You should start a go fund me page to buy the others out

I would donate

 Oh My Gosh,,,!! I feel for you, Shameless,,,I know how very much you cared for that land that came from your father,,, It's almost a slap in the face to say,,"It's the sign of the times". Hopefully,,YOUR attorney will represent YOUR interests before the stockholder's.

 I will "always" remember a commercial many, many years ago when we still lived on the farm,,,," There will always be more people,,but there will never be more land"

 Just look at it this way,,,now, you can come visit a spell,,,,,

Aren't you a stockholder too?  If so, why not split a few acres off the place where the house and buildings are as part of your share of the place.  Then again, if you have to move into town, the pretty machine might get cut up for scrap.....

I hope it does work out for you ole friend.

Boy, that's too bad, especially in situations of more then one, if one wants to go it puts all the rest in the same boat. I don't understand your lands situation but if it's not making enough to pay taxes and inputs with some left over I could see people wanting to sell.  I farm ground on shares and the land owner always makes more per acre than I do, with no work involved, even in a drought, hail, wind, flood event, they still are ahead of me and that's not counting my fixed expenses just the variables on my end and everything on theirs.  It's probably too late but if only you could find a tenant that treated you like they needed your ground to survive the situation could be much better, but then again eastern NE is probably much different than w ks.  Trying to hang on to farms with people that aren't attached is a problem, they look at how much it's worth in their pocket today and not that once it's sold it's gone usually for at least a generation or two.  Sad situation indeed!   Hopefully something good will work out of it for you.

I know none of this helps the situation your in but one thing I've learned in life is that everything happens for a reason and no matter how bad the situation is or was someday down the road you can look back on what happened and realize it gave birth to something else that made or makes you happy.  It might not be tomorrow or a month from now but down the road at some point, no matter how bad or how bad it makes you feel today, there will be good come from it.  Just stay positive, everything happens for a reason.

Hoping everything works out for you and your wife.

I know, it's easy to give advice,and maybe my plan might not make sense to you,but i would be exploring my options.

re: Buy the whole thing. You already own a portion of it, so you could buy the others out for less than full purchase price....

At the very,very least buy the house,buildings and say 5 acres around them !!! Since you do own part of it, the 'big sale' can't go through wiithout your signature. If that's true (lawyer will KNOW) , then  make it a 'condition of sale'....otherwise ,well...keep chanting 'I ain't signing' and them board meetings.....

I KNOW, first hand, that 'forced downsizing' ain't fun.... I figure I got a month as  'contractor' been told his house dig begins end of March, so then I'll HAVE to move 1/2 ac of 'stuff' into an already full dbl car garage..... pretty sure you got a few more things than me !!! Hmm. maybe have an auction. That dang 'machine' of your will fetch a GREAT price !

Jay

 Another 60 acre piece up for sale also little ways on other side of me $700,000 asking price on that piece and its almost land locked behind home place and another 20 acres for original farmstead .  

Dale, me thinks you need to track down a shyster lawyer, the kind that doesn't take no for an answer and vicious enough to hunt down the answers to all questions... like investigating to find the attorney that drew up your fathers will, He should have a duplicate copy in his files somewhere.  Or possibly filed at the courthouse...

and know how to impede said 'manager/s'. 

  I just hate to hear the stories of these 'family' affairs were the siblings can't get along for the good of each other, but are always looking out for their own greed.  Lot of nice farms have gotten hatcheted for that very reason.

  One thing them 'stockholders are over looking, you can't eat money, but land you can always raise something off of to eat...  for yourself and others.

  Praying for a rightful outcome for you, my friend.

I really feel for you Buddy.  Something you've cared for and nurtured for these past years and now......

I can't believe that an attorney wouldn't take your case and go to the judge and insist that they produce the will.  I know that that is the road I would venture down.  You might find out that Dad left the whole thing to you.  I don't know the laws there, but here in WI the will has to be probated and therefore become public.  You must know a judge that you didn't pizz off in your years of service?  Get him (or her) to agree to coffee and listen.  It might be worth your while instead of listening to your siblings.  GO for it big guy!!  If nothing else, it'll make you feel bettter and it'll really pizz them off!!

Whatever happens, I wish you and Dee the best and happy years ahead.  Do a little prayin, I will be helping in that department, to your Dad and have him help you out.  It's always easy to ask Dad for something.  God bless you buddy.

  Hey Shameless,,,I believe ole JC and Ted got the right idea,,GER you a Lawyer FAST,,!! The stockholders HAVE to produce the will they are basing all their marbles on. And like Ted says it HAS to be probated for dispersal. We had an uncle that similar things were going on and the children were split and fighting like you wouldn't believe!! But after the Judge got thru talking,,,they all pretty much agreed and the one that was trying to put the chingas on the others was slapped BY The Probate Judge,,!!  Don't hold off any longer else they might get your house too,,!!

Second this!

My other thought was that if the land was legally transferred from your dad's name to another entity (trust, person, whatever) then something should be on file related to that at the county courthouse. I have seen wills listed out in the title abstract research books you get when you buy a property. If it changes owners, there has to be documentation of it with the county.

I got a few abstracts with a pasture that I bought that are for some other unrelated properties, and one of them was like reading a soap opera - the old guy's will was in there in its entirety, and it turns out he had some daughter that none of the rest of the family knew about and there were all kinds of legal battles that took awhile to settle. It was all documented in the abstracts. Not sure if NE does that level of detail or not but it might be worth paying a title company a few hundred bucks to compile an abstract of the farm property.

Probate definition:

Here is a duckduckgo.com  search link

http://duckduckgo.com/?q=probate+estate&t=h_&ia=web" rel="nofollow - http://duckduckgo.com/?q=probate+estate&t=h_&ia=web  

Just a couple links from above search...

http://www.thebalance.com/probate-checklist-how-to-probate-an-estate-3505269" rel="nofollow - http://www.thebalance.com/probate-checklist-how-to-probate-an-estate-3505269

http://www.thebalance.com/what-is-probate-3505244" rel="nofollow - http://www.thebalance.com/what-is-probate-3505244

http://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/wills-trusts/what-assets-go-through-probate.html" rel="nofollow - http://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/wills-trusts/what-assets-go-through-probate.html

You should be able to go to the county assessors office and see whose name is listed as owner of property where you live. Maybe on all parcels.  

IF you or at least more than 1 person is listed as part owner, you can try to get the others to go along with an auction. At least then you've a chance no sweetheart sale made. 

Hhmmmm, I got long winded again.!!!! 

I'm sure mine will be up for auction when I'm gone. The 3 Niece's will not have $$$ to pay taxes n keep it. Plus all live in Va. 

2 - 80,s sold on a online auction 2 years ago near me. Brought far more than local people expected. 

Last fall family across road to south of me auctioned off 190+ tillable acres in 2 parcels, to settle their mom's estate. Farming son kept 60+ acres. Both parcels sold near $9800/ acre. None of the local bigshots were in the bidding after $5,000. 2 new owners were in school when I was, 1 lives in Des Moines, 1 in Omaha. Both have brothers n nephews farming within 20 miles that will be new neighbors. 

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.    

 Yeah,,JC,, I do not know ole Shameless like most of ya'll do,  but I do see where he is a very trusting person and while that attribute is something most people will never be, it can and will wind up hurting him, I'm afraid.

 When they started that BS that the will was,,"lost", that was when the dishonesty on their part started.!!!  That will is NOT LOST ,,or they could have never reached any agreements with the leasing out of the farm that they did!!

I sure hope ole Shameless gets him a GOOD attorney "NOW" to represent his many years of working on his Daddy's farm cause I don't thnk them dudes are gonna be bothered too much with putting him out,,,,,

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,,??

It always hurts to pay a blood sucker, but can pay off BIG. If you win. Good luck fighting this.

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

shameless dude wrote: MDM....no i haven't, it appears to be a cluster **** at the court house, i will hafta go back there when i can spend more time there. appears the court house has no record of the house i live in...which has been here since 1953. the crops grown on the farm pays the taxes as most do. cept where i live, and i have to find out more on this.

 OH, OH,,!! That right there sounds like it might turn out to be a serious issue as far as establishing the "Possesion" aspect of the law,,IN YOUR favor.,,?? I'll say,again GOOD BUDDY, you should get you an attorney since "last year" Sure sounds kinda fishy that your house is not included in the Farm description, AND,,could be that taxes have NOT been paid out of the profits,,,which could be a HUGE issue,,,that was planned by them stockholders,,,!!

 PLEASE Don't wait any longer and try to do this yourself,,get you an attorney, Now!!

 BUT,,if they do kick you off your farm,,,you can park your 5th wheel on my place,,,,

re: appears the court house has no record of the house i live in...which has been here since 1953. the crops grown on the farm pays the taxes as most do.

sounds real familiar... City here can't find building permit for my old shop....

wanna have FUN at Cityhall ? Tell them your lawyer's drafting up paperwork to have the City repay you 100% of ALL the taxes you paid since 1953, and accrued interest. Also NO taxes will be paid until a full forensic audit has been done by the STATE 'records' office.

Mumble 'something about ..it's incumbent upn the record department to have care and control over legal records or such....'Magically', they wil find the lost records.......

shameless dude wrote: MDM....no i haven't, it appears to be a cluster **** at the court house, i will hafta go back there when i can spend more time there. appears the court house has no record of the house i live in...which has been here since 1953. the crops grown on the farm pays the taxes as most do. cept where i live, and i have to find out more on this.

Are you saying the house isn't listed as a improvement on the ground or isn't deeded separate or both?  Around here they will have to have title insurance to sell the land or no bank will ever loan money on it.  A title and abstract co might be cheaper then a attorney to find your answers.

Yeah,,Kansas,,,that sounds correct AND the more ole Shameless "Discovers" bout his kinfolk,,,the more diabolical their actions appear!!  Me thinks they been plannin this over a LONG period of time with the intent to push him out of everything and they bout READY to finalize the takeover!!  Them telling him they can't find the title to the farm is pure friggin preposterous.

 Having just recently gone thru this same worst kind of THEFT with the "Outlaws" on the Wife's side,,,I KNOW what lowlife relatives are capable of,,!! AND, once the DEED is done,,, it all over ,,,,except the Crying AND  the courts do not listen to Crying,,!! To this day,,the wife still cannot BELIEVE her brother and sister done what they did to cut HER and Her children out of their Rightful inheritance and thinks,,," They WILL share" I tell her, they ain't started "sharing" in 2 1/2 years, why would they start any time soon,,,,??? Them Titles ain't got your name anywhere on them,

 SO,,Shameless,,,get down to the closest Abstract Co and find out,,THEN Call an attorney!!!!!

Shameless, you got your lunch box packed  for tomorrow so you can stay all day harrassen the court house, the register of deeds and the abstract offices??? An possibly hunting for a shrewder lawyer that them other 'stockholders' have... 

 Sale, it seems you have a nephew that you liked cuzz he seemed to like the farm... was that because he liked the thought of capitalizing on it as his portion of inheritance? or that he might get some dirt under his fingernails?... Farm gets sold he won't have nothing but the money, what is left after his parents burn through it.