My mother is 84 years old and has Alzheimers. My father died in 1998. They had 3 children. One died in 2001 and my sister lives in Washington state. I now live in New York. The last I knew my mother lived in Rhode Island as she did all her life. I was the only child who stayed in Rhode Island and helped my parents. I moved to New York in 2006 when my daughter needed to go to a Nursing home due to Huntington's Disease. My sister, who had very little to do with my parents, took control of my mother's life and money (estate in excess of $2M). I am told I cannot know where she is (I suspect Wash. state) and the few relatives we have have been promised $$$ to not talk to me. I am disabled with myasthenis gravis, care for my daughter with HD and am distraught that my mother has been pulled from our lives. We have not seen her since 2007 and all attempts to have been met with opposition from my sister. Shortly before he died my father showed me a trust he had set up for me (about 60K in 1997). He also set up trusts for my 2 sisters. In 2004 I was told that no such trust ever existed. In 2008 I heard that my mother entered a nursing home and that my cousin took all her possessions. When I questioned it, the person that told me this stopped talking to me. I believed she was bribed. The money isn't as important as the fact that my family has been destroyed by my sister and cousin. Do I have any recourse?
1 Answer from Attorneys
It sounds as though you first need to find out if your mother is still alive. Seeing how she is probably mentally incompetent, she would be unable to alter any estate plans at this point to include you. Very often, the child closest to the parent in the parent's old age will have the parent execute a power of attorney to conduct their business affairs.
This case requires a lot of due diligence to locate your father's will, your mother's whereabouts, and any attorneys or others involved in each of their estate plans.
Because of the potential size of the estate with you as a beneficiary, it might behoove you to hire an attorney to begin the investigation.
If you need further assistance, you may contact me via email.
Good luck!
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