LAW AND ORDER
I think a little background is needed before I launch....
My Mom was diagnosed with cancer in '89...my Dad stroked out in '90 and after a 3 month coma,woke up back at shepperds air force base circa 1968. He ended up at the VA nursing care center in Temple Tx.,an hour from our home town.Until her death in '92,I was it for her. She did'nt drive...I was her driver,to every consult, chemo,etc. and we made the trip to temple 2 to 3 times a week to visit Dad...I was glad to do it...I loved my parents,it was part of being thier child...they raised me,I helped them.
They had a "mom and pop will" (each had a will leaving everything to each other and then to me) , no need to probate until my Dad died in '99.I was told I had 5 years after his death to probate...I was told wrong. Four and 1/2 years later...missed it by THAT much...it was four not five.Curse that overpaid cokehead attorney to an eternity in appellate court.
So...if you miss the date, what do you do? Well you apply for title to the deed...in essence,sue your sibling(s) for the estate that was left to you in the first fucking place.
Let me qualify estate by saying it's an old falling down house I've lived in since my Mom died...we're not talking big bucks here.
So I did...my sister,who had no interest in the house and got half the life insurance money because I thought it was the right thing to do...signed an affadavit saying she had no interest in the house (much to the surprise of my attorney) ,papers were filed and then....
and then....
The court assigned an attorney to represent the estate...to make sure I am who I say I am,my sister wasn't coerced into signing the affadavit and my parents are indeed in the house of the lord, or at the very least,in the ground...fine,I can live with that.
But then...
The state charges me TWO filing fees because there are TWO wills...which are identical,only one says mom to dad to son,one says dad to mom to son.
I'm starting to get annoyed.
Then...
The court appointed attorney has a request...he wants a copy of: My parents marriage license,my birth certificate,a death certificate for each parent AND an obituary for each parent (why in the FUCK do you need this when you have 2 certified death certificates????!). Fortunately, I have all this stuff in one location (I'm sentimental that way) and submit...I'm moving beyond annoyed.
Then...
He wants the names and addresses of two "disinterested witnesses" who can testify that: I am who I am (despite having my birth certificate),That my parents are indeed dead (despite having death certificates AND obituaries) and we have to run ad's in the paper to the tune of 400.00 ...one for each will...something you do when you PROBATE a will...which I will remind you,we are not doing because SOME FUCKING ATTORNEY told me I had FIVE years instead of FOUR.
I am beside myself with disgust...and again I ask the question I have asked many times here in different contexts...What the fuck is wrong with us??!!
My parents loved me,I loved them,they wanted me to have this house...I took care of my sister because I love her and my parents instilled in me the desire to what is right.
And what is the reality?I've got the state of texas bending me over because they can and a court appointed attorney who I never met or spoke with on the phone..nay!Nary a fucking email introduction, charging me 500.00 to prove I'm who I say I am and my parents aren't buried alive in some box somewhere so I can steal this house that isn't worth the dirt it sits on. It' value lies in the spirit of family.
Law and Order indeed.
I think we've been cheated.
I will ride this out, and when it's done I will put it behind me. Hopefully I will still have an address and not an underpass to call home.