Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Maryland

My Sister (Wanda Louise Ritter-Sampedro) took my Mother (Bernadine Louise Ritter) in late April 2009 to change her Will to take me (Franklin Winfield Ritter, Jr.) off the Will. I can prove the wonderful relationship that my Mother and I had and honestly I am in shock over this whole thing. My Mother had Dementia, Alzheimer's, Lung Disease, Heart Disease, and a terrible leg disease that made her legs blow up like balloons; my Mother was 79 years old upon her death on December 1, 2010. The new Will states that she was in sound mind & body which is false; I can recall a year before the new Will was made my Mother discussed many dogs that she said she had in the house and they would run behind the couch then disappear (she thought she was seeing these dogs, but they did not exist. We went along with it though in respect); those situations continued until her death.) When she was in the hospital she thought she was on a cruise and said how nice the people on the ship is treating her. She also said that children were messing up her hotel room when she was in Hospice. I have many more examples along with videos of her with my Wife and I. My sister made it very clear to me that she is in charge of everything and she kept me out of the loop with everything; she also made it very clear to me that she is Power of Attorney so I depended on her to keep me informed of all situations before and after our Mother's death. I spoke to my sister a few times after my mother's death on December 1, 2009, I asked her what we do now, I asked her 3 times for a copy of the Will and she would say that she was sending it then never did. Wanda took over everything, never told me anything and unfortunately I trusted her. After almost 4 months of waiting for her guidance and a copy of the Will I went to Towson Courthouse on March 25, 2010 and purchased a copy of the Will which I then discovered that my sister Wanda had the Will changed so that our ill Mother would sign everything over to Wanda. I also would like to mention that the Will only has one Witness (which the witness was born & raised in Spain so I am not sure if she was an American Citizen), and a notary signature only; upon further investigation we noticed that in Maryland you need 2 signatures to make a Will valid.


Asked on 4/06/10, 2:05 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Paula McGill Attorney at Law

You may be able to invalid the will based on your mother's dementia and alzheimers. Also, there are issues with the formality of the will that may invalidate it.

I would be happy to talk with your further in my Baltimore office.

(410)635-4122

300 E. Lombard Street

Suite 840

Baltimore, Maryland

Read more
Answered on 4/14/10, 9:00 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Probate, Trusts, Wills & Estates questions and answers in Maryland