Will changed a month before terminally ill mom died

[schoolcounselor]

The trust was made in Kansas and my mother lived in KS. My mother died of breast cancer on April 7th. The cancer affected her brain and my sister, whom had power of attorney, had her placed on the psych floor of the hospital for 2 weeks in November until some psych medications were stabilized. My mother had a will made in Sept. or Oct, shorly after she found out that she was terminal, and it stated everything would be split amongst all 6 children equally. In March, my sister Becky had my mom change the will and have everything go into a trust for her. My question is, could the court consider this reason enough to change things back to the will which divided things equally amongst all 6 children? Also, Becky was paying herself $8,000.00 a month to take care of my mother. Is this legal. How is the amount decided? Becky has no degree and works at a $10.00 an hour job. It doesn't seem right. Can her spending be audited on mother's accounts? Is this automatically done?

 

[anteater]

You are unclear. You mention both a trust and a will. Those are two different documents. A trust controls assets that are titled to the trust. A will controls assets that are subject to probate. Although a will can have provisions to create a trust, what is called a testamentary trust.

My question is, could the court consider this reason enough to change things back to the will which divided things equally amongst all 6 children?

"Reason enough?" I would say no. If the will is contested, the challenger(s) would still have to raise some doubts regarding your mother's testamentary capacity and/or that the revised will was created without undue influence (that is, your mother made the changes of her own free will). However, the timing of the revision, the revised will's provisions, and the existence of a prior will certainly will be a factor in any will contest. I would put it this way: the circumstances by themselves definitely place a dark cloud over the revised will, but they probably would not be definitive in a successful challenge.

Also, Becky was paying herself $8,000.00 a month to take care of my mother. Is this legal.

That is pretty outrageous, particularly if she was working a full time job.

Can her spending be audited on mother's accounts? Is this automatically done?

Yes, she can be required to produce an accounting for her actions as your mother's agent under a power of attorney. But, unless Kansas is very different from other states, it is not automatic. The person appointed by the court to administer the estate would have the proper authority to require an accounting.

You and your other siblings really need to find an attorney with experience in will contests and litigation concerning an agent's abuse of fiduciary duty under a power of attorney. Preferably an attorney that begins foaming at the mouth during the initial consultations.

 

[Willapa]

This happened to my mom years ago. Her brother changed my grandfathers will with the help of a lawyer. My grandfather was senile and didn't have a clue to what he was signing. My moms lawyer wrote one letter to her brothers lawyer. The brothers lawyer had no clue that the old man was confused and dropped the new will immediately. You see my Uncle tried to pull a fast one on my mom and his lawyer.
backfired big time!

 

[anteater]

I don't think that the OP will be returning, but I wanted to make a comment.

Her brother changed my grandfathers will with the help of a lawyer.... The brothers lawyer had no clue that the old man was confused and dropped the new will immediately.

If you mean that brother's attorney refused to have anything to do with the writing and/or execution of the revised will once informed of grandfather's condition, I understand. And good for that attorney for doing so.

But I just want to point out that once an attorney writes a will, an attorney does not necessarily have any further involvement with that will, not even an obligation to see that it is properly executed - signed by the testator, witnessed, etc.