Presented with bribe to not contest will/trust

[cmscott]

What is the name of your state? WA (However, the case is in CA)

I was the original executor of my parents estate/trust/will for almost 20 years. I recently found out from a probate attorney that I was disinheirited (for a completely absurd reason) and that the disinheiritance was put in place one year after my mother passed away. I told the attorney that I was going to contest the trust/will.

Today I was notified by the same probate attorney that I am being offered $20K by my aunt (now the executor) in exchange for not contesting the trust/will. The actual estate should have been worth close to $1 million.

The reason given for disinheiritance (according to the attorney) was that, "I was not acting in my father's best interest and he didn't like me anymore." It's a long story involving my mother's death, my father and my half-brother (my father's other son). Therefore, suffice it to say that I did everything according to my mother's wishes (verbally spoken to me and in her living will). It was also mentioned that my father changed the trust 3-4 times over the last 3-4 years. He was 93 when he passed away this year.

I would like your advice as to what I should do.

Thanks!

 

[Dandy Don]

The fact that she is willing to buy you off could be a telling factor in your favor--perhaps she has been legally advised that you stand a good chance of winning your case.

Is there any other beneficiary that perhaps you could discreetly ask/get a copy of the trust from? If there is a will you can get a copy of that from the county courthouse after it has been filed.

If there is no specific REASON listed in the will or trust to specifically disinherit you, then you could have grounds to contest. You need to have a trust or probate attorney evaluate the document to find out how strong your case is. However, it could cost you thousands in legal fees. You or your attorney also needs to evaluate your father's medical records to see if he could have been under the influence of some medications that would have affected his judgement and could have made him susceptible to signing a document against his will if a revised document to disinherit you (that may have not been drafted by him) was presented to him by the aunt for his "signature".

Is there a will AND a trust or were all of the assets put into just the trust?

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[seniorjudge]

What is the name of your state? WA (However, the case is in CA)

I was the original executor of my parents estate/trust/will for almost 20 years. I recently found out from a probate attorney that I was disinheirited (for a completely absurd reason) and that the disinheiritance was put in place one year after my mother passed away. I told the attorney that I was going to contest the trust/will.

Today I was notified by the same probate attorney that I am being offered $20K by my aunt (now the executor) in exchange for not contesting the trust/will. The actual estate should have been worth close to $1 million.

The reason given for disinheiritance (according to the attorney) was that, "I was not acting in my father's best interest and he didn't like me anymore." It's a long story involving my mother's death, my father and my half-brother (my father's other son). Therefore, suffice it to say that I did everything according to my mother's wishes (verbally spoken to me and in her living will). It was also mentioned that my father changed the trust 3-4 times over the last 3-4 years. He was 93 when he passed away this year.

I would like your advice as to what I should do.

Thanks!

https://forum.freeadvice.com/search.php?searchid=871717


Keep all your questions in one of your other posts....

 

[Dandy Don]

You will also need to look at whether he was mentally competent or not. Why all the changes in the trust--were they simple revisions or was he constantly going back and forth changing his mind?

 

[cmscott]

Constantly changing his mind

Don -

He was constantly changing his mind.

 

[cmscott]

Received copy of Trust/Will

The will/trust simply states that I am deliberately excluded herein. No specific reason given. The attorney I consulted said that my father was labouring under an "insane delusion" which rendered him incapable of judging rationally the deserts of his presumed heir. They also concluded that this case strongly suggests undue influence but it would be a tough road. We would have to challenge the trust and the will seperately.

Therefore, I have decided to take the 20K because I don't have the emotional energy to fight anymore and don't want to spend the thousands of dollars it would take.

The 1 million dollar annuity my mother worked hard all her life for is lost.

Thanks so much for your help Don...

 

[seniorjudge]

The will/trust simply states that I am deliberately excluded herein. No specific reason given. The attorney I consulted said that my father was labouring under an "insane delusion" which rendered him incapable of judging rationally the deserts of his presumed heir. They also concluded that this case strongly suggests undue influence but it would be a tough road. We would have to challenge the trust and the will seperately.

Therefore, I have decided to take the 20K because I don't have the emotional energy to fight anymore and don't want to spend the thousands of dollars it would take.

The 1 million dollar annuity my mother worked hard all her life for is lost.

Thanks so much for your help Don...

There was an article in the Sunday (27Nov05) Saint Louis Missouri Post-Dispatch about a public interest law firm in Utah that takes on cases like yours.

If may be worth your while to call the PD and ask them where that story is on their website and also maybe they will mail you a copy.

(I couldn't find it on their website.)

 

[cmscott]

Thank You Senior Judge

Thank your so much for your input. I would be interested in pursuing this if I had not already mailed off the form to the probate attorney unless I can revoke it if I don't have the check yet. Is it already too late?

 

[Dandy Don]

If you get your own attorney, your attorney can send a notice to cancel/revoke what you have already done. At least have your attorney negotiate for more than $20,000--they'll cave in because they know you have a case!

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[cmscott]

Thanks Don

Don...Thank you for all your help. It is greatly appreciated

 

[Dandy Don]

Be bold and ask for $50,000 - $200,000 and then send me a 10% fee for the suggestion (ha-ha!)!

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[cmscott]

To Dandy Don

Don:
It's too bad that you are not a California Probate attorney. You could do this case on contingency and we could split the total 1.3+ million 50-50.

 

[cmscott]

Keeps Getting More Ridiculous

After receiving the copies of the trust and will I find out that 25% of the estate has been given to my fathers ex-wifes niece who he had not spoken to but once in my lifetime and I'm 42. The really great part is that they had been divorced over 50 years. My parents were married almost 51 years when my mother died in 2001.

 

[cmscott]

To Dandy Don & Senior Judge

I took the 20K. Aunt's attorney said it was non-negotiable and I'm tired. Attorney I consulted said I would have to contest both will and trust and each heir within each document.

So...remembering the old saying "a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush" I capitulated. Better 20K then to spend 30K and have nothing but a loss. The check came today.

Thanks for your assistance