POA will change to benifit the POA

[lokinetworks]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? IL

When I lived in Illinois I took care of my grandmother.. I did all her shopping, house work and took her to Dr visits. One day she told me she was going to give my brother a POA and executor of her will. I didnt think much of this since I trusted my brother(Who is living in Texas) and I wasn't really taking care of her to stay in her will. In 2004 I moved to South Carolina to be closer to my son's cardiologist. My Mother was taking care of her when I moved. About a year later, my grandmother was put in a nursing home due to severe dementia from her unstable diabetes. After about two weeks in the nursing home my brother came up to Illinois and moved her down to Texas to live with him. Two weeks later she died from diabetic complications.
My brother transfered her remains back to Illinois where she was waked and buried. At the wake my brother started acting very strange. Dressing in $1000 pinstripe suites(He's an auto mechanic) and driving the most expensive car rental(He still lived in Texas). He told me he had to max out a discover card to pay for the transport, clothes, funeral etc. Which I knew was a lie.

Here is what I knew about my grandmothers finances.
She had around 20 $50,000 CD's
She owned a 300k home which she promised to me.
Unbenounced to me, two weeks before her death the will was changed.. Putting all assets in to my brothers name.

My question is, can the POA and executor of a living will change the will? Can the will be changed of a person who has severe dementia? The timeline of the last will change and her death leads me to believe that he has murdered my grandmother. I never contested the will because I trusted my brother.Now the trust is gone and am kicking myself for not standing up for my grandma. Is it too late to contest the will even though it is no longer in probate? Is it too late for a criminal investigation? Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[seniorjudge]

Your questions are moot since the time for contesting this will has long since come and gone.

You cannot sit on your rights.

 

[Dandy Don]

Were you notified when the will was being probated?

What year did she tell you about the will?

Do you know whether she had the assistance of an attorney to draft her will or did she do it herself?

What state was probate done in, if any probate was done?

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[Dandy Don]

There are some other avenues you can pursue that do NOT involve contesting the will.

 

[lokinetworks]

Were you notified when the will was being probated?

Yes, I was notified of the will being probated. At this point my brother told me that
our grandmother had told him to split the estate with me. He said he would do what she asked.

What year did she tell you about the will?

The last time she mentioned the will was around Jan 2005. She died in Aug 2005

Do you know whether she had the assistance of an attorney to draft her will or did she do it herself?

Yes, she had an attorney draft her will.

What state was probate done in, if any probate was done?

Illinois.


After the will was no longer in probate my brother changed his phone number and email address so I couldn't reach him. At this point I knew I was suckered.
I contacted the attorney for a copy of the will. They sent a document that had no mention of her assets..Just that she turned everything over to my brother about two weeks before she died.

Thanks Again for any help.

 

[Dandy Don]

Do you have any idea of whether he had gotten from her a signed power of attorney giving him authority to handle her finances?

 

[lokinetworks]

Do you have any idea of whether he had gotten from her a signed power of attorney giving him authority to handle her finances?

She gave him POA on everything while she was in the nursing home. This is
how he took her out of the home and moved her from Illinois to his house in Texas.
I'm sure the POA was his condition to take her out of the home and move her down there.
He never lifted a finger to help her until then.

 

[Dandy Don]

If you can get access to medical records or physician testimony that prove she was officially diagnosed with dementia before or during the same time she signed the will, it is possible that the will was illegal/invalid because a person with diminished mental capacity doesn't have the understanding to be able to enter into an agreement. Since Illinois has laws against abuse of POA, then it's possible he can be charged with either that or elderly financial abuse, and if convicted will have to make restitution. Contesting the will is not an option because it is too late for that.

Illinois has very strong laws regarding abuse of POA cases (and/or elderly financial abuse) that penalize the perpetrator by making them return the assets, so you need to be talking to a family law attorney (one who has experience with these types of cases) to find out if there is a STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS OR NOT on elderly financial abuse, abuse of POA, or fraud with a will. If you can't afford to consult with an attorney, there are experts at the National Center for Elder Abuse (visit their website, www.ncea.aoa.org) to find a local link in your city, county or state who could advise you.

If you have not already looked at the probate file, I strongly suggest that you do so, just to get a complete understanding of exactly what assets were in the estate and how they were handled. With there being so many CD's, I would want to find out if she had designated specific individual beneficiaries for any of them (and then perhaps brother used the POA to request the change to his name), or whether she had named no beneficiaries at all originally, so that they they would automatically go to the estate. If I were I you, I would apply to open up a new estate, receive letters testamentary from the court, which would then give you the authority to contact the bank that held the CD's to get information from them about how the beneficiary designations were handled and whether a POA was used to do it (bank will only release such information to the executor). Before following this suggestion, you must get your attorney's permission first to see if it is feasible or doable. Then terminate probate if no helpful information is found. But if it is found that he used POA to change the beneficiary designations, then this could be grounds for a civil lawsuit.

As of now you have no definitive proof legally that he caused or contributed to her death, although you certainly do have reason to be suspicious. I would order the death certificate to see what the cause of death is listed as. The expert on elder abuse OR your attorney can advise you on how to proceed with an investigation if you want to request an autopsy or exhumation--can you afford to pay the expense for this?

For your sake I hope there is no applicable statute of limitations and hopefully, the time has not run out yet. What a shame you were shafted so badly!!

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[lokinetworks]

Ok, this is a really late reply. Sorry for the delay..
I called the Probate Division of cook county and they gave me a case number to look up online. I found my grandmothers information however I have no idea which document to order that states how much the estate was worth. Available documents are the following.

PET. FOR PROBATE OF DECEDENT'S EST. - WILL, INDEP. ADMIN.
Court_Fee:
$ 25900 <-------Does this correlate to the net worth of the estate??


LETTERS OF OFFICE ISSUED

WILL ADMITTED TO PROBATE - ALLOWED

ORDER DECLARING HEIRSHIP - ALLOWED

ORDER CAUSE SET FOR HEARING (DATE & TIME) - ALLOWED

ORDER APPTG. INDEPENDENT EXECUTOR - LETTERS OF OFFICE TO ISSUE - ALLOWED

BOND OF REPRESENTATIVE APPROVED - NO SURETY - ALLOWED

ORDER ASSETS TO REMAIN IN STATE - ALLOWED -

ORDER DISCHARGING REPRESENTATIVE AND CLOSING EST., INDEP. ADMIN. - ALLOWED

STRIKE TRIAL DATE - ALLOWED

Thanks again for all your help

 

[lokinetworks]

I just ordered them all. I'll post what I find.

Thanks