As the oldest of 5 children & only daughter, several years ago, took mom to law office to draw up a POA & Will to protect her. Backstory: Mom had taken in my (40 yr old) YB years ago, who was homeless & not working b/c "she felt sorry for him". Eventually, he became mentally & financially controlling over her. She went into debt paying off loans for him & scams he fell for online.
She managed to only sign the Will. After that Lawyer felt mom's fear, state of mind & of YB retaliation prevented them from continuing.
Mom had no assets other than her car (joint with y/b), furniture & clothes & 2 insurance policies. He took the car when I brought her to live with me 4 yrs ago.
When Dr. Placed her in care home 2 years ago, all her furniture was donated to Thrift stores & insurance policies cashed in to pay for carehome. (YB, who again was homeless, was offered to take anything or all furniture, he couldn't).
Mom is still alive, all the things listed in the Will are gone. I don't have receipts for the donations.
This has been weighing heavily on my conscience for so long.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Wasn't able to get POA prior to her diagnosis of dementia. Mom was so afraid of YB, he had brainwashed her for years about making decisions w/o him. (When her money was to be spent for her (i.e. new glasses), he cancelled the order cause "it's too expensive"). Fortunately, Mom was with me when I called to cash in insurance policies. Also, I'm hoping I won't need guardianship to continue handling things for her.
"She managed to only sign the Will. After that Lawyer felt mom's fear, state of mind & of YB retaliation prevented them from continuing."
In my experience, attorneys speak with clients enough before even drafting a will that determination can be made whether or not an individual is capable of executing a will. Assuming that the younger brother attended the will execution with your mother, and the attorney observed him at the time of signing, she/he would generally have created an excuse to postpone the signing, spoken with your mother privately, and recommended alternatives.
I can almost envision your frightened mother quivering while your brother was perhaps pushing her into signing the will and leaving her estate to him. That must have been very unsettling for your mother, and in that case, the attorney acted appropriately by discontinuing the execution.
It is possible also that the attorney saw a real hornet's nest in the making and didn't want to get involved. If the attorney was a single practitioner and lacked significant experience, this is a real possibility.
So the Will is signed but not witnessed or notarized? But there are no assets, so there's nothing to distribute anyway?
I'm not familiar with this specific kind of situation, but I think the Will would be considered null and void b/c of improper or lack of adequate statutory execution requirements (assuming the state in which your mother lived at the time or eventually at the time of her death had such requirements, and also assuming she's changed her residence to yours and is considered a resident of your state).
W/o a will, she will have died intestate, and any assets remaining (although it seems there are none) would be allocated under state laws.
But with no assets, I don't even see a reason for any action at all. However, if she signed or cosigned for loans, she would be liable on those. With no funds though, she's judgment proof and there's nothing to recover. That doesn'tmean though that creditors won't seek out what they can from anything your mother has left.
I think it would be wise to have the same attorney consulted NOW, and potentially involved when she dies to address the loan issue, and eventually just to handle any claims that might be filed against her, which arise from her having co-signed loans for your brother.
I feel badly for your mother, having been so dominated by your brother. I do hope she's safe with you and that brother is prevented from being alone with her.
Many people don’t have the assets they listed in the Will by the time they die as they needed them to live.
Is there someone named in the will as an heir that you think will be upset?
My yb was named in the Will, in that the car would go to him, which he took
anyway. There are no other assets of value, my parents never owned a home, no CD's, etc.
I was told that a copy of the Will gets filed with the court, so I don't know what I'm supposed to do with my copy upon her death.
Also, my yb isn't aware that I had cashed in mom's life insurance policies(which he was listed as a beneficiary) to pay towards carehome expenses. My yb, (who I feel may be mentally unstable) hasn't communicated with me, nor called to ask about mom since he lost his "meal ticket." Could he take me to court over the life insurance money?
Thank you so much for advice.