Concerned family money was illegally taken

[lbb87]

What is the name of your state? Virginia

I'm asking this for my disabled father as he doesn't know how to use a computer.

He has reason to believe that his sister somehow stole their parents' money before they died. At one point we know they had a will, but at the time of their death, they did not. My father hired a lawyer who could not find a will. My father believes that his parents intended to leave a nice inheritance to all their children and grandchildren. He believes there should've been approximately $250,000, but I don't know where he got that figure. I estimate that if divided evenly, everyone would've gotten $10,000 or so.

My father wants to take his sister to court to compel her to tell him what happened to the money. He has been asking everyone in the family and either no one knows or is lying. The sister was living with and taking care of their parents for the last 10-15 years of their life. I know that her name was on their checking account.

It's possible the money was spent in some capacity by their parents. It's possible the sister slowly took money out of their parents' checking account. It's possible that the money was given to my grandfather's disabled sister so she will be taken care of. It's possible, I suppose, that any left over money will come from her will.

My father's sister ended up taking out a protective order against my father. He is obsessed with finding out what happened to the money - because it was supposed to go to everyone. He's more interested in me having that money than him having it.

He wants to take his sister to court to compel her to tell what happened to the money. Is this possible? Does he have any legal recourse? His parents died 8+ years ago.

For what it's worth, his mental health disability is what's causing this obsession with the money. I believe this is more a medical issue at this point, but his doctor's have been unable to help. I do not care about the money and no one else seems to either.

 

[Zigner]

1: It is likely too long after their deaths to have any sort of legal recourse.
2: If your aunt's name was on their account, then any money in the account almost certainly became hers upon their deaths, meaning that there was no money to distribute.

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state? Virginia

I'm asking this for my disabled father as he doesn't know how to use a computer.

He has reason to believe that his sister somehow stole their parents' money before they died. At one point we know they had a will, but at the time of their death, they did not. My father hired a lawyer who could not find a will. My father believes that his parents intended to leave a nice inheritance to all their children and grandchildren. He believes there should've been approximately $250,000, but I don't know where he got that figure. I estimate that if divided evenly, everyone would've gotten $10,000 or so.

My father wants to take his sister to court to compel her to tell him what happened to the money. He has been asking everyone in the family and either no one knows or is lying. The sister was living with and taking care of their parents for the last 10-15 years of their life. I know that her name was on their checking account.

It's possible the money was spent in some capacity by their parents. It's possible the sister slowly took money out of their parents' checking account. It's possible that the money was given to my grandfather's disabled sister so she will be taken care of. It's possible, I suppose, that any left over money will come from her will.

My father's sister ended up taking out a protective order against my father. He is obsessed with finding out what happened to the money - because it was supposed to go to everyone. He's more interested in me having that money than him having it.

He wants to take his sister to court to compel her to tell what happened to the money. Is this possible? Does he have any legal recourse? His parents died 8+ years ago.

For what it's worth, his mental health disability is what's causing this obsession with the money. I believe this is more a medical issue at this point, but his doctor's have been unable to help. I do not care about the money and no one else seems to either.

If her name was on their checking account, then anything in the account when they died would have legally been hers. No one would be able to contest that. If they died 8 years ago it is honestly too late to do anything now.

If she has taken out a protective order against your father then he must have done some fairly serious things in order for that to happen. It would be in your father's best interest for you to convince him to leave his sister alone. There is no good that can come from things at this point in time.

 

[zddoodah]

He has reason to believe that his sister somehow stole their parents' money before they died.

What is that reason?

At one point we know they had a will

At what point, and how do you purport to know that?

My father believes that his parents intended to leave a nice inheritance to all their children and grandchildren.

Under the circumstances you have described, it only matters whether the latter of the two of them had a will (since, when the first of them died without a will, the survivor would inherit the entire estate under Virginia law). When the latter of them died, the estate should have been divided evenly between the children. If there were any predeceased children who had children of their own, then the grandchildren would share their parent's share. Any "belief" to the contrary is legally meaningless.

I know that her name was on their checking account.

What does "on their checking account" mean? If she was a joint account owner or pay-on-death beneficiary, then any money in the account became her property upon the death of all other account owners and was not part of any estate.

He wants to take his sister to court to compel her to tell what happened to the money. Is this possible? Does he have any legal recourse?

No. First of all, the only person with standing to sue over this would have been the executor/administrator of the estate of the latter of the grandparents to die. Was your father the executor/administrator? If not, who was? It really doesn't matter, though. After 8+ years, it's way too late.

 

[stealth2]

I wonder…. What assistance to their care did your Dad, other siblings, or grandchildren offer/provide?

 

[adjusterjack]

I do not care about the money and no one else seems to either.

Check the probate court record for both your grandparents.

See what comes up. The court file can tell you a lot, if there is one.

 

[AlmostThere]

As unfair as it may feel, not every parent chooses to divide assets equally among their heirs. This was not your money, nor was it your father's money. You and your father can spend the rest of your lives worrying about this - or move forward and find some happiness in life.

 

[lbb87]

As unfair as it may feel, not every parent chooses to divide assets equally among their heirs. This was not your money, nor was it your father's money. You and your father can spend the rest of your lives worrying about this - or move forward and find some happiness in life.

Please don't include me in this statement. I mentioned in my original post that I don't care about the money.

I do not care about the money and no one else seems to either.

I don't support his choice of pursuing this matter and I find it offensive that anyone would think I actually care about that money. I never expected any in the first place.

I said I was helping my father because he is (mentally) disabled and his mental health disorder is causing him to obsess about this matter.

I'm asking this for my disabled father as he doesn't know how to use a computer.

He is obsessed with finding out what happened to the money

He is bullying me to help him and making threats.

For what it's worth, his mental health disability is what's causing this obsession with the money. I believe this is more a medical issue at this point, but his doctor's have been unable to help.

 

[commentator]

What age is your father? Do you live with him, are you taking care of him, why can you not stay away from him, avoid the "bullying" he is apparently subjecting you to? He has long ago on this issue entered the land where nothing is funny, and has restraining orders against him to prove it. Nothing you tell him will change what he believes has happened, and the woods are so full of people who have this delusion that all their parents weath sould've come to them, but they were somehow cheated and denied what should have been theirs. As it has been pointed out, eight years is far too long ago to seek any kind of legal recourse, and there really isn't any anyway.

Also at issue, did his parents die at exactly the same time? If not, then there may have been a will they had, as a couple, which said something about how their estate was to be distributed. But if everything went directly to the surviving spouse, that is that. And if the surviving spouse made another will, or died intestate or spent all the money to set up some provision for one of the children, (maybe the one who was living with them and caring for them) or the disabled sister that is mentioned, that is that. They had every right to do so. Money in the bank account belongs to the people who are on the bank account.

But if he somehow got the sister to tell him, and show him and even swear on a stack of Bibles that this is what happened, and what really happened is NOT what he wanted to have happened (that he was somehow deprived of a large sum of money that must be given to him at once!) he is not going to be any less unreasonable, he's not going to believe it, find peace, or even stop talking about it day and night. I'm sorry for you and the situation, it's a hard one to get into, but often this sort of obsessive behavior is a precursor to dementia. You should be aware that this may be where your father is heading.