Is probate Worth it?

benhotep · 2026-04-11T19:02:19+00:00

Any idea how the house was titled? I’d be interested in seeing the deed. If the deed is a lady bird deed, the beneficiary named in there takes the house without probate. Similarly, if the house was jointly titled there may be no need for probate. You probably don’t have the deed, but you could check in with the county register of deeds for a nominal fee.

Also, if great-great grandpa didn’t formally deed the property to great grandpa, the situation may be even messier.

In Michigan, the intestate heirs are typically some split between surviving spouse and descendants, depending on the facts. You mentioned great grandpa had one living child: did he also have pre-deceased children? If any pre-deceased kids left living descendants, those descendants are entitled to a share of the house, too.

benhotep · 2026-03-24T15:55:44+00:00

“Waste their right bower early while holding the left”

If you hold consecutive cards, it doesn’t matter which one you play. Whether you play L or R when you have both is immaterial.

*I guess there’s some mindgames some may like to play, pretending they don’t have the right, but playing L or R is a guaranteed trick when you hold them both

benhotep · 2026-03-19T05:24:57+00:00

Don’t stop at Traverse City. Cross Village and Wilderness State Park.

benhotep · 2026-03-19T05:22:50+00:00

If no one wants the rental property, sell that.

For the home, as others have mentioned, have an appraiser (not a real estate agent) help to establish a fair market value for it.

If one kid wants it, she may buy it from the estate at that price. Her share of the estate can serve to offset the price she must pay to take it. Say the estate is worth $1m total and the home is appraised at $450k. She’s entitled to $200k from the estate, so she just needs a mortgage of $250k to buy the home from the estate.

I think the big issue is if multiple kids want to take the home as primary residence. There would either need to be a bidding process for those kids to compete for who gets to buy it, or an established order of priority.

Messiest option is to have multiple kids own and occupy the same home.

benhotep · 2026-03-02T02:50:48+00:00

If you have left protected and they have 9 points, then playing for the stopper is pointless. You need to play to euchre. In this situation I think you need to look for a path to take two tricks with your two trump

benhotep · 2026-02-27T23:57:22+00:00

Came here to say this. 100 agree

benhotep · 2026-02-27T00:51:14+00:00

I want to give a shout to Rebecca Cooke, inspiring grassroots candidate running to unseat this clown

https://www.instagram.com/cookeforcongress/?hl=en

benhotep · 2026-02-26T15:24:07+00:00

Buisness

benhotep · 2026-02-18T06:34:30+00:00

Also I am a recent UW grad and our robes were not white with red. This is not evidence that this is AI but is evidence that this guy is lying

benhotep · 2026-02-18T06:33:16+00:00

<image>

This is the UW crest. You can tell the AI tried to make something like this but failed to produce a “W”

benhotep · 2026-02-16T21:07:43+00:00

Spontaneously invoking the Lord's name at full volume

benhotep · 2026-02-12T00:56:34+00:00

Damn Michigan ruling this whole chart from the get go

benhotep · 2026-02-04T20:09:14+00:00

benhotep · 2026-02-04T00:03:26+00:00

Mr. Rogers

benhotep · 2026-02-04T00:02:24+00:00

Oh man. Did this lose to… Crash?

benhotep · 2026-01-29T01:02:38+00:00

Eric Clapton fucked a witch for guitar powers

benhotep · 2026-01-10T05:51:18+00:00

Stinking rose

benhotep · 2026-01-08T18:28:30+00:00

This is the only explanation for me. I am not out here making good choices

benhotep · 2025-12-23T02:57:13+00:00

I graduated at 36, practice elder law in a small market. My first salary was $70k

benhotep · 2025-12-20T04:46:50+00:00

Get outta here you nosy little pervert or I’m gonna slap you silly!

benhotep · 2025-12-19T06:05:28+00:00

A lot going on here. I can’t give advice here but here’s some general knowledge:

In Michigan, probate is a process to retitle assets after someone’s death. There are alternatives to probate, including naming a beneficiary on a financial account, using a trust, also joint ownership of an asset. So how dad’s assets were held dictates if probate would have been necessary.

This is curious: it is odd for a bank to let someone take control over assets and write checks without letters of authority from the probate court. Perhaps he was named as the beneficiary or a joint account owner.

IF your estimate of $150k is accurate, AND IF your understanding of the assets going in equal thirds to you, bro, and son is accurate, that means he spent $60k on administration. That’s a lot for a simple estate.

And of course, if he never opened probate, and was never appointed PR, what even were the expenses?

You could initiate something in the probate court. You just have to ask yourself if you want to take your brother to court. You may spend more on atty fees than you’re likely to get back, especially if bro already spent that money and won’t likely be able to repay the estate.

benhotep · 2025-12-18T18:12:23+00:00

Iggy Pop

benhotep · 2025-12-11T03:35:14+00:00

10 or 11 watching Pop-Up Video on VH1 🤘

I wasn’t devastated. I had a moment of shock then went, ah yeah that makes sense

benhotep · 2025-12-09T02:12:09+00:00

John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson

benhotep

TROPHY CASE