Legal Question in Elder Law in Washington

Monetary Gifts and Claimed incapacitation

In April of 07 my wifes grandmother gave her a gift of $250,000. At the same time she also gave her nephew and sister gifts. This was done through an investment company and the documents were signed and notarized by her. The nephew and my wife have been assisting her in her everyday needs for the last few years, she is 94. They were very close. Now due to the influence of a third party she wants her gifts back and believes she gave them under duress. Grandma and the third party have now hired a lawyer and are claiming she was then and is now an incapacitated adult. She has now cut off all contact with her family members. We have a copy of a letter she wrote to her sister stating that she was glad to give the money away and she had plenty to live on without it and was glad to be saving money on her taxes, etc. Adult Protective Services visited her in November 07 and reported to my wife she was not incapacitated in any way. We know she wants the money back to give to this third party. Which obviously we and her family don't want. The question is: Do we have anything to worry about? If we need a lawyer should they have any sort of specialty for this type of case?


Asked on 12/24/07, 12:12 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Elizabeth Powell ELizabeth Powell PS Inc

Re: Monetary Gifts and Claimed incapacitation

No responsible attorney is going to work for your aged relative AND the third party, that is a conflict of interest.

I can't tell whether the third party has standing to advise your aged relative or if they are just an interloper intent on stirring up dissent in the family.

You don't say where you are located, and all good litigation defense is local.

You might benefit from looking at avvo.com ( a v v o )under elder or guardianship law.

Hope this helps. Elizabeth Powell

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Answered on 12/24/07, 12:55 am


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