It turns out I kinda "screwed myself" in this deal as well. There is a phrase in the living trust something to the effect of "making disbursments" when I was 50 to some percentage, and then again when I was 60---TEN YEARS ago. I thought this meant cash/ investments, but when I finally mentioned that to the financial guys, they actually looked at it and said "That means all of it, property, everything." Her lawyer said "no" before he even read the trust!!!! -----and then caved in the end. So basically, I've wasted 10 years not knowing I was basically 1/2 owner, and the trust should have been "dead." In effect, THIS HAPPENED a year after Mom died, so the property should have been disbursed immediately