We think my mother in law had her will changed without understanding that's what she did. What can we do?
My mother-in-law is 93 years old and is losing her memory, doesn't keep her house clean, wears the same clothes for days that are dirty. She lives alone; hasn't bathed in four years due to a knee injury. She has a daughter and son; daughter lives in another state and the son lives three blocks away. Her daughter, without her brother's knowledge, took her mother to an attorney in order to do a codicil and change the durable power of attorney and estate planning. I truly believe that the mother did not understand what was going on because she does not understand most things and it takes a lot of time to explain anything to her. The bank situations have been very confusing and very stressful. Any advice? What are our options?
Expert Answer
Sadly, this is not an uncommon question, and your options are limited. Basically, to challenge what the daughter did, you'd have to hire a good estate-planning lawyer, one who can litigate (go to court). She or he would file a challenge to the recent estate planning as procured by fraud and duress. Lawsuits like this are costly.