What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Washington
My grandfather died 6 years ago. Prior to his death, he took me aside and informed me that I was one of 6 beneficiaries of his living trust, and that I would receive $10,000 or at the time of his death.
He also said that if my father or my aunt were to precede him in death, (my father did end up passing before him =/), that my father's share, which grandpa said was "substantially" more", would be split up among the remaining beneficiaries. The beneficiaries he specifically named to me were myself and my half-sister. I'm assuming my father and my aunt (grandpa's daughter), my one surviving cousin, and his second wife are the other four.
Grandpa was very clear that the payouts would be at the time of his death, and not at the time of death of his second wife, who is still alive. He also said that his second wife had been well provided for. At that time, he also had me sign paperwork so that if his second wife were to pass before him, I would be the one who would have to make any decisions, should he end up incapacitated or on life support.
Well, shortly after that, my father died penniless, from drug use, and Grandpa's health went into a rapid decline, obviously from losing his son. He died in November of 2005, and to this day, nobody has received a thing from his estate.
I have inquired to his second wife, who many people believed, in the years prior to his death, was a gold-digger, as to what happened to the living trust, and she has remained dodgy and virtually mute on the subject. Nobody but her had contact with Grandpa's lawyer after his death. Even my aunt, grandpa's own daughter, has had no word, or received anything, which I know is severely against what my grandpa told me.
Meanwhile, has been traveling, shopping, buying new vehicles, enjoying the two houses that grandpa bought for her, in addition to starting to date another well-off elderly man, shortly after my grandpa's death. My grandpa, was also the second older man that she had been married to that had passed away. So I thinks its reasonable to think that there is a pattern there.
My grandpa was in in hospice for the last year of his life, and suffered from increasing dementia during his time there. Because a living trust is private, neither myself, nor any of the other beneficiaries have been able to determine what has happened. His second wife, offers no information, and seems to be be pretty smug about it.
In an attempt to circumvent her silence, I did finally contact grandpa's lawyer, and explained the situation, but he told me that only grandpa's second wife has the right to the knowledge of his estate. His lawyer had been out of practice for some years after grandpa's death, so I was unable to achieve any contact with him, until he returned to practice in the last couple years.
I had thought his return to practice was fortunate, and that it would finally give us some answers, such as the potential to find out if grandpa's second wife had committed fraud. However, it just proved to be another dead end.
I am concerned that grandpa's second wife got him to sign something in his diminished mental state, and somehow wrested power away from him. Grandpa had told me that the living trust was ironclad, but that certainly does not seem to be the case.
I am really at wits end, and I have no idea how to pursue this. Are we totally screwed? Could his second wife have really stolen everything, and if so, is there any recourse? As the executor of his trust, can she just refuse to pay us? Can she make us wait until she dies?
How can I find out if the trust was changed? Because I have visited the hospice and confirmed that there are medical records of Grandpa's dementia, so if anything was changed during that time, I would be able to determine if any fraud was committed. Any direction would be much appreciated.
My grandfather died 6 years ago. Prior to his death, he took me aside and informed me that I was one of 6 beneficiaries of his living trust, and that I would receive $10,000 or at the time of his death.
He also said that if my father or my aunt were to precede him in death, (my father did end up passing before him =/), that my father's share, which grandpa said was "substantially" more", would be split up among the remaining beneficiaries. The beneficiaries he specifically named to me were myself and my half-sister. I'm assuming my father and my aunt (grandpa's daughter), my one surviving cousin, and his second wife are the other four.
Grandpa was very clear that the payouts would be at the time of his death, and not at the time of death of his second wife, who is still alive. He also said that his second wife had been well provided for. At that time, he also had me sign paperwork so that if his second wife were to pass before him, I would be the one who would have to make any decisions, should he end up incapacitated or on life support.
Well, shortly after that, my father died penniless, from drug use, and Grandpa's health went into a rapid decline, obviously from losing his son. He died in November of 2005, and to this day, nobody has received a thing from his estate.
I have inquired to his second wife, who many people believed, in the years prior to his death, was a gold-digger, as to what happened to the living trust, and she has remained dodgy and virtually mute on the subject. Nobody but her had contact with Grandpa's lawyer after his death. Even my aunt, grandpa's own daughter, has had no word, or received anything, which I know is severely against what my grandpa told me.
Meanwhile, has been traveling, shopping, buying new vehicles, enjoying the two houses that grandpa bought for her, in addition to starting to date another well-off elderly man, shortly after my grandpa's death. My grandpa, was also the second older man that she had been married to that had passed away. So I thinks its reasonable to think that there is a pattern there.
My grandpa was in in hospice for the last year of his life, and suffered from increasing dementia during his time there. Because a living trust is private, neither myself, nor any of the other beneficiaries have been able to determine what has happened. His second wife, offers no information, and seems to be be pretty smug about it.
In an attempt to circumvent her silence, I did finally contact grandpa's lawyer, and explained the situation, but he told me that only grandpa's second wife has the right to the knowledge of his estate. His lawyer had been out of practice for some years after grandpa's death, so I was unable to achieve any contact with him, until he returned to practice in the last couple years.
I had thought his return to practice was fortunate, and that it would finally give us some answers, such as the potential to find out if grandpa's second wife had committed fraud. However, it just proved to be another dead end.
I am concerned that grandpa's second wife got him to sign something in his diminished mental state, and somehow wrested power away from him. Grandpa had told me that the living trust was ironclad, but that certainly does not seem to be the case.
I am really at wits end, and I have no idea how to pursue this. Are we totally screwed? Could his second wife have really stolen everything, and if so, is there any recourse? As the executor of his trust, can she just refuse to pay us? Can she make us wait until she dies?
How can I find out if the trust was changed? Because I have visited the hospice and confirmed that there are medical records of Grandpa's dementia, so if anything was changed during that time, I would be able to determine if any fraud was committed. Any direction would be much appreciated.