L
lpgagolf
Guest
I am from Alabama, and a year and a half ago my Dad wanted my twin sister and I to be put on his personal checking account (separate from my step-mother's). My sister went one day and he added her, but I never could get away from work to get it done. To make a long story short, here are the details:
My dad found out last May that he had Cancer. We talked at length about what he wanted done with his checking account, i.e. if he ended up in a Nursing Home, he didn't want Medicare to take everything he had (this had happened to his mother), he specifically stated that he did not want his wife to get her hands on his money. This was money that he had inherited from the sale of the family farm, and also from a settlement over his hearing loss from his employer. The way my sister was listed on his account was either my dad or my sister could write checks. When he started going through Chemotherapy they put him in short term rehab at the nursing home, and he was scared that medicare was going to get everything, so he told my sister to write herself and me a $10,000 check apiece, since he trusted us to have the money for him if he needed it. He also stated that if anything should happen to him that he wanted us to keep the gift, and split the remaining 47,000 between us and our other sister, leaving our brother out of it all, since he had spent a large amount of money on him, helping him recover from drug addiction. We had every intention of splitting it 4 ways after his death though. My dad did not want our siblings to know that he had given us the $10,000 apiece.
My dad had his bank statement mailed to his sister's house because he was adament about not wanting my step-mother to know about the account. Somehow, I think from going through his wallet and finding a deposit slip, my step-mother found out about the account. We had no idea that she even knew about it. My sister and I went with her to pre-arrange my Dad's funeral, and even helped her arrange her funeral. She made a comment that she had closed their joint account because my dad had threatned to draw out all of his money. The more we thought about it that afternoon, the more we decided that we should check on his account. We went to the Credit Union and my sister told them that she wanted to check on her balance (since her name was listed on the account) and the teller told her, "I am sorry but this account has been closed". We told her that there was no way that our dad could have closed it, because he was lying dying in the hospital. Another teller, who my sister reconized as the teller who assisted my dad in adding her onto his account, spoke up and said, "Yes maam, if a Power of Attorney had been obtained, it could be closed'>
I thought on it for a few days, then confronted my step-mother, and she got very defensive. I asked her why she couldn't have told my sister she was doing it since her name was listed with my Dad's name. She said that it wasn't any of our business, and that the money was as much her's as it was my dad's, because she helped him fill out the paperwork for the hearing loss class action lawsuit. I told her even so, a big part of the money was from our family farm.
We got a copy of the Power of Attorney, and it looks like my Dad's signature, but he discussed everything with my twin and I, and never said anything about signing a Power of Attorney. He did say that he signed a living will, and I am pretty sure they were signed on the same day. So, I don't think that he realized he was signing the Power of Attorney. The notary that signed the power of attorney is a good friend of my step-mother's, so is there a conflict of interest here? We kept quiet about everything when my dad died, because she threatned to have him buried somewhere besides where he requested.
She bought him a cheap tombstone to put on his grave, and last week the bronze footplate came in from the V.A., and she told my brother that she could not afford to have it put down, so we are taking care of it. Before my dad died, she used her power of attorney and put everything in my dad's name into her own (the big stuff) , but since his death has not had his estate probated. I am just wondering what and if any recourse we have as his children, because we recieved nothing from his estate. We are not money hungry, but we are upset because our dad's last wishes have not been fulfilled. He should have had a will, I know, but he thought everything was taken care of. He asked me if things were taken care of as he lay dying in the hospital, just before he lost conscienceness, and died 2 days later. I had to lie to my dad and tell him everything was OK.
I have found out that my step-mother has given all of my dad's lawn equipment, including a full sized tractor, and 7 thousand dollar riding lawn mower, to my step sisters and their husbands. Who knows what has happened to the rest of the stuff.
My dad was unhappy with his marriage and was talking divorce until his cancer struck, and he felt like he was stuck. I guess I just really need some answers, to know whether I need to hire a lawyer and petition for the probate myself, because I think my dad would want me to fight for the rights he lost. What is the statue of limitations to probate an estate in Alabama? I would appreciate any help or advice given.
My dad found out last May that he had Cancer. We talked at length about what he wanted done with his checking account, i.e. if he ended up in a Nursing Home, he didn't want Medicare to take everything he had (this had happened to his mother), he specifically stated that he did not want his wife to get her hands on his money. This was money that he had inherited from the sale of the family farm, and also from a settlement over his hearing loss from his employer. The way my sister was listed on his account was either my dad or my sister could write checks. When he started going through Chemotherapy they put him in short term rehab at the nursing home, and he was scared that medicare was going to get everything, so he told my sister to write herself and me a $10,000 check apiece, since he trusted us to have the money for him if he needed it. He also stated that if anything should happen to him that he wanted us to keep the gift, and split the remaining 47,000 between us and our other sister, leaving our brother out of it all, since he had spent a large amount of money on him, helping him recover from drug addiction. We had every intention of splitting it 4 ways after his death though. My dad did not want our siblings to know that he had given us the $10,000 apiece.
My dad had his bank statement mailed to his sister's house because he was adament about not wanting my step-mother to know about the account. Somehow, I think from going through his wallet and finding a deposit slip, my step-mother found out about the account. We had no idea that she even knew about it. My sister and I went with her to pre-arrange my Dad's funeral, and even helped her arrange her funeral. She made a comment that she had closed their joint account because my dad had threatned to draw out all of his money. The more we thought about it that afternoon, the more we decided that we should check on his account. We went to the Credit Union and my sister told them that she wanted to check on her balance (since her name was listed on the account) and the teller told her, "I am sorry but this account has been closed". We told her that there was no way that our dad could have closed it, because he was lying dying in the hospital. Another teller, who my sister reconized as the teller who assisted my dad in adding her onto his account, spoke up and said, "Yes maam, if a Power of Attorney had been obtained, it could be closed'>
I thought on it for a few days, then confronted my step-mother, and she got very defensive. I asked her why she couldn't have told my sister she was doing it since her name was listed with my Dad's name. She said that it wasn't any of our business, and that the money was as much her's as it was my dad's, because she helped him fill out the paperwork for the hearing loss class action lawsuit. I told her even so, a big part of the money was from our family farm.
We got a copy of the Power of Attorney, and it looks like my Dad's signature, but he discussed everything with my twin and I, and never said anything about signing a Power of Attorney. He did say that he signed a living will, and I am pretty sure they were signed on the same day. So, I don't think that he realized he was signing the Power of Attorney. The notary that signed the power of attorney is a good friend of my step-mother's, so is there a conflict of interest here? We kept quiet about everything when my dad died, because she threatned to have him buried somewhere besides where he requested.
She bought him a cheap tombstone to put on his grave, and last week the bronze footplate came in from the V.A., and she told my brother that she could not afford to have it put down, so we are taking care of it. Before my dad died, she used her power of attorney and put everything in my dad's name into her own (the big stuff) , but since his death has not had his estate probated. I am just wondering what and if any recourse we have as his children, because we recieved nothing from his estate. We are not money hungry, but we are upset because our dad's last wishes have not been fulfilled. He should have had a will, I know, but he thought everything was taken care of. He asked me if things were taken care of as he lay dying in the hospital, just before he lost conscienceness, and died 2 days later. I had to lie to my dad and tell him everything was OK.
I have found out that my step-mother has given all of my dad's lawn equipment, including a full sized tractor, and 7 thousand dollar riding lawn mower, to my step sisters and their husbands. Who knows what has happened to the rest of the stuff.
My dad was unhappy with his marriage and was talking divorce until his cancer struck, and he felt like he was stuck. I guess I just really need some answers, to know whether I need to hire a lawyer and petition for the probate myself, because I think my dad would want me to fight for the rights he lost. What is the statue of limitations to probate an estate in Alabama? I would appreciate any help or advice given.