I recently lost my father. I have two siblings, my twin brother and older sister . We all grew up together in my parents’ house. It is a large multi-story 5 bedroom house worth almost a few million dollars.
My father’s will stated that his assets, cash, house, etc… were to be divided equally among the three of us. During my father’s funeral, I asked my siblings when a good time would be to meet up about putting the house on the market. My sister told me that there was no need, because my father had sold the house prior to his death.
I was confused because he was still living in it. My sister went on to explain that my father had been sick for years and was deep in debt, so he’d needed to sell the house. Of course, with his health as poor as it was, that would be a complicated undertaking. So my sister and her husband bought the house with the understanding that he would continue living there for free.
I was flabbergasted. When my father died, he only had about 120K in liquid assets. Her story made no sense to me. I demanded details.
She said that the mortgage lender would only approve them for 375k, which is far less than the house is worth. My dad apparently spent the other 250k paying off his debts, paying for treatments and “maintaining his quality of life” as my sister put it. So basically she’s telling me my inheritance is 40k and no more while she gets that + a house.
I called her a thief that took advantage of our father when he was vulnerable. She basically pocketed the difference in the value of the house out of my inheritance. She got really mad. She told me that she and her husband have been struggling to pay two mortgages for years while also raising four kids (not my kids, not my problem) and getting no income from the second house, but that was her CHOICE, and she got a house out of it. She started yelling at me and crying, so her husband intervened and took her away.
I turned to my brother for support, but he just shrugged and said he couldn’t find it within him to care about a house after we just buried Dad. I miss Dad too, and I hate fighting with my sister, but what she did was wrong. I’ve reached out to a lawyer and am planning to sue my sister, but I’m nervous. I know this will permanently fracture my family. I just want what’s rightfully mine, but is it worth blowing up my sister’s life?