My uncle and aunt resided in Florida. They were senior citizens. They
had no children. My uncle passed away in Oct of 2004 and my aunt
passed away 3 months after him, in Jan of 2005. In the spring of 2003
my uncle and aunt both needed to be hopsitalized..and it was decided
that they needed to move into an assisted living facility (in
Florida).. At that time they appointed my aunt's nephew as power of
attorney for both of them. He handled the sale of their house and all
of their financial dealings for the 1 1/2 years they resided in the
assisted living facility before their deaths. My uncle and aunt had
identical wills, which they wrote in Feb of 2000. My uncle's will
never changed, my aunt's will was changed in May of 2003 (shortly
after making her nephew their power of attorney). The beneficiaries in
my aunt's will did not change, but her appointed executor did change
and a new section of "powers" for the executor was added.Her executor
had been her brother, and it was changed to be her nephew (who she had
just made their power of attorney). Through searches of land records
we have discovered that right before changing her will (to make her
nephew executor) she purchased a house in the same city and state
(Maryland) where that nephew lives. The house is listed as being
owned by my aunt, her nephew, and her nephew's partner..however my
uncle is not listed on it at all (he was still living at the time of
purchase). As stated earlier my uncle died in Oct of 2004. In Dec of
2004 property records in Maryland show my aunt buying another house
and 2 other parcels of vacant land in that same town (where her
nephew,the power of attorney lives), that house and land is in just my
aunt's name. Then my aunt passed away very suddenly in Jan of 2005.
Her will divides her estate evenly between her surviving siblings and
my uncle's surviving nieces and nephews. Our concern is that the house
held in her, her nephew, and his partner's names may be held as joint
tenants, in which case it would not be distributed through her estate
according to her wishes. We believe, knowing my aunt, that it is
highly unlikely that she would ever have bought a house with her
nephew and his partner and would not have put my uncle's name on it
(he was living at the time). We had hoped that her executor might
catch this, but upon hearing that her nephew was made executor, we are
unsure. The rest of my aunt's family is lovely and we do not believe
they would ever cheat my uncle's family, but her nephew we do not
trust. Having himself made their power of attorney and then made my
aunt's executor and purchasing a house in his town with my aunt and
his partner, and then shortly after my uncle's death my aunt
purchasing an extensive amount of real estate in her nephew's town
seems suspicious. Is there any way that my aunt's estate, or an
attorney, can have a complete record of transactions from the time
period when he was power of attorney for my aunt and uncle? A record
of withdrawals from their accounts, purchases they made, and/or
"gifts" they made during the time period when he had a legal right to
manage their finances for them? Thank you. |