My dad died almost 15 years ago plus he left everything to my mother.
My step brother was 20 years old at that time and he was in plus out of jail. When my mother died last year, she left everything to my brother plus I. Unfortunately, my step brother was unhappy that he was left out of the will. I feel he expected to gain a big portion of money, but he was estranged from us for most of his life. My step sibling tried to fight for some of the estate. He felt that he should be entitled to a portion of the money that was left of his father plus my mother’s estate. My sibling plus I were forced to retain an estate lawyer. Both of us were stuck in probate for weeks plus weeks, while the estate lawyer was buried in papers. At one point, the estate lawyer commanded that we offer a settlement to our stepsibling. Both of us were 6 weeks into the fight plus we were spending an enormous amount of money in court fees. Both of us agreed to settle out of court for 60% of the original offer. Both of us could not reach an agreement unless every one of us agreed on their terms totally though. We finally ended up in court last weekend. The judge took time to listen to both sides. After hearing all of the facts, the judge agreed that my step sibling was entitled to around 20% of the total estate. That was not the verdict that my step sibling wanted to hear, but it was something.