In some societies as parents and other loved ones grow older, the level of respect and help provided to them by their children and other loved ones increases. Sometimes, however, loved ones who are sickly or suffer from Alzheimer’s disease are taken advantage of for financial gain. Examples of inappropriate actions where individuals seek to enrich themselves are:
- where an elderly father has dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, and a child or second wife is added to the bank account which was meant for other family members.
- an individual ingratiates himself or herself and takes the sickly father to a lawyer’s office to make a will cutting out other family members from inheritance.
- the changing of a will by a senior disinheriting a favorite child or children and leaving all of the assets to another child or someone else shortly before their death.
- a caregiver who ingratiates themselves to a sick, elderly person for the purpose of becoming the beneficiary of bank accounts or other assets contained in their will.
Experienced Estates Attorney
Hiring an attorney experienced in litigating issues like those referred to above can be the first step in successfully setting aside these transactions. Immediately upon realizing there has been something inappropriate which took place with regard to the assets of a loved one, you should seek out an experienced estates attorney to represent you. You may not find out about these transactions until after the individual dies. It is not too late to take action, at that point, to set aside transactions prior to death involving bank accounts, securities, or wills.
There are a number of issues which can be raised to successfully challenge wills, trusts and joint bank accounts.
