Beneficiary Designation vs Will

My mother passed away suddenly in 2015 and the will went to probate fairly quickly since my father, her minor grandchildren (my sister's two daughters), and I were the only beneficiaries listed in the will.

Quick backstory: My sister had been estranged for years before my mother's passing and had committed several violent acts towards my mother. My mother made the difficult decision to remove her as a beneficiary in the will and also removed her as a beneficiary from any life insurance policies. My mother loved my sister and devoted so much of her life to helping my sister and her children. My parents had given my sister tens of thousands of dollars to help her with her frequent legal issues and gave a lot of financial support to her children. My sister has two daughters (now of legal age) and one son who is still a minor.

My mother and I were very close and she designated me as the sole beneficiary for all of her life insurance policies. The will stated that she wanted her granddaughters to receive half of the large life insurance policy at the age of 21. The attorney instructed us that since a will cannot create a trust without a living trust, that the full amount of money would go to me and I could either keep the full amount or honor my mother's will, either way my beneficiary designation on the policy overrides whatever is listed in the will regarding the policy.

As I stated, my sister has 3 children. Only the 2 girls were listed in the will, but the will was created a year before the birth of my nephew. I know my mother would have included him in the will because she equally loved all of her grandchildren. Once my nieces turned 18, I discussed with them the importance of including my nephew in the inheritance and they both agreed it would be the right thing to do. Especially since my sister is still neglectful and verbally abusive to her children. Both of her daughters ceased contact with her once they became legal adults because of her abuse. However, my oldest niece has started communicating with her again and they both are set on making my life a nightmare.

My eldest niece has received all of her inheritance against my better judgement. The initial plan was to keep her inheritance safe until she turned 25 so she would be mature enough to handle the money. She briefly went to live with my sister and my sister told her she needed to sue me for her inheritance and that I was violating the trust. Again, there is NO trust and I don't even know why they think there is a trust. However, she kept harassing me about it and I just gave her the inheritance at the age of 21 so she could leave me alone. I had always tried to look out for her best interests, but I told her that once the inheritance money was spent that was it.

My niece is now 22 and spent all of her inheritance in less than six months. She is unfortunately following in my sister's footsteps and is currently on the run in Florida after stealing her ex-boyfriend's car. She mailed a letter to both me and my dad telling us that we need to provide her a copy of "the trust". Again, there is NO trust. She is also saying that she wants her little brother to not be included and wants half of the amount he is supposed to receive.

I am tempted to go to the attorney who probated the will and have him send her a letter, but my dad is telling me to leave it alone since she has received everything she is due (minus the portion that we decided will go to my nephew). I am very frustrated by her behavior and any suggestions would be appreciated.

submitted by /u/Guilty-Suspect9296
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