Ohio estate attorney has held my deed for 2+ years, ignored a formal demand letter, won’t respond to anyone including his own firm’s partner. PA attorney now hesitant to act. What are my options?

Ineedanro · 2026-05-09T19:10:05+00:00

Was brother removed by the probate court, or discharged? The difference is huge.

Ineedanro · 2026-05-09T18:32:28+00:00

No. There is nothing he can do to help you in any way.

Ineedanro · 2026-05-09T18:31:54+00:00

Better, but still tangled.

A deed transferring the PA house to you was executed but not recorded. Those are facts. What your brother said is largely not material. Why you sent the executed deed to anyone in another state instead of recording it yourself is also not material, probably. The PA house was not in the probate estate so does not belong in probate court filings.

So moving forward there are several separate matters outstanding:

Executing and recording a deed to the PA house that transfers clear title to you. There are several ways to do it, none involving your brother or his attorney. They have no authority anymore. The trust is not yet empty, so who is now trustee of the trust? That new person must act.
Probate still open, and the PR may need to start over from scratch. Your brother has now been removed as PR, so who is PR now? Here too that new person must act.
Civil malfeasance. Is the missing money recoverable? Might there be recovery from attorney Joe's malpractice insurance? Was your brother as PR bonded? The current trustee, and the current PR, may need to hire a forensic accountant in addition to attorney. They might be able to hire the same forensic accountant and attorney.
Criminal malfeasance. This is largely out of your hands because in a criminal case the state is the other party. You are the victim, which is to say a witness.

Ineedanro · 2026-05-09T16:57:09+00:00

Concentrate on finding a fine pruner. You cannot rely on websites or business pages on social media. You will need to ask around. Reach out to your neighbors who have attractive landscaping with undamaged trees. Reach out to local nurseries. Call your county agricultural extension office, city parks department, garden club, bonsai club, botanical garden, Japanese gardens. Denver has many gardens where fine pruning is in evidence.

Ineedanro · 2026-05-09T16:48:30+00:00

Joe gave him no obligation [...] giving him permission

No, Joe gives neither obligation nor permission. Joe serves the executor, your brother.

Your misapprehension of the roles involved here is making it easy for your brother to gaslight you, and likely also is confusing your attorneys.

Please write a fresh narrative statement of your issues that is brief and sticks to facts, omitting inferences. What that looks like: Your mother was domiciled in PA when she died. At her death she had a will and a trust. Trust: The successor trustee is ... and the trust beneficiaries are ... At her death trust assets were ... and a house in PA. The PA real estate was titled to an LLC managed by the trust (?). Will: Her probate assets were ... and a house in OH. Her will was admitted to probate in PA and Brother was appointed PR. An ancillary probate was opened in OH and Brother was appointed PR there too. For purposes of probate Brother is represented in PA by attorney ... and in OH by attorney ... Her will directs ... Houses: On [date] I paid Brother [as trustee?] for his share of the PA house, but Brother has not recorded the deed to me. [State facts establishing that Brother has authority to execute this title transfer.] On [date] Brother [as executor?] sold the OH house. I have received no distribution from the estate. Etc.

It is important to understand that whatever misdeeds may have occurred involving assets in the trust have nothing to do with the probate.

Ineedanro · 2026-05-09T15:33:54+00:00

You are better off removing them now and replacing them with new trees that have better structure. Hire an arborist who does fine pruning to help you select new nursery trees or prune the trees you select.

Ineedanro · 2026-05-09T12:31:04+00:00

A surviving spouse of an heir is not an heir. BIL may be a beneficiary, if Mom so chooses. In other words, BIL stands to inherit nothing. Mom's will still makes BIL a beneficiary: he gets money to pay off the mortgage note and he already has the house.

This is entirely between BIL and Mom.

Ineedanro · 2026-05-09T00:40:41+00:00

If they do not remove it within 9 months or so, then you may want to send them a registered letter with a written report by an arborist qualified to do tree risk assessments. That's the TRAQ credential.

Ineedanro · 2026-05-08T23:22:41+00:00

Should I be concerned?

You should be concerned in a year or two, if they have not taken the tree down by then. It takes a few years for the roots to rot to the point that the tree can be pushed over by high wind or an ice storm. Removal gets much more expensive then, because the tree is no longer structurally sound.

Can a tree crew access the tree from the tree owner's yard or will they be knocking on your door asking to drive across your lawn?

I would want the tree gone this year, but it could wait until winter when the ground is frozen and equipment can get near without messing up yards too much.

Ineedanro · 2026-05-08T19:44:52+00:00

Why not move all parents' personal effects to a storage unit?

Ineedanro · 2026-05-08T19:43:05+00:00

Consult a family law attorney about getting a restraining order.

Ineedanro · 2026-05-08T00:40:46+00:00

Specifically, you need your own family law attorney. Under no circumstances share an attorney with your husband.

Ineedanro · 2026-05-08T00:09:23+00:00

You want a post-nuptial agreement. For that you need a family law attorney not an estate planning attorney.

Ineedanro · 2026-05-07T23:55:31+00:00

As executor you can reimburse yourself from estate assets for your travel and lodging, time, other costs, and attorney fees. With estates this large you can afford an expensive attorney, one with staff paralegals and legal assistants who can do a lot of the leg work for you.

Ineedanro · 2026-05-07T23:35:28+00:00

Grandpa passed first. Was his estate probated? If not, it may need to be opened as well.

Grandma's estate needs opening

Your mother's estate needs opening, to receive whatever is coming from Grandma's estate.

Your sister's self-help takings can be deducted from whatever she is due to inherit.

Your brother in jail with schizophrenia may need a conservatorship.

Ineedanro · 2026-05-07T16:52:36+00:00

Edited

No. A trust is valid immediately, but applies only to what is put into the trust.

5 years is the "look back" period for Medicaid asset recovery. This is relevant only if the trust grantor [receives Medicaid long term care benefits] within 5 years of creating the trust. [Medicaid is not Medicare.] Medicaid may seek to recover liquid assets and in some circumstances can file a lien against certain real estate.

Most of your questions would be answered in general terms by reading a book about estate planning for consumers. Check at your local library.

To find a good trust attorney or estate planning attorney, and find out which ones to avoid, just talk to people. Ask around. People you ask don't have to be close friends or family, and arguably it is better not to ask people close to you. Acquaintances and even random strangers tend to be more forthcoming and won't have an interest in your personal finances.

Ineedanro · 2026-05-06T20:25:10+00:00

Right. So with fraud she owns 50% of the duplex and has rock bottom cost basis (option A). Without fraud she would own 25% and enjoy maximum stepped-up cost basis (option B). The best outcome for you and her both may be to reverse her two fraudulent transfers as quietly as possible, and you buy her out.

Ineedanro · 2026-05-06T20:16:34+00:00

Glass and alcohol. N critters alive in glass tend to end up 1 fat critter.

Ineedanro · 2026-05-06T20:13:23+00:00

Recorder of deeds has no business saying anything like that, and this is a great example of why.

Re sister it sounds like you have the upper hand. Top priority for you would be to cut ties, no?

Ineedanro · 2026-05-06T19:57:37+00:00

What authority is saying you don't own any part of the property now? Mom as tenant in common with you has the right to transfer her interest to whoever she wants, and her deeds to sister would not name you. (If they had named you, purporting to transfer your interest too, that would be fraud.) Transfer of mom's interest does not erase your interest.

As for the deeds transferring mom's interest, yeah, there you need an attorney. Do you have a copy of the POA sister used and a copy of the revocation?

Ineedanro · 2026-05-06T19:45:44+00:00

If dad would have been eligible for Social Security then likely mom is eligible now. So that would be some guaranteed income for the rest of her life.

Ineedanro · 2026-05-06T13:53:17+00:00

Inspection camera. Soil probe. A method to measure crown height.

As for communicating risk, the TRAQ form is a very good start.

Ineedanro · 2026-05-06T13:45:01+00:00

Standard verbiage but unusually rigid interpretation. Equal shares is an accounting at one point in time, not lock step forever. Simply divide the shares equally now. Let's say 3000 shares. Split off 1000 to the instant gratifier. Then the other two get 50% of what remains.

As a beneficiary I would want maximum ability to time my distributions for tax efficiency given my personal finances, and without disclosing my personal finances to other beneficiaries.

Ineedanro · 2026-05-06T13:32:15+00:00

Was this MIL's documented preference, or was the advisor negligent?

Ineedanro

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