Dad set up living trust/very messy

[kellyi1228]

What is the name of your state? NJ
My Dad died on Sat 3/20/04. He married his second wife (20 yrs younger than him) in Dec.2002. He made out a living trust for her prior to their marriage in June 2002. Family always was suspicious of her and her intent with my Father. In may 2003 his wife was found to have a drug problem and went to rehab and my Dad got a restraining order against her. He also filed divorce/annulment preceedings for Fraud. After 5 months in rehab she begged my Dad to get back together. He decided to give it a try but she was still doing drugs, gone for days and would sneak in his home and steal money. Finally, FEb 2004 she agreed to reconcile with my Dad and signed a reconciliation agreement to receive nothing from his estate upon his death. Since this agreement was signed she cause a 3 car pile up and was using cocaine and taken away to hospital in straight jacket. Hospital called my Dad to pick her up. So he did, upon returning to his premarital home she began acting erratic. Saying she would kill him and his children (we are all grown adults with children of our own) My Dad called the police for protection to remove her from the home. (2 of my Dad's friends were witnesses). When the police arrived she claimed my dad hit her. So the police removed my Dad from his own home. My father was arrested and had to post bail. He could not return to his home until the court date. So he stayed with a friend and signed a statement with his attorney that he wanted to go ahead with the divorce proceedings on the basis of fraud. While staying with his friend my Dad was found dead at the bottom of the stairs. His death has been ruled suspicious.
Here are the questions:
DOes the reconciliation agreement negate the living trust which states she will get everything?
She also refuses to release his body for burial or cremation, How can we get her to sign? Is there a time limit before oldest kin can sign?
Help anyone. My oldest sibling is the executor of this living trust for this women, Can we buy out his second wife? and if so, After buy out can remainder of estate be divided by the 5 children?
Also, all of the children were in his will before he met this women, now only one remains. I think we can prove she coersed him or influenced him in removing his children. Please help
Thanks
Kelly

 

[oberauerdorf]

While you may receive more relevant answers, the first thing you need to be doing is discussing this matter with Dad's attorney or a probate attorney for the estate.

We don't have the documents nor do we have access to the police report of his death.

HOWEVER, regardless of that, you ned to realize that the estate is in limbo at this time simply because of the ruling of dad's death. Until that is resolved, you may not be allowed to do anything with the body or the estate.

PLEASE consult dad's attorney or a probate attorney first thing tomorrow.

 

[kellyi1228]

Thanks.
We did meet with an attorney who was to go over papers and get back to us? I know he said that he would probably suggest buying her out. However he did say that he was going to have to talk to divorce attorney and all other parties involved. I would think that reconciliation papers would negate the will? She has also called and left message with brother in law at work that she wants nothing. I know they are doing an autopsy, too.

 

[kellyi1228]

Also, I am meeting with the detective on the case Tuesday. My family is having a memorial service without the body. He didn't want a viewing just to be cremated and ashes in the ocean. So the service is tomorrow.
When we were meeting with lawyer I was under duress because of the shock of it all. I am hoping someone can give me some info.
kelly

 

[Dandy Don]

You must make absolutely sure that you consult a trust attorney or that your probate attorney gets legal questions about the trust answered by a trust attorney.

Did this lady and your father ever officially divorce and then reconcile or did the reconciliation happen before the divorce became official?

Was there a pre-nuptial agreement or a post-nuptial agreement?

Were there any witnesses to the reconciliation agreement and was it notarized?

What is the monetary value of the living trust?

Were all of the assets put into the trust or are there separate assets listed in the will that are not in the trust?

There is a good chance that the reconciliation agreement might hold up, but father made a big mistake by not updating/revising the living trust and an even bigger mistake by naming this lady a beneficiary BEFORE he was even married to her, which might give her stronger authority to win in court.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[kellyi1228]

Hi Dandy Don,

No they did not officially divorce. The reconciliation agreement happened on feb 25,2004 before the divorce. There was a prenuptial agreement that if she wanted divorce she gets nothing. But if he wanted divorce she gets 75K and then 15K a year until death. Also, at his memorial service today I found out through his best friend that while on vacation she planned the wedding in Jamaica and it was a surprise to my Father, but he went along with it anyway.
The witnesses to the reconciliation was my Dad's lawyer and her lawyer which were Divorce Attorney's (my Dad paid for).
Monetary value of trust is live in his house until her death and receive 75K annually.
He also told his best friend that on 3/18/2004 two days before his death he was going to change his will so his children divide estate equally. He would even go to court and his wife would too. To testify to that.

Not sure about your last question, house, stocks, ira and dividends and checking account totalling 2.5 mil.

Thanks so much for your response.
Kelly

She called the funeral home today and said to Director, " that she would sign for the body to be release from morgue if we would pay for it and she wants half of his ashes........

 

[Dandy Don]

The estate is responsible for paying the funeral bill, but be very cautious about approving the release of the body from the morgue--at least make sure that an autopsy is done first. Evil widow could possibly want a quick cremation done and if that occurred without an autopsy it might help erase medical valuable evidence that could help convict her. I'm hoping that if she caused his death that she will get as little as possible, and you even need to find out if there is a law in your state that would prevent her from profiting from his estate if she in fact is convicted of causing his death.

 

[kellyi1228]

Thanks for the response Dandy Don,

Yes, an autopsy was done and I spoke to the Pathologist today. I was so shocked by what he told me that I couldn't even ask other questions. He said, Dad's neck was broken and his spine was broken in several places but the vertical gash on his forehead was suspicious. I asked, if someone could have hit him in the head and pushed him down the stairs. He said, yes he is not sure if the fall on stairs caused the head trauma. But it will take several weeks to find out about heart attack and toxicology reports. I am going to call him again tomorrow to check for poison or if his meds could have been laced with something.
As far as NJ law if the widow(blackwidow if you ask me)caused his death or is responsible for death in any way she receives nothing.

Thanks for your input, it is appreciated.

Kelly

PS the widow had been to the friends house several times in the past few years and his friend is deaf. Interesting huh?

 

[kellyi1228]

One more thing Dandy Don..........

She had no money of her own in the marriage, my dad controlled all accounts etc. He gave her spending money and 2 credit cards. The estate is paying for the funeral but, she doesn't have the funds to put out money first. My family and I have blocked all of his accounts by a letter the medical examiners office wrote that he is in fact deceased and in the morgue. We are waiting for cremation before we get the death certificate.

 

[kellyi1228]

new developments in case!!!!!!

Please help.

While siblings and I are getting Dad's assets together we called to get the $ amount of IRA. The person the phone tells us that a change in beneficiary was faxed over to them on March 24,2004.
HMMMMMM! Something is fishy. Dad died on March 20,2004.
What do we do? Can she (widow) be arrested for forging his signature? Also, we discover Dad and widow filed taxes and were receiving a 4K refund that Dad never deposited. It was mailed right before he died. Is there a way to find out who signed the check? If so, who do we contact? Is forging a Income Tax Refund check a federal offense?


She obviously thinks that she isn't getting anything from his estate so she is trying to change things....PLease help.

 

[Dandy Don]

It is the executor of the estate who will be officially responsible (and the only person that the IRS will release information to) for investigating the signatures on the check, so the executor needs to be talking to the IRS and to the police about this, as well as talking to the company that holds the IRA to find out what needs to be done. Hopefully it can be resolved without the expense or necessity of filing a lawsuit.