Brother Left Me Everything In His Will, But His Estranged Son Took His Truck—what Can I Do?
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My brother recently passed away, and he left a will stating that everything was to be left to me. He didn’t list out specific assets—just wrote “everything.”
One of his assets was a truck. When he passed, I attempted to pay off the remaining balance, but the bank froze the account (it was in both my brother’s and my name) after being notified of his death, so the payment didn’t go through.
Here’s where things got messy:
- The lien holder initially sent a letter saying the lien was paid off.
- Then, they sent another letter saying the bank rejected the payment.
- Despite this, they notified the DMV that the lien had been released.
- However, they never told the DMV there was still a balance or requested the title back.
So, as far as the DMV was concerned, there was no lien, and the title was released.
Now, my brother’s estranged son (who was not a part of his life) somehow went to the DMV and got the truck registered in his name. I don’t know how this was possible, considering the will explicitly left everything to me.
I’ve hit a wall:
- The DMV won’t help.
- The lien holder won’t help.
- The sheriff’s office says they won’t open an investigation unless my brother reports it—obviously impossible.
-will do not go through probate
What are my options here? I’m lost.
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