Death in family brother altering titles to house and car

[cowgirl312000]

undefinedWhat is the name of your state?Utah

My mother in law passed away a week ago and my husband has/had durable power of attorney. Before she passed away she signed over the house and she car to him and we paid her for them. She had all the titles and bills of sales in a folder. My brother in law wanted copies of these documents and not thinking we allowed him to take them. He refuses to give them back and we have been told that he has since taken my husbands name off of the titles and put his name on them. We have ppl that have seen these documents and will go to court if need be. Is this a criminal offence or what? I am lost in what to do about all of this. Someone please help us find out what we can do.

Thank you

 

[HomeGuru]

undefinedWhat is the name of your state?Utah

My mother in law passed away a week ago and my husband has/had durable power of attorney. Before she passed away she signed over the house and she car to him and we paid her for them. She had all the titles and bills of sales in a folder. My brother in law wanted copies of these documents and not thinking we allowed him to take them. He refuses to give them back and we have been told that he has since taken my husbands name off of the titles and put his name on them. We have ppl that have seen these documents and will go to court if need be. Is this a criminal offence or what? I am lost in what to do about all of this. Someone please help us find out what we can do.

Thank you

**A: yes it could be both so hire an attorney and at least file a civil complaint.

 

[Dandy Don]

Did your mother in law leave a will?

Is brother-in-law executor of her will? Did the changes brother-in-law made occur before her death or after the death?

You may want to consult a probate attorney to decide whether you or your attorney should be filing in probate court to administer her estate if there was no will.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[cowgirl312000]

My mother in law did leave a will.. It was hand written and it was made out on the first of September. My husband was told that he was the executor of her will and estate. He(brother in law) made the changes after her death. He was mad cuz his girlfriends name was in there to get nothing and another person was to get nothing. and I wasnt named at all in there. She had also put 13,000 in a friends bank account to take care of all of the taxes on the house, car and service arrangements, Each child was to get $200.00 a piece. We ended up giving them $2,500 just to get them to shut up.and that didnt work. My brother in law has all the paper work and told an officer that it was at his attorneys office. But I know different. I dont know an attorney in the city where all this took place. I am looking for one though. Can you think of anything else we(I) can do?

 

[Dandy Don]

Use the FIND A LAWYER link on this home page or visit www.martindale.com to find a lawyer.

 

[BelizeBreeze]

My mother in law did leave a will.. It was hand written and it was made out on the first of September. My husband was told that he was the executor of her will and estate. He(brother in law) made the changes after her death. He was mad cuz his girlfriends name was in there to get nothing and another person was to get nothing. and I wasnt named at all in there. She had also put 13,000 in a friends bank account to take care of all of the taxes on the house, car and service arrangements, Each child was to get $200.00 a piece. We ended up giving them $2,500 just to get them to shut up.and that didnt work. My brother in law has all the paper work and told an officer that it was at his attorneys office. But I know different. I dont know an attorney in the city where all this took place. I am looking for one though. Can you think of anything else we(I) can do?

Until you get the will adjudicated and validated (is it a legal will for your state) then nothing else can be settled. Even without a will, the money in the friends bank account depends on the type of account it is. It could very easily NOT be part of her estate.

In Utah, the relevant statutes are:

75-2-501. Who may make will. An individual 18 or more years of age who is of sound mind may make a will.
75-2-502. Execution -- Witnessed wills -- Holographic wills.
(1) Except as provided in Subsection (2) and in Sections 75-2-503, 75-2-506, and 75-2-513, a will shall be:
in writing;
signed by the testator or in the testator's name by some other individual in the testator's conscious presence and by the testator's direction; and
signed by at least two individuals, each of whom signed within a reasonable time after he witnessed either the signing of the will as described in Subsection (1)(b) or the testator's acknowledgment of that signature or acknowledgment of the will.
(2) A will that does not comply with Subsection (1) is valid as a holographic will, whether or not witnessed, if the signature and material portions of the document are in the testator's handwriting.
(3) Intent that the document constitutes the testator's will can be established by extrinsic evidence, including, for holographic wills, portions of the document that are not in the testator's handwriting.
75-2-503. Writings intended as wills. Although a document or writing added upon a document was not executed in compliance with Section 75-2-502, the document or writing is treated as if it had been executed in compliance with that section if the proponent of the document or writing establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the decedent intended the document or writing to constitute:
the decedent's will;
a partial or complete revocation of the will;
an addition to or an alteration of the will; or
a partial or complete revival of his formerly revoked will or of a formerly revoked portion of the will.