I currently live with my widowed father. I am a single mother who is diagnosed with bipolar disorder. In the past I have had serious financial, personal, and parenting problems. About 3 years ago I got into total complicance with my medical treatment and have excelled at managing my bipolar illness and parenting my child.

I have a sister who is a lawyer who has handled estates. One of her best friends who is a lawyer has handled my parents estate planning. I have a special trust set up (for when my Dad is gone). My sister oversees that trust. My sister has been very bitter toward me thru out life alot due to the extra attention I have gotten from my parents due to my illness. I am concerned about what is going to happen to me when Dad dies. I am an intelligient person who counsels weekly and takes skills classes weekly. I am applying for disability benefits due to the fact that I cannot provide for my child and I. Full time work overwhelms me.

My question is how can I protect my trust and my share of the will since I never know how my sister is going to act towards me. I have tried to talk with her about how we are going to act when Dad passes away and we have to split items. When I do talk to her she gets very defensive. ( Dad won't put details about possesions in the will). I live here and some of these items are mine and not Dad's. I don't want my sister to come in here and take lots of items away especially the items that are mine and not Dad's. She is financially well off and has a house and many items. I know we have to split everything but she gets so upset about possesions. She wants what she wants. She feels entitled since I have needed so much extra attention. Can she try to claim me incompetent and take my trust or my half? How can I protect myself and daughter? Just because I have a mental illness doesn't mean I can't function.

Please help.

Even if you were found incompetent by a court, you'd still be entitled to your benefit of the estate - it would just typically be held by someone else for your behalf, but would remain entitled to you for your use and benefit.

With that said, the reality is that unless dad is willing to enumerate EXACTLY who gets what, the estate will be split as outlined in some combination of will and trust documents and via any probate activity that occurs. In other words, without dad's active participation, there is no way to guarantee who will get what.

If you've got stuff of your own under dad's roof, the only way to be certain that what's yours STAYS yours is to document as much of your property as possible; save receipts, write down serial numbers, make sure that valuables are listed and described in your insurance policy (be careful that your stuff isn't listed under dad's homeowner's insurance lest the claim be that items are HIS) and similar precautions. If the house itself isn't already addressed, you might start asking - because the moment dad passes, the house becomes the property of the estate, and falls under the control of the executor, so who knows how it will be handled, who will live in it, or how quickly it can be sold in order to split proceeds.

As always, your best course of action is to consult with an attorney who specializes in estate planning in your state.

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While pointers can be helpful, ultimately the number one lesson in any legal action is: don't take legal advice from books, family, friends, co-workers, police officers, grocery clerks, web sites, or people on legal message boards. The only person who can give YOU legal advice is YOUR attorney.

http://www.aardvarc.org

I agree with aardvarc on this. Have you browsed through the information in LawInfo's Free Legal Resource Center to learn more about your issue yet? See: http://www.lawinfo.com/consumer.html. You can certainly try to speak to a lawyer to determine what legal options may be available. In the meantime, you may be able to learn more on your own. Search the "Free Legal Resources" tab, or browse the Consumer Resources. Good luck.