Depletion of assets

[johnsalter]

What is the name of your state? NY
My grandfather just died, after having been taken care of for years by my uncle, who has a drinking problem and terrorized my grandfather and kept everyone else in the family away. More importantly now, he spent or took most of my grandfather's assets, including money and stock, and either squirrelled it away or spent it on himself. Now I am named co-executor with my uncle. I cannot afford a lawyer to fight with my uncle, but can I legitimately ask the attorney handling the probate (hired by my uncle) to find out what happened to my grandfather's estate? If the money was squandered, is there any way to recover it, realistically? I mean, really, if the mone is gone, is it likely that suing my drunk uncle will ever recover anything? Would my best course of action be to let it go? Thanks, J Salter

 

[lwpat]

Realistically, if it is gone it is too late. You should have stepped in and done something sooner. Now it will probably cost you more in legal fees than you will ever be able to recover. Finding the records will be a nightmare.

 

[Dandy Don]

Talk to your own attorney to find out whether your state has laws on the books regarding abuse of power of attorney, and your attorney needs to find out if uncle had an official power of attorney document signed by your grandfather. If he did, then he is supposed to account for how he spent those monies and if he can't then it may be possible for you to recover.