Many people expect to obtain a portion of a person’s estate after his or her passing if they were close to the decedent. In particular, surviving spouses often feel it is obvious for them to obtain important assets. However, some spouses may find themselves having to fight for their rightful assets through probate litigation due to unseemly actions of other people.
Texas readers may be interested in such an ordeal currently underway in another state. According to reports, a wealthy businessman who died in 2015 had named his ex-girlfriend as a co-executor to his estate. The two had been in a relationship approximately 50 years ago, and she came back into his life in more recent years before his passing. The man’s widow claims that the ex-girlfriend inserted herself into the man’s personal life and his business life and pressured the man to make a new will and remove the man’s brother as co-executor.
The widow also claims that her husband’s will indicated that she should receive a $3 million payment at the time of his death, but the woman acting as co-executor has failed to make the payment. Instead, she has allegedly put approximately $18 million of the man’s $60 million estate into charitable organizations under her control. As a result, legal claims have been filed.
It can be immensely frustrating to have to go through probate litigation just to receive a bequest that should be relatively straightforward. Unfortunately, as this case shows, complications can easily make such matters much more difficult. If Texas residents believe that their loved ones’ executors are not acting appropriately, they may want to look into their legal options.