A slight departure

Hello Bloggers.

I'm going to take a slight detour and talk about something a bit different. 

It's about something I've seen, personally, several times between my family and my husband's family. The "it" is about wills.

I'm going to share what happened the last few years in dealing with a great aunt's will and estate.

Several years ago, this great aunt called her niece, my mother, and said that she needed her help because she believed she had made a big mistake. 

I am the one who usually drives my mother and her sister to North Carolina to visit their aunt. So, we loaded up and headed her way. When we arrived we discovered that a man who was her and her husband's broker had taken her to a lawyer to draw up a will. Now in that will, he was named as well as the lawyer who was made executor of her estate; the broker was given power of attorney. This in itself is questionable since, as a broker, he knew what their estate was worth. 

After much discussion with the aunt, we took her and her care-giver to another lawyer to have another will made. Not long after, she must have shown the broker the new will, because he, apparently, had another one made (the one we see in probate). 

Now moving ahead a few years, she was injured in a fall and had to go into nursing home. The broker commenced to clean out and gave away or sold her personal possessions as well as her house. Not once, did he inquire if any of the family wanted any of it. 

So, moving ahead until February 2018 when she passes away. I was able to locate and obtain her estate documents. The will in probate is the one he and the executor/lawyer had drawn up. Needless to say, her family cannot contest this will because, according to the law, they are not considered an injured party because they would receive the same percentage in both wills. In the end, the broker will get 20% of her estate and the nieces only 4%. 

I hope you followed that and understand the implication. 

The bottom line is this: you should pay attention to an elderly family member and whether they are being taken advantage of. Also, if you are considering a will, research, research, and research. 

A will goes into probate and gets tied up in the legal system––aunt passed in February and family still has not received the inheritance; most likely it'll be close to one year before that happens. I must say this: the reason this may be taking so long is that she bequeathed to several people and organizations. 

Currently, my former father-in-law wants to have his will voided and is looking into a living trust. My husband and I have a will, but if we move into an in-law suite with one of our children, we will void ours as well and divey up what we don't need to live on OR some other viable means that will keep it out of the court system.

In closing, I hope that you will think about this during the coming year and protect yourself, your loved ones, and all that you worked for. There are other ways than a will, especially if you have more than one or two children. 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.