My husband has vascular dementia. Years ago, when competent, he wrote his will. I believe he would no longer want our savings to go to two of his children mentioned in the will when he dies if I predecease him.
You cannot change it, but I wonder, if he is your husband, if he was "willing" common assets. I am no lawyer, and have zero experience in wills, but it seems to me that may be an argument......having said that, is it worth the battle, legal battles are expensive and not guaranteed.
If your husband has vascular dementia, unless he is very, very wealthy, he is very likely to go through all of his savings for his own care. Contents of will won't matter much if there is nothing to leave.
And if you die before he does he is going to go through his money even faster.
Are you sure that he can't have a discussion with his lawyer and explain what he wants changed? Or has he been declared incompetent?
Please don't take this the wrong way, but as a child of someone whose stepmother deliberately destroyed a current will and conveniently produced a former one in order to rob me and my brother of what little my dad would have left us anyway, know that your actions will seem highly contentious. Neither of us had the wherewithal to afford legal representation, so we just had to swallow hard and move on. I was getting by ok, but my brother was in dire straits and really could have used it. Up until the time my dad died, she always acted like she was really concerned about us…even so far as to promise us that we'd be in HER will because she was so sorry dad didn't leave us anything (we weren't…it all wen't to her children). If your relationship with his children isn't good now, it's going to be worse later if you rob them of their inheritance. I hope you have someone else in mind who will bear you good will when you can no longer take care of yourself, and not die alone, unable to call for help, like my stepmother did, just because she shut us out. I apologize if your intentions are truly justified, but just keep in mind that karma is only menacing if you are...
POA can not change beneficiary designations, whether it is life insurance, or bank account beneficiary. POA document will specify which actions the agent may take on behalf of the principal I seriously doubt any lawyer or DIY document would ever include a way for the agent to change the principal ' s Will. However there are things an agent could do which would mean, in the end, the value of estate was less (such as selling the car or home, and moving the principal to assisted living, and paying those expenses with the proceeds, meaning there wouldn't be hardly anything left for an estate ). But that is not the same as just, outright drawing up a new Will.
ncurren, you and your husband have a saving account... thus if you should die first, that savings account will go to your husband as per your Will, is that correct?.... then if later your husband dies, then the savings goes to his sons as per his Will. If the sons didn't get the money, then who would? Charity?
If you think your husband wouldn't want joint savings to go to his children (and by your wording I'm assuming they're NOT your children from your marriage to him but rather from a previous relationship he's had), you must feel as though you know well what his intentions might have been.
I'm wondering why the issue wasn't raised long ago when he first began showing signs of dementia. At that point he might still have had the cognition to make the changes himself, if that's really what HE would have wanted.
Well said, Jessie. Every person is entitled to have his or her last wishes carried out (as long as they're legal) regardless of what another family member wants.
Can you imagine the problems that would come if the POA could change a will? The POA would have sole discretion on who would inherit anything. For example, I am supposed to inherit my mother's house. What if my POA brother got upset with me and wrote me out of the will, taking away the house and anything else that might be left.
POAs act as agents for the person. There are certain things they can do. They involve financial and property matters. Sometimes special powers are added in the POA form. However, I've never heard of changing the will being added.
Even though I've worked in law firms handling estate planning, I've never seen this question asked, and I would hesitate to offer an answer. I think this really is a question that should only be answered by an attorney. Perhaps you should contact the one who drafted his Will and the DPOA.
I really do think you're on the proverbial "slippery slope" here. I think you most likely could anticipate that any disinheritance would provoke hostility if not a legal challenge by the 2 disinherited children against those who do inherit.
And if you die before he does he is going to go through his money even faster.
Are you sure that he can't have a discussion with his lawyer and explain what he wants changed? Or has he been declared incompetent?
I seriously doubt any lawyer or DIY document would ever include a way for the agent to change the principal ' s Will. However there are things an agent could do which would mean, in the end, the value of estate was less (such as selling the car or home, and moving the principal to assisted living, and paying those expenses with the proceeds, meaning there wouldn't be hardly anything left for an estate ). But that is not the same as just, outright drawing up a new Will.
If you think your husband wouldn't want joint savings to go to his children (and by your wording I'm assuming they're NOT your children from your marriage to him but rather from a previous relationship he's had), you must feel as though you know well what his intentions might have been.
I'm wondering why the issue wasn't raised long ago when he first began showing signs of dementia. At that point he might still have had the cognition to make the changes himself, if that's really what HE would have wanted.
POAs act as agents for the person. There are certain things they can do. They involve financial and property matters. Sometimes special powers are added in the POA form. However, I've never heard of changing the will being added.
Even though I've worked in law firms handling estate planning, I've never seen this question asked, and I would hesitate to offer an answer. I think this really is a question that should only be answered by an attorney. Perhaps you should contact the one who drafted his Will and the DPOA.
I really do think you're on the proverbial "slippery slope" here. I think you most likely could anticipate that any disinheritance would provoke hostility if not a legal challenge by the 2 disinherited children against those who do inherit.