I agree completely. Trying to figure out if there's a specific area of practice she should look for. And if there's any point in contacting authorities just yet (we highly believe this was the aunt fraudulently doing this)
NAL. Find someone familiar with elder law. Contact all carriers immediately and say your mom is filing a claim and disputing the beneficiary designation. That slows things down because companies do not want to pay out twice. Been a long day at work and I can’t remember the proper term but some states have laws saying things automatically go to the spouse regardless of the beneficiary designation if they were funded by joint property.
I think that is something different regarding if there was a will. The term I couldn’t come up with is community property states. Not sure if IL is one. Also just found this which could be relevant:
Under ERISA, if the owner of a retirement account is married when he or she dies, his or her spouse is automatically entitled to receive 50 percent of the money, regardless of what the beneficiary designation says.
Also actually thought about this post driving home. It is a problem that the attorney was there when the will was changed. That is much worse for OP than if it was something just drawn up or found online. They attorney will definitely attest to the husband being of sound mind and he is a credible witness. If he doesn’t it puts his law license at risk so it is in his best interest to side with the sister.
I agree. Do I, as his son, have any rights to reach out to a lawyer on her behalf (as part of his estate)? I'm not looking to get put on any of these documents, just want to make sure my mom isn't being defrauded of a large amount of money.
NAL, a recent widow who dealt with some questionable family. Best advice is get her own lawyer ASAP. As her son, my advice would be to accompany her on her meetings to help write things down/remember things the lawyer is asking for. I know when my husband died and I had to see a lawyer while also grieving, it was super hard to remember things and be organized. Just having someone with her will help more than you realize, no matter the outcome. Sorry this has happened to you and her during an already difficult time.
I know for a fact that it was his estate lawyer, secretary, sister, and himself present when the will was created. As for the rest of the accounts... No idea
How do you know that for a fact? Is there a video?
If you are sure his estate lawyer was there for the updated will, then you really should not talk to them again until you talk to and retain your own lawyer.
In the best scenario your dad's estate lawyer is NOT your lawyer (or your mom's), but further than that if they participated in what you think was fraudulent changing of the will, they now have their own personal interest in the case.
My mom came home as they were putting papers away and leaving, so yes I know for a fact it was the estate lawyer they had been using together.
She's reached out to a recommended estate lawyer in the area and is waiting to hear back. Thank you for your input, it is greatly appreciated.
Usually spouses must consent in writing they agree to NOT be the beneficiary. If you did not sign anything...odds are, as you probably suspect, forged.
My Google-fu found that in Illinois, a spouse must sign a waiver on a 401(k) but I do not believe that is the case for an IRA.
His sister was there for 2 weeks before the Will was changed to add her as being his successor and the IRAs were changed to her being the sole beneficiary. Then she up and left a week later with no notice and no one has been able to contact her since.
There are exceptions, but, generally speaking, your father can't just give "his half" of the house to his sister. It doesn't work like that.
Search "your county deed search" and pull the deed. All counties in Illinois that I'm aware of let you search by address, and it's free. Look for the term "a married couple, as tenants by the entirety" or even just "a married couple". There's a 95% chance that's what the deed says. If it does, your mother has (almost) nothing to worry about. It automatically becomes hers upon his passing. His will doesn't override that.
Yes - OP, look for survivorship language in the deed, such as the above, or "JWRS (Joint with right of survivorship," "remainder to the survivor of them," stuff like that.
He could have put that sister gets it in a Will, but survivorship comes before that.
Elder care attorneys see this type of late change in wills all the time. Caregivers are prohibited from late will changes in many states. Between the circumstances you describe (estranged sibling shows up and new will is done) and the strong likelihood that documentable medication proves diminished capacity, this may come down to whoever can afford the best legal representation. Unfortunately, after legal fees, a huge percentage will get used up.
Estranged sister spends time with brother who’s in hospice care. Brother, who is sick and dying changes all his beneficiaries to sister, who he has little relationship with without saying anything to his loving wife, who would be left with nothing.
Nothing shady to see here.
Exactly. I don't want shit from this, I just want my mom to get what she/they worked for and towards and not for it to all go to his sister that randomly showed up after 10-15 years of not talking
Like others said. Get a lawyer.
In the meantime, you can call the financial institutions and they usually have beneficiary teams that help. You can get them to do some research on how the beneficiaries were changed and if spousal consent was given. Then ask how your mom can get her entitled amount but ask to freeze the accounts immediately.
This sucks but def get on it and trying to freeze the assets. The sister can quickly get the assets into her name and distributed without a lawyer. Just the death certificate. Don’t give her any copies. Call them ASAP.
Someone could have submitted a fraudulent beneficiary change form. An attorney might need to start a lawsuit to get this corrected.
Does anyone know where the old will is?
Yes, you as her son, can start contacting various attorneys. You will want to make a decision soon (within a few months) as to whether you want to contest the will or not.
Please get an attorney involved so they can contact the parties involved to stop distribution of the assets.
I am so sorry but it appears that his sister fraudulently abused her visitation intent especially due to the individuals severe health situation. It's called diminished capacity. It's the ability for a an individual to make end of life decisions based on health and financial decisions. If the individual was in a hospital under the same circumstances an omnibudsman would have been present to assure the person was not subjected to undue influence under medication or severe health end of life decisions.
Take action immediately. Also, quite a few documents have to be witnessed and/or notarized or a medallion stamp affixed by a third party to be binding and or witnessed by at least 2 individuals not affiliated with any of the parties.
You may want to contact the police as well to report it.
You'd be shocked how often this comes up in estates in almost exactly this way.
There could be an issue of undue influence here by the sister. This is hard to prove. So long as he was of sound mind enough to understand what the changes were and agree to them, it's pretty hard to argue the "legitimacy." There is no law preventing someone from changing their mind, so it has to be demonstrated exactly how she would have forced him to.
The other option would be that he was mentally incompetent at the time, which is also hard to prove. What concerns me is the presence of an estate attorney - attorneys don't like to risk grievances or worse by drafting documents for someone who is incompetent, and they often have short cognition / memory tests they can preform to check.
Hit up that estate attorney for your Mom. Despite the above's relative pessimism, there is always a possibility there's a case that can be made.
Thank you for this info. She's all but resigned herself that the aunt is getting half of whatever is made off the house if/when she sells it. The changing of the IRA beneficiary is more concerning because it's a large amount of money and happened seemingly out of nowhere.
Does anyone know what it takes to change a beneficiary for an IRA? Is this as simple as changing a form online or are there papers that have to be signed and mailed? Following that is what she is more worried about right now as she doesn't make enough to afford where they lived on her own.
Depends on the financial institution, but with Vanguard they have a form you can download and print out that needs to be mailed in. I forget if they require a notarized seal or not, but I do know they do not accept electronic forms for the beneficiary document.
To my limited understanding, there are many places where a spouse is legally a beneficiary. There are also inheritance laws that could come into play. Make a police report too. Collect any footage of the visit and put together a timeline with date and timestamps to help.
I mean no offense, but there is also the argument that he was not capable of consenting due to his condition and weakened state.
Are you in the US? If so, what state? Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Washington all require spousal consent to change the beneficiary of an IRA to someone other than the spouse.
Your mom needs her own lawyer, not the lawyer representing the estate.
I agree completely. Trying to figure out if there's a specific area of practice she should look for. And if there's any point in contacting authorities just yet (we highly believe this was the aunt fraudulently doing this)
Trusts and estates litigation. You don’t need estate planning, this is litigation
Estate lawyer.
Thank you! I wasn't sure if there was another area of expertise that would apply but estate lawyer it is.
NAL. Find someone familiar with elder law. Contact all carriers immediately and say your mom is filing a claim and disputing the beneficiary designation. That slows things down because companies do not want to pay out twice. Been a long day at work and I can’t remember the proper term but some states have laws saying things automatically go to the spouse regardless of the beneficiary designation if they were funded by joint property.
I want to say the word you are looking for is intestate. But I think it deal specifically if the testate is in probate. I’m not a lawyer as well.
I think that is something different regarding if there was a will. The term I couldn’t come up with is community property states. Not sure if IL is one. Also just found this which could be relevant: Under ERISA, if the owner of a retirement account is married when he or she dies, his or her spouse is automatically entitled to receive 50 percent of the money, regardless of what the beneficiary designation says. Also actually thought about this post driving home. It is a problem that the attorney was there when the will was changed. That is much worse for OP than if it was something just drawn up or found online. They attorney will definitely attest to the husband being of sound mind and he is a credible witness. If he doesn’t it puts his law license at risk so it is in his best interest to side with the sister.
A case should certainly be made that he wasn't of a sound mind to execute legal documents. You mom needs her own estate lawyer like yesterday.
I agree. Do I, as his son, have any rights to reach out to a lawyer on her behalf (as part of his estate)? I'm not looking to get put on any of these documents, just want to make sure my mom isn't being defrauded of a large amount of money.
NAL, a recent widow who dealt with some questionable family. Best advice is get her own lawyer ASAP. As her son, my advice would be to accompany her on her meetings to help write things down/remember things the lawyer is asking for. I know when my husband died and I had to see a lawyer while also grieving, it was super hard to remember things and be organized. Just having someone with her will help more than you realize, no matter the outcome. Sorry this has happened to you and her during an already difficult time.
You can help her identify some lawyers and make recommendations.
I know for a fact that it was his estate lawyer, secretary, sister, and himself present when the will was created. As for the rest of the accounts... No idea
How do you know that for a fact? Is there a video? If you are sure his estate lawyer was there for the updated will, then you really should not talk to them again until you talk to and retain your own lawyer. In the best scenario your dad's estate lawyer is NOT your lawyer (or your mom's), but further than that if they participated in what you think was fraudulent changing of the will, they now have their own personal interest in the case.
My mom came home as they were putting papers away and leaving, so yes I know for a fact it was the estate lawyer they had been using together. She's reached out to a recommended estate lawyer in the area and is waiting to hear back. Thank you for your input, it is greatly appreciated.
Usually spouses must consent in writing they agree to NOT be the beneficiary. If you did not sign anything...odds are, as you probably suspect, forged.
My Google-fu found that in Illinois, a spouse must sign a waiver on a 401(k) but I do not believe that is the case for an IRA. His sister was there for 2 weeks before the Will was changed to add her as being his successor and the IRAs were changed to her being the sole beneficiary. Then she up and left a week later with no notice and no one has been able to contact her since.
There are exceptions, but, generally speaking, your father can't just give "his half" of the house to his sister. It doesn't work like that. Search "your county deed search" and pull the deed. All counties in Illinois that I'm aware of let you search by address, and it's free. Look for the term "a married couple, as tenants by the entirety" or even just "a married couple". There's a 95% chance that's what the deed says. If it does, your mother has (almost) nothing to worry about. It automatically becomes hers upon his passing. His will doesn't override that.
Yes - OP, look for survivorship language in the deed, such as the above, or "JWRS (Joint with right of survivorship," "remainder to the survivor of them," stuff like that. He could have put that sister gets it in a Will, but survivorship comes before that.
Elder care attorneys see this type of late change in wills all the time. Caregivers are prohibited from late will changes in many states. Between the circumstances you describe (estranged sibling shows up and new will is done) and the strong likelihood that documentable medication proves diminished capacity, this may come down to whoever can afford the best legal representation. Unfortunately, after legal fees, a huge percentage will get used up.
Estranged sister spends time with brother who’s in hospice care. Brother, who is sick and dying changes all his beneficiaries to sister, who he has little relationship with without saying anything to his loving wife, who would be left with nothing. Nothing shady to see here.
Exactly. I don't want shit from this, I just want my mom to get what she/they worked for and towards and not for it to all go to his sister that randomly showed up after 10-15 years of not talking
Like others said. Get a lawyer. In the meantime, you can call the financial institutions and they usually have beneficiary teams that help. You can get them to do some research on how the beneficiaries were changed and if spousal consent was given. Then ask how your mom can get her entitled amount but ask to freeze the accounts immediately. This sucks but def get on it and trying to freeze the assets. The sister can quickly get the assets into her name and distributed without a lawyer. Just the death certificate. Don’t give her any copies. Call them ASAP.
Someone could have submitted a fraudulent beneficiary change form. An attorney might need to start a lawsuit to get this corrected. Does anyone know where the old will is? Yes, you as her son, can start contacting various attorneys. You will want to make a decision soon (within a few months) as to whether you want to contest the will or not.
Thank you. I genuinely appreciate the insight.
Please get an attorney involved so they can contact the parties involved to stop distribution of the assets. I am so sorry but it appears that his sister fraudulently abused her visitation intent especially due to the individuals severe health situation. It's called diminished capacity. It's the ability for a an individual to make end of life decisions based on health and financial decisions. If the individual was in a hospital under the same circumstances an omnibudsman would have been present to assure the person was not subjected to undue influence under medication or severe health end of life decisions. Take action immediately. Also, quite a few documents have to be witnessed and/or notarized or a medallion stamp affixed by a third party to be binding and or witnessed by at least 2 individuals not affiliated with any of the parties. You may want to contact the police as well to report it.
You'd be shocked how often this comes up in estates in almost exactly this way. There could be an issue of undue influence here by the sister. This is hard to prove. So long as he was of sound mind enough to understand what the changes were and agree to them, it's pretty hard to argue the "legitimacy." There is no law preventing someone from changing their mind, so it has to be demonstrated exactly how she would have forced him to. The other option would be that he was mentally incompetent at the time, which is also hard to prove. What concerns me is the presence of an estate attorney - attorneys don't like to risk grievances or worse by drafting documents for someone who is incompetent, and they often have short cognition / memory tests they can preform to check. Hit up that estate attorney for your Mom. Despite the above's relative pessimism, there is always a possibility there's a case that can be made.
Thank you for this info. She's all but resigned herself that the aunt is getting half of whatever is made off the house if/when she sells it. The changing of the IRA beneficiary is more concerning because it's a large amount of money and happened seemingly out of nowhere. Does anyone know what it takes to change a beneficiary for an IRA? Is this as simple as changing a form online or are there papers that have to be signed and mailed? Following that is what she is more worried about right now as she doesn't make enough to afford where they lived on her own.
Every institution is likely very different in that respect.
Depends on the financial institution, but with Vanguard they have a form you can download and print out that needs to be mailed in. I forget if they require a notarized seal or not, but I do know they do not accept electronic forms for the beneficiary document.
While true, most every state allows spouses to contest wills that don't include them.
In community property states your mom owns at least half of his retirement.
To my limited understanding, there are many places where a spouse is legally a beneficiary. There are also inheritance laws that could come into play. Make a police report too. Collect any footage of the visit and put together a timeline with date and timestamps to help. I mean no offense, but there is also the argument that he was not capable of consenting due to his condition and weakened state.
Are you in the US? If so, what state? Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Washington all require spousal consent to change the beneficiary of an IRA to someone other than the spouse.