Arlington, NY Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

Under NY law you are unable to disinherit a spouse. They are entitled to a statutory share. There are techniques to accomplish your goals but they require some extra planning steps and the consent of your spouse.

First and foremost, this may be a big undertaking. You can go to court to be appointed as the administrator of the Estate then investigate what occurred. This is not an inexpensive process as you will be forensically tracking down the transactions, since your brother destroyed the records. You should speak to an attorney who can advise you of what is required and the costs associated with certain options that you could pursue, which would include filing with the court, getting appointed, obtaining copies of all bank statements and checks, reviewing the escrow documents, etc.

If your father who passed away 25 years ago is still owns an interest in the home, then it appears that your grandmother's estate was never probated, or if probated the title to the home was transferred by the court to your father and your uncle. It sounds like title to the home that was in her name was to be pass to her sons (presumably 2, your dad and your uncle.) Whether this was done and completed needs to be investigated. You need to obtain a preliminary title report to verify who is on title and all other liens on the property. If you father is on title, and there is equity in the property, then you need to, through court proceedings, clear title to the property. Before you spend the money clearing title however, you need to look into the economics of who is in possession of the properety, who is using the property, who is paying the real estate taxes, who is paying to clear the title, etc. Presumably title to the property is most likely to be, or is, held by your father and your uncle as tenants in common. If you uncle has resided on the property and pays the real estate taxes and expenses, he cannot obtain title by adverse possession from another covenant. However, there are credit and debit adjustments that need to be made to reflect use of the home and the payment of the home expenses referred to above. Before you start to spend any large sum of money to clear title, you need to have fully investigated the current title and performed the economic analysis discussed above.