Mother was issued a one time payment from a workers compensation claim that has been open for 20+years just before she passed away suddenly due to long term breathing issues. Mother did not want older sibling knowing she had decided to close the compensation case, someone informed older sibling and now she wants 1/2 of whatever funds were there. Younger sibling took care of all financial after death expenses. Younger sibling is a Male therefore a big percentage of Mom's personal belongings went to the older sibling. Older sibling filed with surrogate court, what to expect next if anything?
Thank you in advance for your time, much appreciated!!
Your mother was part of a long-running workers' compensation claim case; and then, what, she accepted an out-of-court settlement? The money was duly paid and banked.
Your mother did not want your sister to know about this. Is that because she feared your sister would disagree with the decision to settle, or because she did not want your sister to know about the money, or both, or what?
Someone informed your sister, regardless. H'm. It seems to me that only somebody involved in the case could have done that; and it seems to me that if so your sister must have been actively involved in your mother's representation. In which case, it is possible that your sister not only worked hard on it but incurred some expense. Is it unreasonable that she would expect to receive a proportion of the compensation now that your mother is unable to benefit from it?
You paid your mother's funeral expenses. You can expect to be fully reimbursed for those from your mother's estate - it's almost a separate issue, and it is universally recognised as a legitimate use of a deceased person's funds. I hope you've kept all the receipts.
What should happen now is that your mother's estate will be valued. The estate will include all property, including your mother's personal belongings. Ideally there should be some sort of inventory taken. Was there one? Have you, at least, some idea of what the items that went mainly to your sister were worth in cash terms?
As your mother died intestate, the rule of thumb will be that her estate, after expenses, will be divided equally between you two children.
But unless the personal belongings have really significant monetary value you'd do better to ignore them, you know. It'll save a lot of time and bad feeling. I hope it's not too late for that.