farm for sale

Sorry, didn't go into enough details... He left her a proper share of his assets, but the rest of the family wasn't having it, and tried to deny her anything. Their lawsuit didn't hold up but it took a good while in court, based on the dates and rulings of everything I have in the abstracts. I suspect you are right and she was from before he married his wife that he later had several other kids with - or perhaps she was the result of an affair... I never dug around enough to try to find her age, or marriage dates, or anything like that.

And this was well before DNA testing anyhow!

My main point, Shameless, is that if the land is no longer in your dad's name, it had to have been legally transferred to somebody/something else, which would be documented at the courthouse. If death was the reason for the transfer then from what I have seen in my title abstracts (at least in KS and IL) the will or the relevant portion of it affecting land assets is referenced or fully listed out with the deed transfer documentation at the courthouse.

It could be as brief as basically saying all named heirs get equal parts of any estate left at the time of death, or it could be much more detailed. Either way you should be able to find something, I would hope.

shameless dude wrote: thanks everyone! this gives me a place to start investigating. the name of the farm was changed just before Dad passed and has remained under that name(s). i'm feeling a little better about all this right now...but still saddened in many ways. thanks again for helping me with this. ya'll ROCK!

 OK, Good Buddy,,,you are getting some great advise and ,,,,,,It also looks to me that you been being a "nice Guy" long enough since "they" been keeping you in the dark far too long!! UNFORTUNATELY,,,Land, Property and Relatives have always been a tri'some that spells BIG trouble for most families. Since "the stock holders have not keept you in the know, you gonna have to assume, that ain't gonna start any time soon,,,maybe not even AFTER they sell everything out from under you. IF, they were any where close to being FAIR with your interests, they would have already given you a copy of the deed and all other agreements that they have done since,,,right?

 You need to hire an attorney like SOON, Please don't try to do this on your own, cause you can bet your Big Boy trk and everything else,,they are gonna have a sharp talking lawyer on their side,,!!

DJ, I keep getting the feeling that the 'stockholders' think they should have the most of the 'equal shares' than the one that actually stayed and worked...

And I have the same thoughts as Farmboy does... Losing the will , they are hiding some facts.

 Happened close to here, in fact the daughter and s-i-l went into the old man's house and stole the will from his safe... never to be seen of again.  and the brother knew what was in the will because the old man had put his 40 acres in to be with the original farm that the son had bought from him. But the sister thought the 40 acres and house should be sold for profit for themselves since they took care of the old man the last two months of his life.  Where as the son had spent the last 3 years going down there and checking on him and helping him every day.  And then the personal stuff started disappearing and found stuff in a grandsons garage and some other stuff at the sisters place ...  The son said she could have all the stuff of their mothers but there were things that were left for the other brothers... which they didn't get because the sister got the courts to disperse it at an auction...  

  What is that old sayin? evil is as evil does...  the s-i-l died a few years later and the sister got sick.    

Can you tell I am not a fan of lawyers. But there are times and places your a fool if you don't at least try to find one to handle matters. Maybe a good bluff will make the stockholder pony up the will, BUT DON"T BET ON IT. I agree with the other that think you being take for a ride.

One of the stockholders is a distant neighbor of me, a couple miles away, still, I may have to pay him a visit...

As a side note, after one of my dads distant cousins retired, he spent a bunch of time at the courthouse tracking down the ownership of the family farm in Ohio.  Followed it from it was bought from the government in 1811 up to the last transfer a few years ago.  The farm was around 170 acres at one time then the family that owned it gave each of the children 20 acres, over the years my distant family bought up most of the place then after my grandfather died in a fire, the land was split up again.  My folks bought 7 acres of in in the early 1950's and sold it in 1956 when we moved to Colorado.  Not only was it interesting reading but the handwriting back then was simply beautiful! 

shameless dude wrote: stay away from him John...you'll only gits angry just talking with him, very unlikable fellow, one of them know it all's! he's stayed away from me mostly, so that's good. and i don't need any phone calls from him, it'll only raise my blood pressure up! hard to find any farm attorneys around here, but i do know some that they absolutly hate just because of who they are! i may hafta sell the Chevy/Allis to pay for the attorney! PffffT!

 Well,,,,,I will say this,,,,,"you done figured out how to keep me in line",,,,ain't you,,??

A good lawyer may come in handy, but you can do the preliminary for free yourself. While there, you could also check on the ownership of the farm, with all transactions as far back as you need to go.

I don't know much about your situation, but if you are being denied opportunity ot see the will, that smells very rotton! 

I wish you luck my friend