We inherited a mess.
After months of struggling to find our aunt's lawyer, we reached out to our lawyer as a last resort. They found an attorney based in Chicago proper, and after a long convo, I reluctantly agreed to be trustee for my aunt's estate. (The two trustees she appointed, my father and her husband, are both long dead.) Her house in Naperville is the entire estate, and we also inherited a mortgage and other debts. Additionally, her sister-in-law was also bequeathed money. When all is said and done, my sister and I might break even.
When we made out first posthumous visit to the house last July, we did not make a positive impression on the house's caretaker, our aunt's next-door neighbor. This time, we showed him the paperwork, and he agreed to cooperate. Before we walked in, he warned us that there might have been some flooding in the basement. There was a snowstorm in the area in mid-January, and he hadn't been in the house since around New Year's.
Indeed, there was flooding. About five feet of standing water, just sitting there for about a month. We called State Farm, our aunt's insurer, and they won't help because the heat was turned off. The house permeates with black mold, so have to open windows and wear masks. Thankfully, most of items we want weren't in the basement, but there's still the matter of making the house inhabitable again.
Stay tuned.
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