Lawyer drawn up POA/will v. non-lawyer drawn..?

[keltoid]

What is the name of your state? NH


My husband's elderly best friend died. Best friends 40 years, my husband was the guy he trusted most on this earth. 2001, after years about telling us what he wanted in his will, we finally convinced him he had to actually go get one drawn up at a lawyer's office - lol --

He had a POA made up, with my husband having the POA. He had a Living Will, instructing what his desires were, and he had a Last Will & Testament made up. We do not know for sure what was in that, though we believe he made my husband Executor.

This elderly man basically voluntarily was a victim of con men/fraud which robbed him of his life savings twice -- long story, of course.. this 15 year problem resulted in an estrangement of us and our friend, due to him borrowing thousands of $$ to pay the conmen, and not willing to stop it -- etc. etc. etc...

Within the last year a new 'friend' had entered his life, a local realtor/broker who made various offers to buy his house, supposedly let him live there, etc etc which we advised against. Then he said he'd get him a reverse mortgage, which we also advised against because we knew this influx of cash would go right to his con men. (just to fill in, yes we tried and tried to get these men arrested but HE had to file the complaints and he would always drop any charges... grrrr -- short of a baseball bat... well, you know what I mean, but that never happened thank goodness..)

Anyway, a month 1/2 before our friend's death, my husband receives a rescinding of his POA of his friend out of the blue. We find out the realtor/neighbor got him his reverse mortgage... and of course, cash is flowing out of his account like water.. he dies (really - of the stress) and we find out lo and behold the realtor/neighbor also wrote out himself the durable POA, naming himself, but ALSO an Option to Purchase Real Estate (our friend's house/property) AND a new Will (he, amazingly was not on it). We believe he convinced our elderly friend that he had to sign these things to get the reverse mortgage because he was very desperate financially at that point. Yes, I know we probably can't prove that..

This long diatribe to ask basically this: What carries more weight? Contracts written by the person receiving the benefits? Or those written prior done by an attorney? All signed, notarized, etc.

The probate atty (my husband is not executor on the will made right before death, and the realtor isn't either... I think he thought that would look TOO obvious..) thinks there is something wrong w/ the Will, if so, will it revert to the earlier Will? (lot of wills there lol) -- the DurPOA is now gone, since the death, right?

Is it likely a judge will look at these papers written up by the person to benefit - (the realtor) since he would get his property, the only asset, in the Option to Purchase - with a suspicious eye?

And if the newer Will is voided, is the Will from 2001 still considered legitimate? Or will it just go to the next of kin?

thanks -- sorry for the long story...

 

[BlondiePB]

What is the name of your state? NH


My husband's elderly best friend died. Best friends 40 years, my husband was the guy he trusted most on this earth. 2001, after years about telling us what he wanted in his will, we finally convinced him he had to actually go get one drawn up at a lawyer's office - lol --

He had a POA made up, with my husband having the POA. He had a Living Will, instructing what his desires were, and he had a Last Will & Testament made up. We do not know for sure what was in that, though we believe he made my husband Executor.

This elderly man basically voluntarily was a victim of con men/fraud which robbed him of his life savings twice -- long story, of course.. this 15 year problem resulted in an estrangement of us and our friend, due to him borrowing thousands of $$ to pay the conmen, and not willing to stop it -- etc. etc. etc...

Within the last year a new 'friend' had entered his life, a local realtor/broker who made various offers to buy his house, supposedly let him live there, etc etc which we advised against. Then he said he'd get him a reverse mortgage, which we also advised against because we knew this influx of cash would go right to his con men. (just to fill in, yes we tried and tried to get these men arrested but HE had to file the complaints and he would always drop any charges... grrrr -- short of a baseball bat... well, you know what I mean, but that never happened thank goodness..)

Anyway, a month 1/2 before our friend's death, my husband receives a rescinding of his POA of his friend out of the blue. We find out the realtor/neighbor got him his reverse mortgage... and of course, cash is flowing out of his account like water.. he dies (really - of the stress) and we find out lo and behold the realtor/neighbor also wrote out himself the durable POA, naming himself, but ALSO an Option to Purchase Real Estate (our friend's house/property) AND a new Will (he, amazingly was not on it). We believe he convinced our elderly friend that he had to sign these things to get the reverse mortgage because he was very desperate financially at that point. Yes, I know we probably can't prove that..

This long diatribe to ask basically this: What carries more weight? Contracts written by the person receiving the benefits? Or those written prior done by an attorney? All signed, notarized, etc.

The probate atty (my husband is not executor on the will made right before death, and the realtor isn't either... I think he thought that would look TOO obvious..) thinks there is something wrong w/ the Will, if so, will it revert to the earlier Will? (lot of wills there lol) -- the DurPOA is now gone, since the death, right?

Is it likely a judge will look at these papers written up by the person to benefit - (the realtor) since he would get his property, the only asset, in the Option to Purchase - with a suspicious eye?

And if the newer Will is voided, is the Will from 2001 still considered legitimate? Or will it just go to the next of kin?

thanks -- sorry for the long story...

Not once was the competency of the deceased mentioned here. Unless you & hubby are heirs, this entire matter is for the deceased family with which to deal. Wills are public records available at the probate division of the courthouse where probate takes place.

What carries more weight? Contracts written by the person receiving the benefits? Or those written prior done by an attorney? All signed, notarized, etc.

The last contracts drawn up according to one's state statutes that have all the requirements.

the DurPOA is now gone, since the death, right?

Right.

And if the newer Will is voided, is the Will from 2001 still considered legitimate? Or will it just go to the next of kin?

All depends on the construct of the wills.

 

[keltoid]

Not once was the competency of the deceased mentioned here. Unless you & hubby are heirs, this entire matter is for the deceased family with which to deal. Wills are public records available at the probate division of the courthouse where probate takes place.

My husband and my son are both beneficiaries on both wills. My husband had an original POA on this person. The competency of this elderly man was very poor, as he gave away his life savings twice basically to con men 'friends'. We tried to get them arrested and away from him several times over the last 15 years but unless he was willing to press charges, there was nothing we could do. Believe me, we tried, and he always dropped the charges. I avoided going into that as it is a VERY LONG and sad story....

The last contracts drawn up according to one's state statutes that have all the requirements.

Probate has been opened and the lawyer (of the executor on the recent will) is having the will questioned as to whether it has been written up correctly. He is asking that if it is thrown out, to make that same person executor. They did not include any information re: the 2001 Will done by an actual attorney, that has my husband as executor. (We found out this earlier Will DOES have my husband as Executor). It just seems like they are trying to bypass that Will like it doesn't exist, and perhaps have it go to the next of kin, and leave out all of the 7 beneficiaries named by the deceased completely.

I was just wondering if this is a legitimate thing for them to do?? It sure doesn't seem like it!

Do we need to open up a probate ourselves to get this Will in front of the court to make an informed decision?

 

[BlondiePB]

Do we need to open up a probate ourselves to get this Will in front of the court to make an informed decision?

You need to hire your own attorney.