Settling Estate Disputes – Babci Style

My dad died when I was 14 and it wasn’t without it’s drama.  You see, he had recurring chest pains and stopped working for good when I was about 9.  When I was 12 and his health insurance ran out, he emptied our bank accounts and went back to Poland.  He never liked America from day 1.  When his disability insurance ran out, he decided it was finally time to go back to the mother country.  Back in the 80’s, you could build a pretty amazing house on a nice plot of land for a few thousand dollars.

The Years Before Dad’s Death

For 2 years after that, my mother literally sent over every extra penny she had to him.  Anytime her bank account hit $500, she emptied it and sent it to him. Now, when he emptied the bank accounts the first time, he also took anything of value as well. For example, I had some gold jewelry that my godparents gave me when I was born and he took it. In fact, I’m surprised he didn’t take my mom’s gold wedding ring from her.  The money he took back with him was enough cash to live comfortably in Poland for over 10 years (a dollar went a long way back then), let alone the thousands she was sending him.  Well, we soon learned that he was gambling and drinking it all away.

It was tough love time. I told my mother she had to stop sending him money. She told me she didn’t care about the money. She just wanted him to stay in Poland and for her to stay in America. It was worth it to her to send him the money so he wouldn’t come back. We had no emergency fund. We were already below poverty level and to squeeze out an extra $500 every few months was tough.  Well, at that point I did something mean, not because I meant it, but because I knew it was the only way she’d stop.  I told her that she loved him more than me and she’d rather make him happy than take care of her own daughter.  It worked.

Desperation

My father had been cut off from all communication and money. He started writing other family members for money. He told them that he didn’t understand why his wife didn’t love him anymore. When that didn’t work, he tried to sell the house we were living in right from under us.  He wrote a letter to a neighbor telling him that if he sold our house on his behalf, he would give him 10% of the proceeds. The neighbor delivered the letter to my mother.

I advised my mother that it was his right to sell the house if he wanted to and the only way to stop it is to file for divorce.  Divorce is unheard of to people of her generation, but thank god, she did it.   When my father got the divorce papers, he somehow got the money to come back to the states.  He came to the house and demanded to be let in “his house.”   I had to fight my mother not to let him in. He called me a wh*re and told my mother it was her fault that I turned out that way.  I called the cops to have him taken away.

He went back to Poland and died shortly thereafter.  We didn’t find out for 4 months.  His family kept it a secret so they could raid his stuff and try to take over his estate.  Is it terrible to say that I felt relieved when I found out he died?

The Aftermath

The divorce never happened, so when he died, the estate should have been a simple transition of assets to my mother.  His family was connected though, so they produced an unsigned will that said he left his estate to a few of his siblings.  For 5 years, my mom spent money on lawyers trying to get the estate settled and his family kept  pulling strings to postpone the hearings.  I actually had one uncle who stood up for us and I appreciate that, but he was one against many.  One day, she announced that it was no longer worth her health to worry about it and let it go.  She said the following:

• I don’t need the money.
• I don’t ever want to live in that town or go back to that place.
• She shook her fist in the air and said “No good will ever come of  that place.”

Well, I can’t think of a better example of Karma than this cursed house.  The house eventually went to 2 other siblings. One of them died shortly after getting the house.  The other sibling bought him out.  She was quite well off due to having a little grocery store but then a big box chain moved in and virtually put her out of business. They rented the place for a while and then her daughter moved in with her husband and children. Not long after they moved in,  her husband contracted a rare disease and died before he hit 30.  Life’s not been so swell for that side of the family, so my mom was indeed right. If it were me, I wouldn’t touch that place with a 10 foot pole.

You know, as a teenager, I didn’t really understand any of this. I thought she was a quitter and she was letting them win. I think the only reason she fought as long as she did was to make me happy.  I’m so glad I can see her perspective now.  I was such a dumb teenager.  Sometimes it’s not worth it to fight over the principal of a thing.

As an aside, this is the second house my mom gave away.  The first she gave to her twin sister when she left for America. She was the old maid and inherited her family’s cabin.

How to Let Go – What Babci Taught Me

Now, I’m sure we all have a story or two about 2 feuding relatives who haven’t spoken in 20 years because of a fight over a hope chest or something equally silly.  So here are my final thoughts and what I’ve learned from Babci on this whole experience:

1. Be Happy With What You Have – I think the key to my mother being able to let go is that she had everything she wanted. She had a home, rental income, a job, her health, a garden and her family. She was never cold and never hungry.  What did she need a second home for? Why was she continuing to let something she didn’t need get her so upset?
2. Let Go of the Entitlement – Many children feel a sense of ownership to their parent’s estates…like they earned it or something.  It’s not your money, even if you think it is.
3. Be Independent – The most gruesome and heartless estate battles I’ve seen were from individuals who needed the money badly.  (I’ll go into my uncle’s story someday).   If you’re over 30 and have never been able to live without mom and dad’s assistance (disabled people excluded), look in the mirror.  Are you going to be that person that someday can’t wait for their parents to die so that you can get their inheritance and assume their identity? Let’s hope not.
4. Stuff Does Not Replace Memories – My house is filled with old furniture from my husband’s family. It has a ton of sentimental value to him and we love it.  If it all burned down tomorrow, I think we could still be happy as long as we were all safe and fully insured.  People tend to tie memories to objects and it sometimes makes it hard to let go. It’s especially hard when 2 or more  people want the same object. If you think you might be that person then practice a little with some de-cluttering.
5. Doing something out of Principal is not always the right way to go. Sometimes the best solution isn’t always the correct one.
6. Don’t Forget You’re Grieving – It’s a very emotional time for some. Cut yourself a little slack if you’re acting a little coo coo.  If you’re not thinking clearly, pull in a mediator to help.  They can look at things rationally without all the extra emotions.

So there it is, another piece of Babci Lore. Babci stories are always the best aren’t they? Thank God our life isn’t nearly as interesting these days.

So what crazy estate nightmares do you have to share? Am I missing any lessons? Oh and if you have a dad that’s still alive and super cool, call him and thank him for being the best dad in the world.

I loved my father in law so much. He really was like the dad I never had. The irony was that he was an orphan. When he died, countless people said the same thing of him.  “He treated me better than my own dad. He was like the dad I never had. He was always there for me.” It was a big loss when he passed.