I am. And sometimes I feel like I'm the problem solver. Things that mom and dad just cannot cope with - get dumped on me. Things my siblings cannot or won't deal with - get dumped on me. Somebody screws up, I have to clean up the mess.

Today's problems - Looks like my sister's home will be foreclosed on unless she pays the back mortgage payments. Mom and dad can afford to pay the back mortgage payments, and will have to pay her mortgage until she can find a job and do it herself. She will eventually have to pay them back [[if she finds a job).

Does anyone here have any suggestions on how I go about seeing to it that us other siblings have some kind of protection when it comes to mom and dad's estate? They don't have much - just your typical hard-working father and stay-at-home mom background.

I guess what I'm looking for is for someone to tell me if we need an attorney to draw up papers stating that whatever money mom and dad have already given my sister would be deducted from the amount of her inheritance upon our parent's death. Now I would accept a verbal agreement from my sister, but our other sister I know she will not. My brother is overseas and out of the picture right now. This is up to me to do the right thing by all concerned.

Any advice?