Help with Legal Fees
Donation protected
Hello Family, Friends and future Friends. We are trying to raise money to help with the legal fees that pertain to my Fathers Estate. I have attached a photo of my Dad golfing in the North Pole classic. This was an event that he loved, and as a family we participated in it every year. For those of you that knew my Dad, you know that the two big loves of his life were his family and golf.
We lost my Dad in July of 2018, it was unexpected. No one was prepared for it, as if you could ever be prepared. Our family has had many battles in the last two years since Dad's passing. Some are known to our family and friends and some are not. My Dad was a private person and for the most part he has passed that trait down to me. I would have never expected to find myself in a position where I have to ask anyone for assistance of any kind. It breaks my heart that I have too.
Let me try to explain the situation that we are now in. In August of 2018 we had to open a probate case in the Wayne County Probate Court in order to get legal letters to act on my Dad's behalf - for everything. We had a power of attorney already, but that was not good enough to conduct the business that we needed to conduct. Once we were given the legal letters from the court we went about processing the normal paperwork that comes when someone passes away. During this time I was handling all of the probate processes on my own, with help from my husband. This was our choice because we were told that hiring an attorney wasn't worth it, since all of us kids agreed to abide by our Dad's wishes. Everything was going smoothly, we were trying to grieve while taking care of Dad's financial affairs and court proceedings. It was difficult to say the least. As we were getting ready to finalize everything in the probate court we were slapped with a lien on the property. Unsure of how to proceed we were reaching out to lawyers and asking for advice. More than one of those lawyers scolded me for 1.) opening a probate case without an attorney and 2.) for paying off any of my Dad's outstanding bills. As the now legally responsible person for my Dad's estate I thought this was the right thing to do. It obviously was not. And all of the monies that my husband and I paid out, we will not get reimbursed for. We learned that doing the right thing is not always the best thing when dealing with an estate. This fact saddened me deeply.
Finally 25 months after probate was opened, it has been closed by the court. We now have substantial legal debt, more than the estate is worth. So selling it is not an option as we would then carry that debt with us. The funds that we receive will go directly to pay all of the legal fees that are now owed. We were given a time frame for payment of 12 months to pay all fees owed.
My goal was to always keep my Dad's memory alive. His grandkids need to know that he was generous, loving and caring man. There was never a time that my Dad would not help someone if he could. This is another trait that he passed down to me, I have gone without numerous times because someone needed something more than I did. This is something that I would never change about myself, I cherish the fact that this was thought to me by my Dad. It is true that you never know what you have until it is gone. I miss my Dad every single day, but I see him in all of his favorite things.
The last two years have been extremely hard for me. The stress of knowing that the debt coming will be more than you can bare weighs heavily on a person. Never having the proper time to grieve, going back to work two days after we said goodbye and opening probate a month later - my life has been in slow motion with these strange pauses that I do not fully understand. As a strong independent woman asking for help is one of the hardest things in the world, and something I never thought I would have to do. Times are difficult for everyone right now, I know that people are having a hard time feeding their families. This knowledge makes asking for financial help even harder for me. Keeping a roof over our heads and being able to keep our family home is important to me. For everyone that can help or that wishes they could help, I thank you. From the bottom of my heart - there will never be enough words to express my gratitude and thanks. You are all the reason we feel so loved.
God Bless each and every one of you.
Thank you,
Sherry
We lost my Dad in July of 2018, it was unexpected. No one was prepared for it, as if you could ever be prepared. Our family has had many battles in the last two years since Dad's passing. Some are known to our family and friends and some are not. My Dad was a private person and for the most part he has passed that trait down to me. I would have never expected to find myself in a position where I have to ask anyone for assistance of any kind. It breaks my heart that I have too.
Let me try to explain the situation that we are now in. In August of 2018 we had to open a probate case in the Wayne County Probate Court in order to get legal letters to act on my Dad's behalf - for everything. We had a power of attorney already, but that was not good enough to conduct the business that we needed to conduct. Once we were given the legal letters from the court we went about processing the normal paperwork that comes when someone passes away. During this time I was handling all of the probate processes on my own, with help from my husband. This was our choice because we were told that hiring an attorney wasn't worth it, since all of us kids agreed to abide by our Dad's wishes. Everything was going smoothly, we were trying to grieve while taking care of Dad's financial affairs and court proceedings. It was difficult to say the least. As we were getting ready to finalize everything in the probate court we were slapped with a lien on the property. Unsure of how to proceed we were reaching out to lawyers and asking for advice. More than one of those lawyers scolded me for 1.) opening a probate case without an attorney and 2.) for paying off any of my Dad's outstanding bills. As the now legally responsible person for my Dad's estate I thought this was the right thing to do. It obviously was not. And all of the monies that my husband and I paid out, we will not get reimbursed for. We learned that doing the right thing is not always the best thing when dealing with an estate. This fact saddened me deeply.
Finally 25 months after probate was opened, it has been closed by the court. We now have substantial legal debt, more than the estate is worth. So selling it is not an option as we would then carry that debt with us. The funds that we receive will go directly to pay all of the legal fees that are now owed. We were given a time frame for payment of 12 months to pay all fees owed.
My goal was to always keep my Dad's memory alive. His grandkids need to know that he was generous, loving and caring man. There was never a time that my Dad would not help someone if he could. This is another trait that he passed down to me, I have gone without numerous times because someone needed something more than I did. This is something that I would never change about myself, I cherish the fact that this was thought to me by my Dad. It is true that you never know what you have until it is gone. I miss my Dad every single day, but I see him in all of his favorite things.
The last two years have been extremely hard for me. The stress of knowing that the debt coming will be more than you can bare weighs heavily on a person. Never having the proper time to grieve, going back to work two days after we said goodbye and opening probate a month later - my life has been in slow motion with these strange pauses that I do not fully understand. As a strong independent woman asking for help is one of the hardest things in the world, and something I never thought I would have to do. Times are difficult for everyone right now, I know that people are having a hard time feeding their families. This knowledge makes asking for financial help even harder for me. Keeping a roof over our heads and being able to keep our family home is important to me. For everyone that can help or that wishes they could help, I thank you. From the bottom of my heart - there will never be enough words to express my gratitude and thanks. You are all the reason we feel so loved.
God Bless each and every one of you.
Thank you,
Sherry
Organizer
Sherry Human
Organizer
Garden City, MI
