My mother-in-law passed away and left two properties in Williston North Dakota to her sons to be shared equally. My husband lives in another state as the brother who lives in Williston. The brother in ND, during probate gave our address as his own and then allowed the property taxes to default on both properties, one with oil rights and then bought the properties back at the tax default amount at auction. The brother then had new deeds done by the attorney that handled mom's probate and the deeds are now in his name only, hence he disinherited his brother, my husband and disrespected his mother's wishes. He immediately turned around and leased out oil rights to one property for $36,000 a year and I don't know if it is producing oil. My husband is elderly at 70, cannot work and is extremely distraught over his brothers actions and I support the family so we cannot afford to retain an attorney who want over $10,000 before they will even begin. Is there some where that I can place a complaint or get help or do something to aid in having the deeds returned to the way that their mother wanted and obtain half oil royalties so I can feed my kids and provide them shelter. I have tried interacting with the brother and he only responds with one sentence - "I will harm you and your children if you pursue this." Any advice that can bring some light and hope to my family is much appreciated. Thank you for reading.
Helen,
First....what a scumbag that brother in law. Second, I would start with the Tax Assessors office. You need to tell them what has happened and file a complaint. I believe they should have been notifing your husband of his taxes. Since the interest was no longer in your mother in law's name it became two interests with two separate owners. Therefore they were sending the tax bill to the wrong person. They will tell you if you have a case. Also an attorney might be very helpful and could be worth while, espicially if there is production.
Third, I think I'd contact the authorities and make them aware of the threats just in case.
If what you described is true by "hard evidence" that you have, then you can find an attorney that will take your case without up-front fees, regarding the civil matters you present. I also suspect you have a criminal complaint that could be considered by your District Attorney for felony action. In either case, you will need evidence......good luck in your quest.
Thank you for your support and we did have an attorney that was going to take it on a contingency basis for, as a woman and mother, I simply want my mother-in-laws wishes to go forth. However, after speaking with his employer he said he needed $15,000 retainer.
Helen,
Try to find an independent lawyer in Williston or Minot ND. They would know the lay of the land.
Thank you for your kind words and caring Hunter. I will tell you a funny story and that is that I emailed many Williston attorneys and one replied. First she said she was busy but try her again; so I did. Then I thought "hmmm" but the name sounds familiar? The attorney is the same attorney my brother-in-law used to assist him on filing probate papers to include transferring the deeds over to the brothers and she is also the attorney who provided my brother-in-law with the new deeds and assisted with the oil lease and royalty contract. When I brought this to her attention she immediately replied saying that she could not represent me for she and the brother-in-law and his wife are good friends. Sounds like something fishy is going on in Williston and that it may be one big happy family as it is with very small towns. That is when I decided to branch out to Minot where no attorney will take on a case for less than an initial $15,000. I say, well why don't we start with just a letter? They respond with "show me the money in the form of a $15,000 certified check." However, I have not given up and I keep trying ones here and there as time allows for I am also fighting an attorney who froze me out of my Trust and he and others he has ordered in as Trustees have obtained over $100,000 so far from it. I believe the next step is in trying to locate the company that holds the lease now and inform them of what is going on.
Helene Fox said:
Thank you for your kind words and caring Hunter. I will tell you a funny story and that is that I emailed many Williston attorneys and one replied. First she said she was busy but try her again; so I did. Then I thought "hmmm" but the name sounds familiar? The attorney is the same attorney my brother-in-law used to assist him on filing probate papers to include transferring the deeds over to the brothers and she is also the attorney who provided my brother-in-law with the new deeds and assisted with the oil lease and royalty contract. When I brought this to her attention she immediately replied saying that she could not represent me for she and the brother-in-law and his wife are good friends. Sounds like something fishy is going on in Williston and that it may be one big happy family as it is with very small towns. That is when I decided to branch out to Minot where no attorney will take on a case for less than an initial $15,000. I say, well why don't we start with just a letter? They respond with "show me the money in the form of a $15,000 certified check." However, I have not given up and I keep trying ones here and there as time allows for I am also fighting an attorney who froze me out of my Trust and he and others he has ordered in as Trustees have obtained over $100,000 so far from it. I believe the next step is in trying to locate the company that holds the lease now and inform them of what is going on.