My brother took my parents Will and Power of Attorney!! He gave me a copy of one...that had no signatures on it?? The attorney that prepared the will is a friend of his, and I don't know his name either. What should I do???
In my experience, the executor of the will is sent a sealed copy at the time the will is made.
If your parents have to go into a nursing facility and if they have to apply for Medicaid, the house may have to be sold. These days there is usually no house to inherit.
Is the copy your brother has the only copy of the will? Is there one on file with the lawyer? I can understand why you would like to see it,but I don't think you have a legal right to see it, unless your parents want to show you. (Do they each have a will?) But it would sure be a good idea to know where it is!
Who has the Medical Power of Attorney? Who has the Financial Power of Attorney? If your father is not satisfied with the current situation he can easily change it by making a new document, rescinding all previous ones. I'm not sure about your mother -- depends on whether she can understand the concept.
I certainly hope you have been paid for your services for the past 7 years. It is a mistake to assume you will be compensated after your parents die. If either or both of them need even more care that can quickly eat up any financial legacies they had planned. And dividing things equally among the kids who helped and those who did nothing often doesn't sit right!
I just reviewed the Medical POA and it seems that this is a standard form and was witnessed and signed by neighbors...nothing about an attorney.
I'll check with Register of Deeds as you suggested. What about Will? Is that filed anywhere? An attorney told me that I needed to hire an attorney and take my brother to court. Is that right? Thanks!! Irene
Your parents should be paying you for their care now, out of their funds. What if they need to apply for Medicaid?
I don't think that anyone has a legal right to see anyone else's will until the testator is dead. That includes the executors. I asked if your parents had a copy because I had no way of knowing if you were on speaking terms with your parents. Many folks on this board are not. I try hard not to make assumptions.
Sometimes wills are filled and sometimes they are not. I think the only person who can get a will that is on file is the person who made the file or the executor of the estate upon the person's death.
Why do you want these documents? Why do you want to take your brother to court just because he has these documents and you don't? What else is going on here?
lifeexperiences, sorry about so many questions, but we are just trying to get a grasp of the whole picture.
So, here's my summary. Please correct me where i'm wrong.
!. You've been taking care of your parents for 7 years and had to retire. Plus, you've taken care of the house, inside and out, maintained the property when it needed repairs. Also, your father cannot see or hear well and your mother has dementia and cannot do ONE thing for herself...not even stand up without you having to hold her up!!!
2. You're the executrix,but don't have the will because your brother has taken it for some reason. You get a 1/3rd of the house and I assume that means that your brother gets a 1/3rd.
3. The Medical POA has signatures on it. Who does it name as Medical POA?
4. I gather that you have a copy of the Durable POA without any signatures. If it's not signed and notarized, then it's not legal. Who does it name as the Durable POA?
5. Since you don't say anything about their assets, I assume they are not very well off. Correct me if I'm wrong.
6. I'm curious. Who just did and signed their tax return since neither sounds capable of dong this? Thus, someone would need to be the legal Durable POA to sign this document and have the code that the IRS provides Durable POA's to show they are authorized to sign.
This whole picture looks does not look good at all.
It is likely that your mom's care needs may escalate beyond your dad's care needs given her dementia which would likely place her in need for a memory care unit in a nursing home likely funded by medicaid in which case MERP will take the house following her death as medicaid's way of regaining some of its expenses. If your dad is still living at that point, I think he gets to stay in the house as the surviving spouse until he dies. Or both of them might need to go to a nursing home at the same time which would likely mean each would need medicaid?
The current and future care needs of your parents really calls for you and your brother to work together and not be so focused on inheritance which may or may not be there. His move sounds like a power grab to me but for what purpose only he knows.
Have ya'll always found it difficult to get along? I wish siblings would get along better than this, but this is all to common.
Will your brother respond well to you calling him up to have a meeting to discuss all of this? I hope so. I wish you well in dealing with this mess. Keep in touch.
In my own experience as my mother's durable and medical POA as well as the executor of the estate, I had a time finding her will for the lawyer was semi-reitered and had no idea, but I did find a paper trail that led me to her brother who knew where it was. She had hidden it for years in her mother's safety deposit box which up until before she went into the nursing home was still in a box. She had asked him to mail it to her and I found it in the top drawer of her locked dresser in the envelope my uncle had mailed it in.
If your parents have to go into a nursing facility and if they have to apply for Medicaid, the house may have to be sold. These days there is usually no house to inherit.
Sorry you and your brother are not getting along.
Who has the Medical Power of Attorney? Who has the Financial Power of Attorney? If your father is not satisfied with the current situation he can easily change it by making a new document, rescinding all previous ones. I'm not sure about your mother -- depends on whether she can understand the concept.
I certainly hope you have been paid for your services for the past 7 years. It is a mistake to assume you will be compensated after your parents die. If either or both of them need even more care that can quickly eat up any financial legacies they had planned. And dividing things equally among the kids who helped and those who did nothing often doesn't sit right!
I'll check with Register of Deeds as you suggested. What about Will? Is that filed anywhere? An attorney told me that I needed to hire an attorney and take my brother to court. Is that right? Thanks!! Irene
Did your brother steal the documents?
I don't think that anyone has a legal right to see anyone else's will until the testator is dead. That includes the executors. I asked if your parents had a copy because I had no way of knowing if you were on speaking terms with your parents. Many folks on this board are not. I try hard not to make assumptions.
Who was made the POA? Was that same person made both durable and medical POA? Which document did he give you a copy of?
Why do you want these documents? Why do you want to take your brother to court just because he has these documents and you don't? What else is going on here?
So, here's my summary. Please correct me where i'm wrong.
!. You've been taking care of your parents for 7 years and had to retire. Plus, you've taken care of the house, inside and out, maintained the property when it needed repairs. Also, your father cannot see or hear well and your mother has dementia and cannot do ONE thing for herself...not even stand up without you having to hold her up!!!
2. You're the executrix,but don't have the will because your brother has taken it for some reason. You get a 1/3rd of the house and I assume that means that your brother gets a 1/3rd.
3. The Medical POA has signatures on it. Who does it name as Medical POA?
4. I gather that you have a copy of the Durable POA without any signatures. If it's not signed and notarized, then it's not legal. Who does it name as the Durable POA?
5. Since you don't say anything about their assets, I assume they are not very well off. Correct me if I'm wrong.
6. I'm curious. Who just did and signed their tax return since neither sounds capable of dong this? Thus, someone would need to be the legal Durable POA to sign this document and have the code that the IRS provides Durable POA's to show they are authorized to sign.
This whole picture looks does not look good at all.
It is likely that your mom's care needs may escalate beyond your dad's care needs given her dementia which would likely place her in need for a memory care unit in a nursing home likely funded by medicaid in which case MERP will take the house following her death as medicaid's way of regaining some of its expenses. If your dad is still living at that point, I think he gets to stay in the house as the surviving spouse until he dies. Or both of them might need to go to a nursing home at the same time which would likely mean each would need medicaid?
The current and future care needs of your parents really calls for you and your brother to work together and not be so focused on inheritance which may or may not be there. His move sounds like a power grab to me but for what purpose only he knows.
Have ya'll always found it difficult to get along? I wish siblings would get along better than this, but this is all to common.
Will your brother respond well to you calling him up to have a meeting to discuss all of this? I hope so. I wish you well in dealing with this mess. Keep in touch.
In my own experience as my mother's durable and medical POA as well as the executor of the estate, I had a time finding her will for the lawyer was semi-reitered and had no idea, but I did find a paper trail that led me to her brother who knew where it was. She had hidden it for years in her mother's safety deposit box which up until before she went into the nursing home was still in a box. She had asked him to mail it to her and I found it in the top drawer of her locked dresser in the envelope my uncle had mailed it in.
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