What canI do if a POA might be self-dealing?
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What canI do if a POA might be self-dealing?
My uncle currently has POA and is the executor of my grandmother’s estate and is a lawyer. She is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s syndrome. My grandmother had a pickup and my uncle has been storing it at his house. We have witnessed him driving it and my grandmother has not driven the vehicle in over 5 years. There are questions arising as to why insurance would be paid on the vehicle and how he would be able to insure it if it was in her name. My grandmother had a deposit of $43,000 into an account at a bank that she has no affiliation with. When questions have been posed as to where the money is going, my uncle has told people to mind their own business. Is there anything we can do?
Asked on November 29, 2011 under Estate Planning, Washington
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
If your uncle is an attorney and has a power of attorney with respect to your grandmother and is designated as the executor of her Will when she passes, he owes all beneficiaries a fiduciary duty of utmost care and trust with respect to the presumed Will.
If your uncle will not answer questions that you and other family members have asked be answered, you have the following options:
1. retain an attorney to represent you and other family members to get answers from your attorney uncle that have not been answered.
2. contact you state's bar association and look into filing a complaint against your attorney uncle as to what you have written about. The state bar may make an inquiry for you and the other family members.
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
If your uncle is an attorney and has a power of attorney with respect to your grandmother and is designated as the executor of her Will when she passes, he owes all beneficiaries a fiduciary duty of utmost care and trust with respect to the presumed Will.
If your uncle will not answer questions that you and other family members have asked be answered, you have the following options:
1. retain an attorney to represent you and other family members to get answers from your attorney uncle that have not been answered.
2. contact you state's bar association and look into filing a complaint against your attorney uncle as to what you have written about. The state bar may make an inquiry for you and the other family members.
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