My uncle died and left our family money There is about $150,000 missing from what he told us he had. What are my rights?

My mom recently died. I found out that I was one of the beneficiaries of an account she had. I also found out through requesting copies of statements & checks from that account quite a bit of money was transferred to the POAs account & several checks were written over the years made out to either him or my mom. Every signature is different (including misspellings of her name) on almost every check I have reviewed. Even if I were to only look at the last 3 checks written within a month before she died, it is quite evident they were not written by my mom. She could not even physically write a check! And why would one of these "sizable" checks even be written out to her? It wasn't like she was going to go out & spend it. One of the larger checks (over 65K) was made out to the POA less than 2 weeks before her she died. It was signed "perfectly" by my mom, too (who was on hospice, incapacitated, & legally blind). Almost 3 years ago, she could hardly see & was never able to write that legibly even then. Advice, please!!!
Doesn't a POA & EXECUTOR have any accountability to protect my mom's assets & to look out for her best interest with both her money and estate. And shouldn't they have "proof" as to where this money went and why. The estate is a whole different can of worms! What recourse do I have - if any - especially, when everything is so blatantly clear, fraud was going on?

hi mallory, not posting on this subject anymore...tooooo many negative remarks and all has been resolved! thanks

Life, I'm sorry you have lost your uncle. It sounds like there is an attorney already involved with uncle's estate. The cousin's POA authority ended when uncle died. I am not sure from all the various posts, who the Executor is. But that person is supposed to be keeping all the records straigbt-- for the Beneficiaries listed in the Will. Being the you have had no response (to your satisfaction) from the Executor or the Estate attorney, in all this time, if it were me, I would check the county Probate Court for the county where uncle died. Perhaps his Estate is hung up in Probate. ....but, if you were a Beneficiary then the Probate Court would already have notified you of all proceedings. Since you have not heard from the Executor, the Estate attorney, nor from the Probate Court, to me it sounds like you're not actually a Beneficiary. At this statement if you are getting all upset because you know you are named in the Will....then you need to go to Probate Court and open a file yourself,yes you will need to provide some evidence to support your assertion that you have a valid Claim against uncle's Estate...and if the Court accepts your Claim, then you have a foot in the door. All of this will be loads easier if you have your own attorney. Nobody is going to pay for that attorney for you. I also suspect that the Estate's attorney might not be having their bills paid --otherwise why would they not be responding to your requests for information ? So again, I am wondering if there is more information that you could provide, so others here in AC could help you. There will never be anyone with exactly same circumstances, but certainly we can provide some help from all our own experiences. Please post an update to what successes you may have had lately, with this situation....who knows, in sharing your experience you might get to help someone else. Best Wishes.

well, life, I'm going to chime back in here with aunt and uncle's situation after having another talk with her and some more things happening with their daughter that make them even more not want her to have anything after their gone; if, as she's saying now, there even is anything; she's saying now they do have some small burial policies but not enough to do what they want done when they're gone, so they want to use the money she'd always said was for that purpose - well, if there's even still enough of that anymore, after what's happened with daughter and grandson but there at least was in December (but I believe she's thinking in terms of when there was even more) but also after what she's been told a headstone cost there may not be but I didn't think they cost that much but then haven't really checked into it but now she's saying she wants to go ahead and get theirs while they get another one that they're needing to get, so she may end up being right but since then that money's not showing up on their statement anymore, seemingly at least, not even really sure about that, since their statements aren't sticking around anymore either and since son has access to their accounts he would have had the ability to have moved those funds to another account and when she calls the bank about it they're telling her now that uncle is primary and they can't tell her anything; that she'll have to bring him in and as of now from what I understand he's been refusing to go but having said all that to say that according to her they still don't have a will, so, in that sense, have no named heir as far as their daughter, but that means she still has state's rights as their daughter and if there is anything to inherit and she doesn't get her part, she could present herself for it; the issue might come down to their vehicle and their mobile, which aunt says she's going to sell if uncle goes first but my concern there is how her name is on it because it could be on in such a way that she will still not have sole ownership of it when/if he does pass away first, that you'll still be back in the situation of the state laws if no will, which would mean she would only own half of it and - here we go again - both children would own the other half, which would mean she would not be able to sell it without their consent, unless, if they don't give it, she forces the sale through the court but she says she won't have to do; that she'll be able to force them to give consent because of some other things that she feels she was forced into but she wants to do that because she wants to move into assisted living, which she hasn't even looked into to see how much it would cost, just says if her being able to sell it is blocked and they won't give consent, then, at that point, she'll hire an attorney but you've other issues possibly there like some you brought up but I notice you haven't answered my question either

realtime, i never read a useful one on this question.

Lifeexperiences, On various threads on the forum, I've seen posters ask for responses only from people who have had exactly the same experience. Why is that? Why did they, like you, write off responses from well meaning folks who might have something useful to add anyway?

lol freqflyer....i think your first post was right! lol

^^^^ sorry typo: should read "one doesn't need to live a situation in order to give qualified answers.

I went back and re-read the postings and now I am totally lost.... but then again, what do I and others on this forum know.

By the way, one does need to live a situation in order to give qualified answers.

Hope you find what you are looking for.

debdaugher....there is a story about the problem i had with my cousin and my uncle and the money i was to inheret. later i added a story about my the problems with my brother and my inheritance. maybe you should go back and read it.

and, life, I thought you said your cousin had POA, or maybe that was just over your dad and your brother had it over your mom? and are you saying he became the executor over the trust? and what do you mean he couldn't sign for your mom; so how were things handled then? and this is interesting because as far as we know hub's aunt and uncle don't have a will but then considering a lot of other things that have happened, who's to say he doesn't have one she doesn't know about, although very little would need to be in it; their son already has access to their funds, but they do have a vehicle with her name on it and he has a couple more that may not have and they have their mobile home that has her name on it, so we're thinking he may not have included their daughter on his will, if he has one, but we're believing if aunt's not included in the will then he could only exclude daughter from 1/2 the mobile home, but in your case, how did your dad dropping your brother help anything?

heartbroken, not sure I understand; how do you not have a reading of the will?
and at least in my case, their attorney who wrote the will had no clue about anything after their death's; he was no longer even in town. and it would probably take a lot of money and if you did pursue and won, to what purpose? are you after....would you be able to get the money back?

lifeexperiences, not sure how I missed your last response last year about your cousin rushing your uncle into hospice but in an earlier post you said he was given 2 mos. to live so I'd hardly think she "rushed" him into hospice; we didn't get my dad into it until just 3 days before he passed away.

heartbroken3, my cousin did come up with $360 but other than the $20 grand i found...i know she spent a lot! there is nothing i can do about it...but glad we got that much back! i don't know how much it would cost you to get an attorney, but im sure it would be a lot!!! i knew i couldn't go to a lawyer because this money that she turned over was distributed to many family members so it not have been worth it to me to have to pay thousands of dollars and not know if he would come up with something? i had problems with my youngest brother in my immediate family, he stole my father's trust and POA over my mother!! yes, he eventually changed the trust, but could not sign for my mother because she has dementia!! my father did drop my brother from his side of the will, which helped a lot....but i was freeeeaaaking out because i care for my parents and all household needs myself!!! one of my brothers live here and that bum does nothing!! nothing but heartache...but that god i PERSISTED before it was to late...but it sure took a toll on my. wish i could help! post if something new comes up.

What is the average cost to hire an attorney to investigate misappropriation of funds by a POA of an incapacitated adult (in this case, my mom). The POA managed to clean take out over $150,000 in the short span of 5 months from one of my mom's accounts and sell off all of her possessions - non of which was necessary to benefit her well being. Do I even have a chance on winning a case such as this?

hi heartbroken3...as you have read some of the responses....really no good answers!! anyway...it seems that these POA's don't have to account for all money! It's a very slippery slope and not even sure if you hire an attorney he could find the money or asset trail...no responses on that. anyway...i did a unclaimed funds check in the 3 states he lived in after all money from trust was distributed and found another $20 thousand that my cousin did not claim! found out that my cousin used his checking acct to make purchases even after his death!! my uncle's attorney did not seem alarmed!? wish i had the money to have this question answered by an attorney or someone who went thru this and knows!! gooood luck

Does a POA(S) have to account for ALL remaining monies left in an inheritance. What happens when some $ and some items are unaccounted for - for example, the sale of a luxury vehicle. Where did those fund go? The POAs for my mom are not the most honest! And at what point in time do you find out what was written in the will, when there is not going to be a reading of the will? Does the attorney who wrote the will know what is going on after the death?

debdaughter... I was an Executor on the Trust...but my cousin was rushing my uncle into hospice...I told her how I felt about her doing that...and the great manipulator that she is...probably taking money for years...she told him that I should apologize or she wouldn't work with me...NOPE, I did not apologize...and I was taken off as executor. I've never been politically correct! ugh but thanks...we do have that in common!

life, somewhat same thing here; part of why grandson was gradually able to have more to do with dad's money, because dad gradually got glaucoma worse and worse so he couldn't see, wasn't looking at statements to see what was being done; however, dad had put me on his checking account as soon as mom died, not him, so the bank really looked out for him - would they not have done that for your uncle, even if he did have her as POA? that still doesn't give them carte blanche to do just whatever they want

Anyway...my uncle was as sharp as a blade mentally!! The only problem he had is that he could no longer read his statements because he had lost most of his vision! So of course, the POA could do anything she wanted while she was POA. Maybe I should ask, how is her spending monitored if he can't see?? Please you guys out there that have not experienced this...move on! lil

Oh sorry John...legal advisor...i was getting little tired of the responses...and forgot that there was more detail about the POA!

thanks debdaughter...first time i got a response who went thru this.

these responses give me a good laugh!! not getting any valid info...but it is a joke!

life, agree with babalou; my dad's grandson just kept insisting he had more money than I, who had access to his accounts, knew that he had; he just wanted to believe dad had it hidden somewhere; well, good luck finding it them, suppose anything's possible, but as far as records - they could be shown and what it would have shown in his case was they he got it all to begin with; he just didn't want to believe he'd gotten that much because he didn't get it all at one time, which is what he was wanting; well, can't have it both ways; what he'd really thought was that what he'd been getting had been coming out of his income not his savings, not thinking about the fact that granddad had slowly not been working and having the income, like he had been having - duh, so...you sure he still had it and something untoward happened to it?

lifeexperiences, good luck in finding an attorney to help you who had the exact same personal experience.

Life, You mentioned that your cousin had POA; that's why John made reference to POA in his answer.

You are making an assumption that what your uncle told you about his financial circumstances was true. That he knew how much was being spent on his care.

My mom is 92 and has vascular dementia. My brother, who has POA, has never divulged to her that her care is costing her $15,000 per month. We routinely tell her that "it's all insurance mom, you and dad had great insurance ". This is why we think that your uncle may not have given you an accurate accounting of his funds if he did so when he was close to death. Or, if he told you, say a year before he died, $150,000 could have gotten spent in a couple of months.

John, who is one this forum's legal experts, has given you a nuanced and specific answer to your question. I think you should follow the advice, or private message him with followups.

dear igloo...he had no outstanding debts at time of death. he paid everything as soon as he got the statement. i'm glad that $150 thous isn't a lot for you? that last statement pretty much said that I should "eat" the loss and move on. guess that's not much to you...but the question REALLY is ... THEFT of property...doesn't matter how much it is???!!

Hi John...I don't think that I mentioned Power of Attorney on this post...this is another situation. but thanks...

Perhaps you should (a) look up the definition of "assumption", and (b) examine your approach to getting advice.

With your attitude, you'll be lucky if anyone even bothers to respond to your posts.

garden artist...not sure why you assume things...my question was very clear??? please don't contact me again.