wifes on her ma's house title and bank accounts BUT:

[wldblll]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona
MY wifes mom has no will, she says she talked to a lawyer when she put my wife and her other daughter on her house title(paid off) and multiple bank accounts. My mom-in-law thinks this is all she needs in order to secure that her wishes(not written, as far as I know) are carried out. Her hubby passed on (miss him, nice guy)many years ago. PROBLEM: His kids, that are still around ,have very little communication with my wifes mom...but i'm pretty sure that when the time comes they will be climbing out of the woodwork to get thier "slice of the pie". I don't care one way or the other....but it will cause a big problem for my wife( which in turn becomes my problem). What precautions can I suggest (as well as documentation to show) to my ma-in-law to convince her that she is not doing all she can to make sure her estate is taken care of in the future? What "attorney" suggests just adding names to accounts and titles to secure property and savings accounts? i'm not hoping that she "bites the big one" any time soon, but she is no spring chicken and her health is not getting any better either. Any help is appreciated. If you know of written documentation that helps me convince her...please forward it.

 

[anteater]

I don't know what you want written documentation of.

These are your MIL's stepchildren, right? MIL did not adopt them, right? Stepchildren do not have a right to inherit in Arizona.

As long as MIL has titled the house and accounts jointly with right of survivorship or added the daughters as named beneficiaries (AZ recognizes Beneficiary Deeds for real estate), then ownership passes to her daughters when she passes away. A will is a good idea in case something falls through the cracks. But if the two daughters are her only children, they would inherit everything under intestacy anyway.

Sorry, but there is no way to prevent his kids from "...climbing out of the woodwork" to attempt to claim a "slice of the pie." They won't get very far unless there are some very odd circumstances. But they have the right to be nuisances. And that is whether there is a will or not.

 

[FlyingRon]

Depending on how the "names added" are worded they may or may not have complete control of the assets on her death. Certainly this is NOT something she should be dodging. A estate/elder planning attorney would be well advised. Just adding names isn't going to do it. In addition, what she's already done can work against her.

Having narrowly escaped this issue with my mother-in-law, who didn't have much of an estate, getting the properties properly taken care of, wills, trusts if need be, powers of attorney, medical power of attorney, advance care directive, etc... while she is still doing well with her faculties makes things a lot better when she either goes into decline or passes away.

 

[Kiawah]

Use the health care angle, to get a complete set of estate planning documentation in place.

With the HIPPA laws, you'll have a hard time getting medical information and making medical decisions without the proper documents in place. Since she needs and should want to get these documents in place, complete the package with a will (and trust if needed).

Speaking from experience having just updated my mothers documents (who as of next week can't live by herself anymore), and for my MIL who we just arranged hospice care yesterday (in final days of her life).....these all are very important documents to get in place.