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Parent Will

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Rlfexec

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oklahoma
My Mother lives in Montana and is 90 years old. She has changed her will and I was told by her that her Attorney suggested the change. Additionally, I questioned the handling of My Mothers Financial investments by her Financial Advisor and he told my Mother that I was only interested in her money and that she should do nothing to help her family. I now understand that her attorney and financial advisor have (together) convinced her to put everything into a trust with the financial advisor in control of the trust and her attorney is now the administrator of her estate and in control of her assests should anything happen to her to include making any medical decisions for her. My Mother is fairly wealthy and I am concerned. My siblings and I would like to know that in the event of our Mother's Death is it possible to challenge the will and the trust due to wrongful influence. We do not want to challenge anything at the present time and cause problems with our parent. As a note, my Mother lives in a very small town (less than 6000).

Your advise and referral to an attorney in Montana would be greatly appreciated.
 


anteater

Senior Member
My siblings and I would like to know that in the event of our Mother's Death is it possible to challenge the will and the trust due to wrongful influence.
When you ask a "Is it possible?" type question, the answer is almost always, "Yes." Unless we're talking about violating the laws of physics.

But you will likely need more than what you have said here to succeed.

(It is usually referred to as "undue influence.")
 

curb1

Senior Member
Do any of your siblings have a close relationship with "mother"? Someone needs to have a good conversation with her to see if her intentions are accurately portrayed. If you wait until she passes her true intentions might never be known. At the very least you need to find out if she feels manipulated.
 

Kiawah

Senior Member
How do you know that you are even 'harmed', by her creation of trust.

If she is wealthy as indicated, she probably should have had a trust. It can speed up transfer after death. This may actually be a very good thing for you.
 

Rlfexec

Junior Member
Parent will

If any of us children question my Mother she immediately shuts off. She thinks her experts are giving her the best advise. I would not be concerned about the trust except that I know she has been convinced to give her money to a local fund instead of her family. The only way the children can monitor is by not challenging her decisions and those of her Attorney and Financial Advisor. I did, while in Montana, take a copy of her Investments to another Investment Advisor and was told that the money was not being invested to obtain maximum return. I did question the Financial Advisor once as to why there was no year to date (about 9 months worth) interest income and within a week $35,000.00 showed up on the account. When I mentioned this to my Mother she got angry and told me That the Advisor told her I was "Only interested in her money". Another note, I was the Power of Attorney for my Mother in case of Illness and her Attorney had her change that to appoint him.

So maybe my question should be: what do we children have to do to challenge the Trust and Will upon our Mother's Death.
 

curb1

Senior Member
Challenging the trust "upon our Mother's Death" will be difficult. Your only hope in this is proving that she is/was manipulated by the attorney and financial advisor. It sounds as though she is doing this voluntarily. It is ultimately her choice (unless she is mentally incapacitated) whether, or not, to follow this advice. People follow bad advice constantly. She has the choice to do whatever she likes with her assets. It is too bad that communication between mother and your siblings is not as good as between mother and attorney/advisor.
 

anteater

Senior Member
So maybe my question should be: what do we children have to do to challenge the Trust and Will upon our Mother's Death.
You retain a Montana attorney and come up with a retainer of probably $10,000.

In fact, you might consider coming up with some scratch right now and ask a Montana attorney to discuss Montana case law regarding undue influence and what evidence you are likely to need.

(What is a "local fund?")
 

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