My grandparents passed away, leaving a house and land to their 4 children and now that my dad passed away – is it now mine?

Friction and even hostility between siblings is a common issue, and can often cross generations. Unfortunately, the problem is as old as mankind, as illustrated in the Old Testament account of Cain and Abel, the ancient tale of Roumulus and Remus, and even nowadays, with the animosity between Britain’s Prince William and Prince Harry. Less commonly reported are when the children of a sibling are at odds with their uncle or aunt. 

In cases where inherited money or property is involved, the animosity can become tempestuous and even spawn potentially illegal activities. Such instances will often require legal counsel and the intervention of the court in order to be resolved.

The Hamlet & Claudius Stolen Birthright Scenario

In William Shakespeare’s famous tragedy, Hamlet, Hamlet finds that his father has died under suspicious circumstances and that his uncle, Claudius, has effectively made himself king of Denmark and married Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude. As a result, Claudius has, for all intents and purposes, deprived Hamlet of his birthright. This backstory sets the stage for the play, in which Hamlet plots to avenge his father and take back the crown. 

A Reddit poster found herself in a sadly comparable scenario, and was seeking advice. Although her posting lacks some crucial information to determine her full range of options, she relays the following details of her situation:

• Her father was one of 4 siblings living in Oklahoma.
• Her grandparents passed away several years ago, bequeathing a house and land to be shared equally between the 4 siblings.
• She explains that her father passed away some years later, and that she is his only child and heir.
• Her father left no will.
• She was of the understanding that she would receive her share of the father’s estate upon the sale of the property. 
• The poster had a fight with her uncle that she says led to the family confiscating her father’s share of the estate and dividing it among themselves. As she was possibly too young to know what to do at the time, she avoided further conflict.
• Several years later, she is now a single mother of three, and realizes that her birthright and that of her children were stolen from her.

The Missing Pieces of the Puzzle

The poster’s information clearly leaves a significant amount of information off the table, which begs the following questions:

• Did the grandparents leave any transfer of title, deed, or other paperwork related to the property that indicated limitations as to further transfers, i.e., is there a directive that the property and any sales proceeds automatically only stay in the hands of her father’s and uncle’s generation? 
• Did the poster’s father sign away any rights to the property before his demise?
• When she had her fight with her uncle, did the poster sign away any of her rights, and if so, at what age was she if she did sign?
• Was the dispute with her entire extended family, or only with her uncle?
• Are her extended family members aware of the dispute details, and does she continue to have any friendly communications with any of them?

Objective Takeaways

While intestate succession laws may vary between states, the general standard is that a biological child is a blood heir. Assuming that the poser’s understanding of her share of the inheritance came directly from the family and was not based merely on assumption, she probably has a legal case to try to get her birthright share of her father’s 25% of the estate proceeds. However, there may be several other challenges:

• There may be a statute of limitations in Oklahoma to file a claim in probate court based on the time-lapse of unspecified years since the father’s passing and the sale of the property.
• The poster doesn’t know if her father had made prior arrangements with the uncle to possibly settle outstanding debts, etc. that his 25% was intended to cover. – this would need to be evidenced in writing and other documentation to be more than hearsay.
• If the entire family conspired to steal her father’s quarter of the estate, she will have no other family members to take her side, which will make her claim harder to prove.
• If the poster has any documentation related to assurances from other family members as to her pending receipt of her father’s share of the estate, she needs to make sure those documents are intact and as complete as possible. 

This article is intended purely for informational purposes. An estate attorney should be consulted for greater in-depth advice on these sorts of topics, if required. 

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