Two siblings are suing a third sibling in a legal squabble over the estate of their deceased mother.
Sheila Skeel and John Dilday filed a lawsuit on Aug. 8 in St. Clair County Circuit Court against Cathy Dilday.
According to the complaint, on March 12, Guida Dilday, 94, died with no surviving spouse and three children, the two plaintiffs and the one defendant.
The suit says the defendant lived for the past two decades with Guida Dilday, but Guida Dilday stipulated equal shares of her estate in her will to be divided among all three children.
However, the plaintiffs claim that during the last three years of their mother's life, the defendant allegedly "took control of and dominated all aspects of Guida Dilday's life, including directing her investment accounts, savings accounts and checking accounts and managing her affairs."
In 1997, the lawsuit says, the estate was worth more than $900,000, but the defendant now alleges the estate is worth only $13,949.89.
The plaintiffs allege Cathy Dilday "used her position to change and re-title assets to divert them and defeat plaintiffs' expected inheritance."
Skeel and John Dilday seek damages of more than $100,000, plus costs. They are are represented by attorneys Paul J. Evans and Benedict Y. Song of Evans Law Firm in O'Fallon.
St. Clair County Circuit Court case number 15-L-437.