BoomerSooner
New Member
My mother made an revocable trust and will in 2003, through an estate planner. My step father, her husband of 12 years, has also done the same with his matters. She died in 2005 and all of the estate matters were "handled" thru the estate planner, as per my step father, whom at that time I would have never imagined him to be dishonest. I had called the Surrogate's office in her county and asked about probate. They said none was needed because she had the trust, all of her property would go into the trust, per the will and there was no need for probate. Her home was for sale at the time of her death and sold about 5 months after she'd passed. As I was told by the estate planner, my step father and what I had gone over with my mother, previous to her death, the sum of the sale proceeds, less any expenses, were to "pour over" into the trust, then I as the administator of the trust, upon her death, I was to dispurse what was needed, and manage the money of the trust until the trust no longer had assets to disburse. Somehow, my step father was able to sell the house w/out our knowledge, take all of the money out of the trust and pay no tax, capital gains, nothing. The real estate agent who handled the sale said that he was my mother's spouse, when she died, he got her property, not the "trust". The will refers to the trust, the specifications of whom is included and excluded, and so on. The trust gives 1/5 to my step father and 2/5 each to my brother and myself. I was told by an attorney in NJ when this initially happened that yes, I could fight for the money but it would cost quite a bit and the intent in which my mother developed the trust could be questioned by my step father. The property that he sold was the home that my mother owned, free and clear when they married. Even if he was listed on the deed, as was the trust, he didn't have the authority to take the proceeds, correct? He was entitiled to 1/5th? Recently I was contacted by a step child of his from a previous marriage. I think he is a con man now. He lied on his marriage certificate to my mother, not once but 2 times. He has bragged about doing this to us and there are recordings of this. He has put money in many accounts to avoid taxes on the lump sum of $250,000 that he took. Doesn't my mother's will and the trust prevent him from doing what he has? I've taken this to prayer many times, the money is not the object here for me, it's the principal. My mother worked very hard, died very young to provide for her children and grandchildren after she was gone. He knew this. His son even called my mother's union pretending to be an attorney to gain info on life insurance. With this new information, it does seem right that I just look the other way, he could do this to someone else, and it defames what my mother's full intentions were. Any help would be so appreciated. thanks
