL SAYS. Wills only effect property that is in a person's estate and survivorship property is NOT part of the estate.

If your mother executed a TOD (Transfer on Death) deed before she died, then the property would pass to the person(s) named in the deed. Again, like joint tenancy property, the home would NOT be part of the estate.

You can find out how the property was titled by hiring a title company to look up the real estate records in the county where the home was located. In some cases someone in the register of deeds office for that county might help you find this out for free.

If your mother held the property in her name alone and did not create some kind of non-probate instrument (of which the above are examples) then the house will be part of your mother's estate and in order for ANYONE to get title to the house it will have to go through a probate kind of procedure. This will require determining either who is entitled under the laws of intestate succession (no will) or under the terms of a will.

If there is no will you would have at least SOME legal interest in the home. If there is a will, it will have to be presented formally in order to transfer the property. In such case, a copy of the will will be filed in the office of the register of deeds or the probate court and you should be able to see a copy.

Once you discover what the situation is then you can take whatever action is appropriate based upon those facts. I hope this will be helpful to you.