What are our options regarding self-entitled family members who have taken everything?
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What are our options regarding self-entitled family members who have taken everything?
My great grandmother just passed. My aunt convinced my then 101 year old great grandmother to sign over herhouse. Shortly after great grandmother was saying she wished she hadn’t done it. The aunt went to get power of attorney behind everyone’s back. Before getting the POA, my aunt was writing checks out of great grandma’s account without her knowledge and wasn’t on the account. Great-grandma then died and conveniently no Will can be found and a notebook outlying her wishes, including how to split up money, has gone missing. How do we find out if there was a Will and what can we do?
Asked on June 7, 2012 under Estate Planning, Missouri
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
The best way to tackle the problem that you are writing about is to consult with a Wills and trust attorney in the community where your great aunt resided. If a small community, you might be able to make calls to various attorneys who practice Wills and trusts to see if one of them actually drafted such a document for your relative.
Additionally, there might be some investigation for elder abuse in that some of the property transfers while she was alive may not have been allowable under the law. Look at the deed to the house that your aunt received. You can get a copy of it at your county's recirder's office. Possibly an attorney's name and address is listed on it for recording purposes. That would be the start to make inquiries as to what you have written about.
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