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Power of Attorney Abused…. Civil Lawsuit?

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brentmaher

Guest
What is the name of your state? Wisconsin

After my wife’s grandfather passed away, my mother-in-law “Sue” (an only child), took over power of attorney for grandma. Grandma passed away a short 3 months later.

In those short 3 months, Sue saw a lawyer that prompted the power of attorney process. Her lawyer also prompted her to change all of grandma’s accounts to P.O.D. to Sue. This includes a $100,000 mutual fund that was already had P.O.D. beneficiaries as Sue and all 4 grand children. Also included was a $90,000 Savings account and $35,000 Checking account….. All changed to P.O.D. to Sue when Grandma passed away.

The issue is that after Grandpa died we made a copy of the will which clearly listed it as:
Sue’s responsibility to distribute all Tangible assets. Most importantly it lists Sue, and all 4 grandchildren as equal beneficiaries of all residue.

Since everything was converted to P.O.D., when grandma passed away, everything was automatically passed to Sue essentially bypassing the probate process.

She has since made it clear that she has no intentions of distributing the residue as the will states. She keeps indicating that “it’s all mine, I could just not give you anything”. The grandparents intensions were clearly spelled out in the will and it’s unbelievable that in 3 months their lifetime of planning and savings their final whishes could so easily be derailed.

Do we have a case against Sue for improper use of power of attorney?

Any idea how much this could cost in litigation fees?
 


I AM ALWAYS LIABLE

Senior Member
My response:

Read the following site, carefully, and completely. Then, go see an attorney and go after "Sue" with a vengeance.

Copy and paste this link into your browser without the on each side: [url]http://www.dhfs.state.wi.us/aging/elderabuse/


The laws are there for you, and to use against scumbags like "Sue". She's going to "rue the day" she ever changed the accounts to POD.

IAAL
 
O

oberauerdorf

Guest
The laws are there for you, and to use against scumbags like "Sue". She's going to "rue the day" she ever changed the accounts to POD.
And the attorney isn't going to be singing in the rain either....more like in front of an ethics committee.
 
B

brentmaher

Guest
IAAL & oberauerdorf,
Thank you for your responses... My wife has made an appointment with a Elder Law lawyer for this afternoon. I do have a few other questions however...

I have read the we page http://www.dhfs.state.wi.us/aging/elderabuse/ and it looks as if my mother-in-law is guilty of "Material Abuse" or "Financial Exploitation". I am assuming that it's too late to actually file a complaint with the state since Grandma has already passed away. Is this correct?

Grandma was EXTREEMLY impressionable and very unknowledgeable about anything regarding finances. She has even had bouts with dimentia however she was never clinically diagnosed. My concern is that all of "Sue's" activities of POD changes probably were signed off by grandma's own hand however she had no idea what she was signing. Does this impact the strength of the case?

Also, do any lawyers do this type of litigation for a % of the suit's earnings (For example, X% of whatever is won back for the family, other family members will have a very difficult fronting any $ to endure such a process if not)?

Also, there are 4 Grandchildren that are essentially getting "robbed" of their inheritance, so, do we collectively file a lawsuit?

Ultimately, the best possible senario is to threaten a lawsuit and have her settle out of court, is this something negotiated by the lawyer?

Can we sue "Sue" for legal fee's incurred as well?
If we do sue her, are civil cases simply a judge and 2 lawyers or is there a Jury (please hold off the laughter, I'm obviously clueless).

Thanks!
 
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oberauerdorf

Guest
I have read the we page http://www.dhfs.state.wi.us/aging/elderabuse/ and it looks as if my mother-in-law is guilty of "Material Abuse" or "Financial Exploitation". I am assuming that it's too late to actually file a complaint with the state since Grandma has already passed away. Is this correct?
Normally yes, but when you visit the attorney ask about a suit against the estate.

Grandma was EXTREEMLY impressionable and very unknowledgeable about anything regarding finances. She has even had bouts with dimentia however she was never clinically diagnosed. My concern is that all of "Sue's" activities of POD changes probably were signed off by grandma's own hand however she had no idea what she was signing. Does this impact the strength of the case?
If you can prove from the medical evidence that she was incapcitated yes. If not, then no.

Also, do any lawyers do this type of litigation for a % of the suit's earnings (For example, X% of whatever is won back for the family, other family members will have a very difficult fronting any $ to endure such a process if not)?
We can't answer for others. You'll have to direct that question to the attorney you interview.

Ultimately, the best possible senario is to threaten a lawsuit and have her settle out of court, is this something negotiated by the lawyer?
If you're smart it is.

Can we sue "Sue" for legal fee's incurred as well?
You can add legal costs to your suit. Whether or not you are granted them IF you win, is up to the judge.

If we do sue her, are civil cases simply a judge and 2 lawyers or is there a Jury (please hold off the laughter, I'm obviously clueless).
That's up to your attorney to petition the court. He/she can ask for summary judgement (by the judge) or a trial by jury.
 
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brentmaher

Guest
Follow Up!

Hi,
Just wanted to update the people that were kind enough to read and respond to my original post.

It turns out that “Sue” my mother-in-law was getting bad advice from her lawyer! The lawyer read the will one time and basically told her that everything was Sues. In reality all tangible items were Sue’s but residue (non physical items, bank accounts, stocks, money markets ect) were to be divided by her and the 5 children.

Sue’s lawyer missed this 3 times! 1 during the initial consultation and then Sue called her two times after the fact because her children were being so animate about her lawyer being wrong.

Finally one of us called the lawyer directly and flat out asked her where in the will it stated this. At that time, the lawyer FINALLY realized that she had made the mistake and poorly advised her client! Even worse, the tangible and residue clauses were on the SAME PAGE! My sister-in-law was able to understand the will with a high-school education and a internet connection, how could this $233/hr professional screw up so royally!

They are now going to divide the money equally to all parties as the will states.

I was just curious if there was a way to file a complaint with some entity that oversees lawyers in our state. I personally think that at a very minimum she should work the rest of this mess out free of charge but she hasn’t apologized to anyone for the royal screw up or anything! This lawyer created a lot of heated arguments and damaged a lot of Mother-Child relationships in an indirect fashion.

I will anxiously await your responses!
 

Dandy Don

Senior Member
Look in the phone book to find your state or county bar association where you could file a complaint (any lawyer should be able to help you find it or do a search engine search to find it) and you should be able to at least get a partial refund.
 
K

krispenstpeter

Guest
That's both great and sad news brent.

Do consider filing a complaint against the Attorney however. She sounds like she needs to do a little remedial education at the very least.
 

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