Angleton, TX Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

It's not automatic. To set the probate process in motion, someone (e.g. the executor in the will or another family member) has to petition the court to be appointed. Normally the person who wants to file the petition will hire a probate attorney to represent them. The question of where the probate estate should be opened is an issue of fact. You mentioned that he was temporarily living in another state. Probate should be opened in the state where the decedent last had his permanent residence. So for example, if I live in Illinois, but happen to die while on vacation on Florida, my estate should be in Illinois even though I died in Florida. It's a little trickier if you're father was actually stayed in another state for a period of months, or years. It's really a question of fact and should come back to where he intended to live on a permanent basis. But this issue can be the subject of dispute at times, in part because state inheritances laws can differ.

Generally speaking if your aunt's residence qualifies as her residence for Medicaid and she has an intent to return to it, then that home should be maintained and the other home sold. Make sure that her residence has a homestead filed upon it for her benefit. You do not address if she is competent or if a guardian s or attorney in fact is considering the sale. Those are important facts. If you have additional questions or want to address the specifics of the issue or how the ademption can/should be dealt with, please seek legal counsel.

Show the nursing home and any other relevant third party who might purchase your mother's property the revocation (It must be in writing, and your mother must have had legal capacity at the time she executed it). If your mother still has capacity, she can voice her own desire to leave with you. If your mother has lost capacity due to dementia or other mental deterioration, you may need to file for guardianship for her.