My mother passed away in June of last year, and my grandmother passed away in April of this year. Shortly after my mom's death, my grandmother was hospitalized where she remained until her death. My grandmother passed away without a will, however; there was a will written by my aunt and signed by her without any witness that the court rejected. It stated that everything was to be equally divided between my uncle and my dad. My uncle gained power of attorney over my grandmother, and changed the beneficiaries on her IRA ($80,000) from himself and my mom to himself and my dad a few weeks before her death. My dad is also the insurance agent who handles her account. There was also a bank account with $43,000 as well as a couple of life insurance policies that I am uncertain of the death benefits, but I would think that my mom would have been listed on them as a beneficiary as well.
This all came to light about a couple of months after my grandmother's death when I asked my dad about her estate. He informed me that everything had been left to him and my uncle, and that my sister and I would not be receiving anything from the estate. I asked if there was a will, and he mentioned the one that was signed by her, and that we should respect that even though it was not recognized by the state. I decided to go to the courthouse and see what could be done. It was during this visit that I found out that my uncle, who was also the excecutor of her estate stated that my mother had no surviving children on a form listing hiers to her estate. I did make an amendment to this form listing myself and my sister as heirs. Also, he stated that her estate was not worth more than $5000.00, therefore, there is no accounting required to be filed with the court. So they have no records of how this estate was distributed.
I have recently learned that he now has power of attorney over our step-grandfather who is mentally incapasitated. My uncle has had him change his will to include himself and my father as sole heirs to his estate. This was done last month, so there is no doubt that he was able to make such a decision. This will no doubt be challenged by his biological grandchildren.
My questions are first, do we have any recourse in this mater? I am sure can be proven that my grandmother was not of sound mind during the time that the beneficiaries were changed on her IRA. Also, is this more of a criminal matter? I would think that intentionally lying to the court to avoid listing heirs would be a crime. Also would it not be a conflict of intrest that my dad was the agent in charge of her IRA as well as life insurance policies? And now that they have become involved with changing our step-grandfather's will doesn't this make them look guilty of trying to take advantage of the elderly? Whether this is intentional on thier part or not, it sounds to me as if greed is affecting thier better judgement.
This all came to light about a couple of months after my grandmother's death when I asked my dad about her estate. He informed me that everything had been left to him and my uncle, and that my sister and I would not be receiving anything from the estate. I asked if there was a will, and he mentioned the one that was signed by her, and that we should respect that even though it was not recognized by the state. I decided to go to the courthouse and see what could be done. It was during this visit that I found out that my uncle, who was also the excecutor of her estate stated that my mother had no surviving children on a form listing hiers to her estate. I did make an amendment to this form listing myself and my sister as heirs. Also, he stated that her estate was not worth more than $5000.00, therefore, there is no accounting required to be filed with the court. So they have no records of how this estate was distributed.
I have recently learned that he now has power of attorney over our step-grandfather who is mentally incapasitated. My uncle has had him change his will to include himself and my father as sole heirs to his estate. This was done last month, so there is no doubt that he was able to make such a decision. This will no doubt be challenged by his biological grandchildren.
My questions are first, do we have any recourse in this mater? I am sure can be proven that my grandmother was not of sound mind during the time that the beneficiaries were changed on her IRA. Also, is this more of a criminal matter? I would think that intentionally lying to the court to avoid listing heirs would be a crime. Also would it not be a conflict of intrest that my dad was the agent in charge of her IRA as well as life insurance policies? And now that they have become involved with changing our step-grandfather's will doesn't this make them look guilty of trying to take advantage of the elderly? Whether this is intentional on thier part or not, it sounds to me as if greed is affecting thier better judgement.
