I've been jumping around episodes on my set. Do they ever let you know how long Margaret was supposed to have been dead before Nell came to the house?

6 months i think

During a subsequent season (either the second or third, I'm not sure which one off the top of my head) they do a flashback episode where Margaret (played by Sharon Spellman, best known as Donna Pescow's snooty sister-in-law Joyce on "Angie") reveals to Nell that she is dying and asks her to stay and help raise the children after she dies. The girls are quite a bit younger in this flashback element, so the timing element may be a bit off (especially since Margaret apparently knew about Katie's IUD use before she passed away).

I've been jumping around episodes on my set. Do they ever let you know how long Margaret was supposed to have been dead before Nell came to the house?

From Season One, one could assume it was between 6-12 months, but later in an episode (I think Season Three) on how Nell met the Chief, I assumed that Katie was 7 or 8, Julie was 5 and Samantha about 3/4 years of age.

During a subsequent season (either the second or third, I'm not sure which one off the top of my head) they do a flashback episode where Margaret (played by Sharon Spellman, best known as Donna Pescow's snooty sister-in-law Joyce on "Angie") reveals to Nell that she is dying and asks her to stay and help raise the children after she dies. The girls are quite a bit younger in this flashback element, so the timing element may be a bit off (especially since Margaret apparently knew about Katie's IUD use before she passed away).



Yeah it's clear that her death was more recent during season one. During season three, in an episode (as previously mentioned) where she explains how she met the girls and the Chief, the girls are much younger. However, it's not clear just exactly what Margaret was dying from. Perhaps it took a couple (or more) years. Maybe Margaret lived a couple of more years before dying.