Beneficiaries cut out of new trust

[daveinstl]

My problem involves my parents, who are fairly wealthy and in poor mental and physical condition, and a sibling who created a new trust in place of their will. My parents had a will that put all of their assets into investments that would eventually go to their grandchildren, who are children of myself and my sister. Unfortunately, this year my parents both had a stroke and are not in good physical or mental condition. My sister saw a copy of the will, became furious, and then had a lawyer invalidate their will and create a new trust putting her in charge of all of their assets and has stopped communicating with me and referred me to an attorney. I assume she had them sign it but they aren't aware of it and do not remember. Her reasoning is that since she was the executor of their original will she can do whatever she wants with their assets. I have no idea what the wording of the trust is but since she won't show me I can guess. I need to address this situation right away but do not know where to start. I live in Missouri. If anyone can offer any advice I would appreciate it. Thank you.

 

[BelizeBreeze]

And what did the attorney tell you when you demanded to know under what Legal right this was performed?

 

[daveinstl]

Thank you for the reply. I have not communicated directly with the attorney - I made several calls to my sister trying to find out what was going on. She wouldn't answer me so I sent a letter stating that I wanted to know what legal actions she has taken. I received a letter from her attorney saying that there was no way to answer my request. I did not reply back to him.

 

[Orebell]

Get legal advice now.

It sounds to me like you need professional legal advice and now.

Thank you for the reply. I have not communicated directly with the attorney - I made several calls to my sister trying to find out what was going on. She wouldn't answer me so I sent a letter stating that I wanted to know what legal actions she has taken. I received a letter from her attorney saying that there was no way to answer my request. I did not reply back to him.

 

[1meow]

The executor of a will has no power over assets until the parties are dead. I suspect your sister got them to sign a legal power-of-attorney. If she did, and they were aware of what they were signing (there also had to be objective witnesses), she has control.
However, when they do pass away, she will , in most states, have to account for her actions regarding their estate.

I am not an attorney, but we had a similar situation, in which one of the co- executors wrangled a POA before the parents' death, and looted their accounts just before they died. Hundreds of thousands disappeared.

Please take action before your parents die. After that, it will be extremely hard to change anything. I would also call your state and county Bar Association for a good reference, and to possibly file a complaint against your sister's attorney, whom I suspect had a hand in all of this.

 

[Dandy Don]

You also need to consider having a mental competency exam done for both of them. If they were not mentally competent to approve of a power of attorney, then her actions are illegal and can be reversed. And you also need to ask your attorney if your state has laws regarding abuse of power of attorney.