Signed away rights to contest ??

[dragonrider99]

What is the name of your state? Massachusetts

Greetings all. I am writing on behalf of my Mother In-law (MIL). She is a named beneficiary in the estate of a cousin that passed away approximately 7 months ago. Two months after receiving notice of her status in the estate, she received a letter from the Attorneys handling the estate stating that a number of Bank Books had been found in the house, and her name was on one of them. Not all of the beneficiaries had books in their names, and those that did were notified in writing by the Attorney. She received her notice of a book in her name at this time. A month later, she received another letter stating that before the books could be released to each beneficiary that had one, a release must be signed stating that she would not contest the release. Each named beneficiary was required to sign the release, whether they had a bank book or not. The purpose being that if anyone contested it, all of the monies in the books would revert back to the estate and would be divided pro rata among ALL beneficiaries commensurate with the existing divisions of the estate. Nobody objected, and a letter stating that was received a short time later. This past weekend, my MIL recieved yet another letter from the attorney stataing that "... Inadvertently overlooked that she did not have a bank book...". My MIL is devestated by this news and extremely upset. She is over 80 and and legally blind and was expecting that money to provide some aid to allow her to be able to read with the help of some expensive electronic hardware. In addition to all this, each beneficiary was also asked to approve a $30,000 "gift" to the deceased's caretaker. Each persons contribution calculated based on the amount they were receiving from the estate.

My MIL is extremely upset by all this. She feels that she signed away her rights to contest anything and made decisions based on false information. She is also extremely confused as to how, over the course of several months and three letters, she was named as a person who would receive a bank book, and now is told no... she would not.

Is there anything that she can/should do? Should she just let it all go? She was told that she is indeed a beneficiary still. How could they have possibly made such a monumental mistake?? Please advise as what options, if any, that she has. Thanks very much.

I apologize for the length of this ...

 

[BelizeBreeze]

What is the name of your state? Massachusetts

Greetings all. I am writing on behalf of my Mother In-law (MIL). She is a named beneficiary in the estate of a cousin that passed away approximately 7 months ago. Two months after receiving notice of her status in the estate, she received a letter from the Attorneys handling the estate stating that a number of Bank Books had been found in the house, and her name was on one of them. Not all of the beneficiaries had books in their names, and those that did were notified in writing by the Attorney. She received her notice of a book in her name at this time. A month later, she received another letter stating that before the books could be released to each beneficiary that had one, a release must be signed stating that she would not contest the release. Each named beneficiary was required to sign the release, whether they had a bank book or not. The purpose being that if anyone contested it, all of the monies in the books would revert back to the estate and would be divided pro rata among ALL beneficiaries commensurate with the existing divisions of the estate. Nobody objected, and a letter stating that was received a short time later. This past weekend, my MIL recieved yet another letter from the attorney stataing that "... Inadvertently overlooked that she did not have a bank book...". My MIL is devestated by this news and extremely upset. She is over 80 and and legally blind and was expecting that money to provide some aid to allow her to be able to read with the help of some expensive electronic hardware. In addition to all this, each beneficiary was also asked to approve a $30,000 "gift" to the deceased's caretaker. Each persons contribution calculated based on the amount they were receiving from the estate.

My MIL is extremely upset by all this. She feels that she signed away her rights to contest anything and made decisions based on false information. She is also extremely confused as to how, over the course of several months and three letters, she was named as a person who would receive a bank book, and now is told no... she would not.

Is there anything that she can/should do? Should she just let it all go? She was told that she is indeed a beneficiary still. How could they have possibly made such a monumental mistake?? Please advise as what options, if any, that she has. Thanks very much.

I apologize for the length of this ...

There are two problems here.

1. Is the agreement she signed under false impressions still valid, and;
2. If it is still valid, was there fraud in the inducement?

And the only way to know that is to have both letters viewed by an attorney who can also read through the probate file.

To me, from only the facts presented, there seems to be a problem with the administrator's ability to handle the estate.

 

[moburkes]

I'm curious. Does your mother "know" that the bank books had a lot of money? Could the one she expected to get only have a few dollars in it?

 

[BlondiePB]

I'm curious to know: 1) who's idea was it to give a $30,000.00 gift to the caretaker, 2) didn't the caretaker get paid wages; 3) is the caretaker related to the deceased?

 

[dragonrider99]

Supposedly, according to the letters received from the Attorney, there was a total of approximately $200,000 in the bank books. No detail was given as to the amount contained in each. On average, if divided equally, there would be roughly $10k apiece. The "gift" to the caretaker was described by the deceased's son. Yes, she was paid... not sure if it was at an hourly rate or weekly. She is also a foreigner who's immigration status is unknown. My MIL has not stated that she would have refused to sign the documents, but is extremely upset that she signed them without knowing all the facts beforehand. At the very least, she signed them based on incorrect information. I can't believe that the attorney could have made such a mistake... over the course of several months time... up to and including her getting a letter stating that the books would be mailed shortly. Indeed, when this last letter arrived, she assumed it was her book.

Any info or advice as to how she could/should proceed would be very welcome.

Thanks again.

 

[Dandy Don]

Break out a bottle of champagne to share with your mother-in-law--things are not as bad as she thinks.

First thing she should do is visit the courthouse to get a copy of the will to see if she is named to receive a specific amount as beneficiary or will she be splitting it evenly with the other beneficiaries.

Then she needs to consult with a probate attorney to send this executor notice that she is officially revoking whatever document she signed. Her attorney can perhaps visit one or more of the probate court hearings to find out what is going on with this estate and/or bring this executor's and the attorney's unethical conduct to the judge's attention--the judge will be most interested in the improper gift and the letter that proves the existence of the bank book--I'd like to be there to see the looks on their faces as they try to explain things away. Your attorney will also eventually need to look at how the bank book accounts were handled--they may have named specific beneficiaries and if that happened the money may pass outside of the estate. Maybe executor and attorney will straighten up their act when they find out they have been discovered and they aren't going to get away with stealing from the estate.

Hopefully there are other assets in the estate besides the monies. Believe me, this will turn out good for your MIL.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])