Another body there, just in case.

Step father, married to my Mom for 45 years. (stand in father figure as I was growing up) GOOD Man!!
My sister (the bi***) said he NEVER contributed $$$ to the house hold finances?? He was a Tile contractor and worked damn hard!!
Sister was known for loving $$$$ and things. When our Mom died, sister called me and got all wound up about Mom wanting HER to have her house??? That's NOT what Mom's will said!!! I shut her off and she finally got the message.
Step Dad picked up a gal that was blind and needed care. Married her and brought her to his house. She died and he ended up with some Hoochie Momma druggie. Little head was doing the thinking for the big head. She tried to get her name on his house but the gals at the bank figured that out and shut her off!! Said THEY were married but could NEVER show proof.
He died, the State got involved and ran her off. They wanted me to get involved in the estate thing but I worked and was 2+ hours away so sister got the job. She didn't do much of a job so after a year or so, I had to step in and help HER get things done.
I would call and ask what was going on with the house/estate?
Never got a straight answer so I asked if she would like me to help. She JUMPED on it and I kinda took over. She signed a bunch of checks, (her signature only) I made them out and I paid the bills that she didn't pay. House was listed for sale and tied up for more than a year and going nowhere!! Got involved and within a month, had the house sold and the $$$ in the bank. Got a call from the attorney and she told him she never got her $$$. That's when I told him I had taken her by the hand to the bank and deposited $75K in her account. Thinking he finally figured out she may have been slipping a bit?
Ended up putting her in a care home caused she wasn't taking care of herself. That never would have happened if she and I had talked about it, Me being just the little brother!! When she died, I was appointed executor of her estate. Someone wanted her house so, in order to sell it, I had to file probate.
Found out that the City was going after her home for not paying the back taxes. Car license was a year behind. $10K Visa card with $600 a month payment that she was only paying $300. HSN & QVC stuff, unopened boxes all over the house. IRS was also after her for back taxes. She had an extension every year for filing her taxes. Made a couple of phone calls (as Executor of her estate) and got most everything straightened out. A LEARNING PROCESS!! Talked to her Tax man, got her papers signed and filed her taxes. NO MORE putting that off!! Got a return letter from the IRS questioning her tax forms saying her signature was a copy and couldn't be accepted?
Told them I watched her sign the papers before I put them in the mail and they didn't have any problem taking her check for $700 and they needed to work with me to get it cleared up. Never heard another word!!!

Her estate $$$ were with my signature only. Took a bunch of her $$$$, put it a separate account with mine and the wife's signature so if anything happened to me, the wife could pay whatever was needed without going thru all the BS and attorney business. More learning. Paid BIG $$$ for the attorney but couldn't have done it without him and worth every $$$. Not my $$$ so no loss on my part. Both of my kids (sisters nieces) got a boat load of $$$. One mentioned that she had NEVER seen so many $$$$ in her account.


A real learning process for sure and if I had to do it all over again, not too many changes would be made. Just finally did the Court thing and closed the Estate account!!
If you or a family member dies, don't tell anybody. Just have them roll you/them into that pre dug hole out back and go on vacation. Done deal.

