Guidance please

[jfn 0]

I have a question if anybody can help. I am a LPR and currently dealing with ROC with waiver process. My husband passed away without leaving any will. There is lawyer involved regarding his properties.There are 2 parties who is interested in claiming it. I do not want to want to be involved in it since it is becoming very ugly. My marriage to my husband was for short time before he passed away, i lived only about a year with him. I have since moved out to a different place. Should i be appointing any solicitors to make sure that i am not involved in all this? Not sure if i can afford one right now but i want to know what i should be doing . How do i save myself ? Both parties got lawyers appointed.One party has already made me sign document which gives power to her or something. Now the 2nd party is after me wanting me to sign some document. I am not sure what i should be doing. I am still getting adjusted to life here and i dont know lot of people here, so i need some guidance please.

[Georgia16 2,858]

Get a lawyer too and do not sign anything you don't know exactly what is...

[Boiler 46,121]

You need a lawyer.

[jfn 0]

The letter i signed for Party A i got it from their lawyer

Lawyer mail says he is acting on behalf of party A in connection with my husbands estate. Enclosed is a waiver of citation, renunciation and consent to appointment of administrator. By your signature you are only consenting Party A to being appointed as Administrator and you are agreeing that we do not serve you with what is known as service of process, and you are giving up your right to serve as Administrator. We will deal with assets once Court appoints Party A as Administrator.

I have signed already and sent it back.

Is this letter enough for me to proof that i do not want any involvement in the property dispute between these two parties.

Even if i do not want anything of his properties , do i still have to appoint lawyer of my own?

[Pitaya 2,577]

As others have said, YOU NEED TO RETAIN THE SERVICES OF COMPETENT LEGAL COUNSEL.

[jfn 0]

Thanks I will look for lawyer. I hope it is not very costly. Party B is upset because i signed for the other Party and she is very disrespectful to me. She also needs some waiver document to be signed by me or something and says if i dont sign she said she knows how to make me sign it. I am little scared of her.

[jfn 0]

Till the time i find a lawyer. If anyone here knows about legal stuff i want your help.

Basically, these two parties are

Party A, my sister in law. She acts like a mother to my husband, very strong and dominating character. He used to consult her for most of his issues.She does not like me because i am 12 years younger than my husband.. She tried to convince my husband not to marry me but of course he didn't listen to her. She thought i will not stay with him and leave him. Which is not true. She already told me that since i was not married for long with my husband, i do not have any right over anything that my husband owned and i cant claim it.She said something like she wants to sell house, use money to send it to her family in their home country. Their mother is quite ill and the medical bills were too high. And help the rest of their family there. She was the one who told me to leave the house, husband owned, since she told there will be court involved.She has to fight case with husbands Ex Gf and said she will deal with everything. I did everything she told. Even signed the letter from her lawyer.

Party B is my husbands Ex GF, with whom he has a child. On his life insurance, since the child was minor he had to write the child's mother as the beneficiary.She and my husband bought the house together,now she wants the husbands part of the house and get full ownership of it. Ex Gf did not want to do anything with their child who was 3 at the time when they separated and my husband took care of him fully. Ex GF already had another child from a different guy and she used to bring different guys at home so they broke up. So husband send his child to his family in his home country to look after his child.But he took care of the expenses. His son has been living there for 5 years. Now after husbands death, his Ex wife, who never bothered to contact or see her child with him. She goes back to husbands country and brings her son back and claims husbands life insurance money and now she wants the house. Some of these things were told by my husband and my sister in law too.

My sister in law and my husband's Ex gf, do not like each other and they keep fighting. They keep talking bad things about each other and they both think i am supporting the other one. They both think i will claim in husbands properties. Ex Gf is very disrespectful when she talks to me and i am uncomfortable with her.

Because of all these problems i do not want to do anything with it and I want to move on. I just dont want anything to do with both of them. I dont care who gets what of things my husband owned. I want a peace of mind and get away from all the negativity.

Ex Gf still lives in the same house as my husbands as she owns half of it, my husband owned 2nd floor and she owned the 1st floor.

Ex Gf calls me one day and says that i have to pay fine to the city because husband's car was towed away. Fine is over 3 thousand or something. She said if you dont pay they will put me in jail. I said why would i go to jail? Then i told , you contact my sister in law since she said she will deal with everything. She then says, i am not going to call her and you will be in trouble.

My sister in law says that their lawyer will deal with it. is that true?

So my question is, As his widow,Am I suppose to pay the fine? Even though i do not want anything with their property stuff and sister in law said she will take care of everything. I am new here and i dont know how things goes here that's why i thought it was better to leave it to her to deal with.

[Boiler 46,121]

Sounds like you are being lied to by all parties.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Till the time i find a lawyer. If anyone here knows about legal stuff i want your help.

Basically, these two parties are

Party A, my sister in law. She acts like a mother to my husband, very strong and dominating character. He used to consult her for most of his issues.She does not like me because i am 12 years younger than my husband.. She tried to convince my husband not to marry me but of course he didn't listen to her. She thought i will not stay with him and leave him. Which is not true. She already told me that since i was not married for long with my husband, i do not have any right over anything that my husband owned and i cant claim it. She is lying. The law would give you a big portion of his assets as his wife. She said something like she wants to sell house, use money to send it to her family in their home country. Their mother is quite ill and the medical bills were too high. And help the rest of their family there. She was the one who told me to leave the house, husband owned, since she told there will be court involved. She had no right to tell you to leave. She has to fight case with husbands Ex Gf and said she will deal with everything. I did everything she told. Even signed the letter from her lawyer. By signing the letter, you gave her your right to administer your husband's estate to her. You may have given up your rights to property you would have inherited. You should never sign any legal documents without a lawyer looking them over.

Party B is my husbands Ex GF, with whom he has a child. On his life insurance, since the child was minor he had to write the child's mother as the beneficiary.She and my husband bought the house together,now she wants the husbands part of the house and get full ownership of it. Ex Gf did not want to do anything with their child who was 3 at the time when they separated and my husband took care of him fully. Ex GF already had another child from a different guy and she used to bring different guys at home so they broke up. So husband send his child to his family in his home country to look after his child.But he took care of the expenses. His son has been living there for 5 years. Now after husbands death, his Ex wife, who never bothered to contact or see her child with him. She goes back to husbands country and brings her son back and claims husbands life insurance money and now she wants the house. As the surviving parent, she has a right to her child. Depending on how she held title on the house with your husband, she may or may not have a right to his half of the house. Some of these things were told by my husband and my sister in law too.

My sister in law and my husband's Ex gf, do not like each other and they keep fighting. They keep talking bad things about each other and they both think i am supporting the other one. They both think i will claim in husbands properties. Ex Gf is very disrespectful when she talks to me and i am uncomfortable with her.

Because of all these problems i do not want to do anything with it and I want to move on. I just dont want anything to do with both of them. I dont care who gets what of things my husband owned. I want a peace of mind and get away from all the negativity. If you don't care what happens, then you don't need a lawyer. Tell the greedy family members that you will not sign anything and that you are not involved. Them them to go to probate court and settle their differences without you. Let the judge decide. Don't let them play you.

Ex Gf still lives in the same house as my husbands as she owns half of it, my husband owned 2nd floor and she owned the 1st floor.

Ex Gf calls me one day and says that i have to pay fine to the city because husband's car was towed away. Fine is over 3 thousand or something. She said if you dont pay they will put me in jail. Liar. You would NEVER go to jail for your husband's car getting towed. I said why would i go to jail? Then i told , you contact my sister in law since she said she will deal with everything. She then says, i am not going to call her and you will be in trouble.

My sister in law says that their lawyer will deal with it. is that true? Yes since you gave her your right to be the Administrator.

So my question is, As his widow,Am I suppose to pay the fine? No. You are not legally obligated to pay anything. Even though i do not want anything with their property stuff and sister in law said she will take care of everything. I am new here and i dont know how things goes here that's why i thought it was better to leave it to her to deal with.

Under intestate laws (dying without a will), you are first in line to be the Administrator of your husband's estate. By signing the documents from your sister-in-law, you gave her your right to be the Administrator. This is why the ex-GF is angry; she wanted the power to be Administrator.

Let the greedy family members settle this between themselves. Block their phone numbers. Tell them you are not involved. Tell them to let the judge settle things between them.

[Miss M 54]

I feel bad for you because you already signed a document without seeking legal advice. You should not have signed that letter and should not have moved out of your husband's home.

As everyone before me said - get a lawyer and talk to them about what you want/don't want and they will guide you further. I don't know enough about the law nor where you are in the U.S but maybe it is possible to reverse the terms of the letter you signed since you didn't have legal advice and were under duress. The lawyer will also be able to figure out if you might be able to pay his fees from the sale of your husband's assets. Worth checking out. Most lawyers will give you a free consultation.

[belinda63 3,047]

In most states the spouse is automatically entitled to half of the assets unless he/she signs away the right.

[TBoneTX 46,125]

This comment is not intended to make the OP feel bad, but: The cruelest thing that any spouse or relative could do is to die without a will. Folks, if you don't have wills, get them drawn up as a high priority.

Edited May 15, 2016 by TBoneTX

[Dotagirlandboy 30]

This comment is not intended to make the OP feel bad, but: The cruelest thing that any spouse or relative could do is to die without a will. Folks, if you don't have wills, get them drawn up as a high priority.

Are you a Dave Ramsey fan? I completely agree! My grandparents (who have a HUGE estate) do not have a will!!! It makes me crazy!!!

this is a really crazy situation OP is in i hope she gets it taken care of but I would definitely get at least a consultation with a lawyer.

[TBoneTX 46,125]

Also overlooked is that wills created in accordance with one U.S. state's provisions might not be valid in another state, so if you move, make it a priority to review or redo your wills.

Back to the topic: I hope that the OP gets a good lawyer who will help her.

[Caryh 5,206]

I don't know the laws in your state, but in my own state if someone dies without a will, the children receive half of the estate and the spouse receives the other half. It doesn't matter if you were only married for a year. Your sister in law would be entitled to nothing with both a child and spouse of the deceased in the picture. Get yourself a lawyer and push for your rights in this situation. Then if you do not want any of your portion of the estate, divide it up based on what you think he would have wanted after your expenses.