Fidiciary Duty

This is a catch 22 as the will reads is this your natural born child or is it his by marriage, was this will written up by him single or married, and in ehat State are we talking. To me it sounds like there is more than just one marriage. And possable by the text of it was this your husbands wiches or was the son holdiing his hand when this will was written. It may be a corhiresd type of a will where the son made the dicesions for his dad.

Being from Ohio it sounds to me that the will was written up by the son and he had prior knowlage of the ifs ands or wheres of this matter but you are cought in the middle of a matter of ( an addendum added to his trust which states that I, the wife, upon his death, could live in the principle residence at "no cost" for two years, costs include but not limited to, Snow removal, repairs, utilities, mortgage, taxes, yard...) to the fact of pick and choose you may be cought as this is a son who wants all he can get. But he is to act loyally and honestly eith respect to the interests of anouther ;the duity the law imposes upon a fiduciary. Being that he should have a bond required of a fiduciary as a condition of managing an estate. Yes it may be possable you can sue him or the estate or both but i strongly reccomend using a different lawyer as you may trust this lawyer it is reccommened that you get a second openion but also find out who the bonding company is, as to some times he may have been the his own bonding company, as he may have the money to have posted his own bond. Now if that bond is good only for the time period of setteling the estate you may be out of luck. Also keep in mind in the 10 years the changes made in Ohio laws may not be valid now as they were then. Do your self a favor and get a second openion to be on the safe side this could also be your stepsons attorney also. So he may know both sides of this matter before you even ask for his openion seek anouther attorneys advise in Ohio.

While  you can't add items beyond those which were considered a normal and customary part and expense of running your household, nor can he refuse to pay them simply because they were not specifically listed:  this was covered by the "including, but not limited too" clause.   So, while  you can't add a swimming pool at your stepson's expense, he can't refuse to pay for cleaning and maintenance of an existing pool.  Since the maid service and house manager were in place prior to your husband's death,  stepson gets to pay for them - and for the utilities and repairs you paid for.   Sic your lawyer on him - he already doesn't like you, so, although there is no reason to be nasty, there is no reason to be nice either - be fair instead.

Yep, I totally agree, you've got to have your lawyer set things up so that bills are paid automatically and you don't  have to go 'begging' and photocopying bills and waiting for payment. Perhaps it can be set up so that the lawyer receives the bills and is responsible to pay them out of an account that would be set up for the house.

This was your husband's way of taking care of you after he was gone.

However, I do think it would be nice if you tried to cut down on some expenses to show that you are not trying to take anyone for a ride.

Meanwhile, you need to think about how you are going to live after these two years are up.