Is there a lawyer in the house...asking for a friend.

[Maggot]

Really. The widow wo one of my oldest friends (we played little league together...65 years ago) is having a problem.

Aubrey, my late friend was killed in a motorcycle wreck and Sue, his wife was badly injured. Her health is not the best but she does pretty well. She finally sold the family home and move to Athena (GA) to be near her kids and grandkids. Her daughters and son in law (who is a POS but more on that later) convinced her to put her house and property into a trust. Now she has to get their signatures to get any money and they are being assholes.

-About the son in law and his wife... A religious zealot, "I know it all and there fore can prescribe whats right for you." I pegged him right away. An example...Sue told me that he had Aubrey's reloading equipment which he doesnt use, so I asked her to see if he would turn it over to me, as I could use it. I would have paid him for it. He reply was "Absolutely not, its for making weapons of war." (paraphrased). They all go to the same church and he has turned everyone against her because she wont agree with him on everything. I considered taking a road trip and having a chat with him but Id end up in jail

She wants out of the Trust but doesnt know how to do that. I told her the first thing to do was to separate herself from them and the church. Secondly, get an attorney and get out of the trust. Unfortunately she doesnt have much money and of course, wanting to keep control, they wont authorize any for an attorney.

If anyone here is an attorney, especially in Georgia, (Athens area?) we could use your advice. I'd be willing to kick in $100 for a consultation. Anyone who would like to send a bit to help her, PM me.

 

[diverdon]

The minimum consult you need is going to be an hour, and the quality of attorney you need is going to be $300+.

 

[oneshot86]

There must be a elder advocate group there that could help her or give her direction.
Both county and state.

She always has the law, was she over 65 and thinks she was taken advantage of?
Call the county sheriff

 

[oneshot86]

Most of your financial elder abuse is from within the elders family. Law enforcement and the courts are very aware of this and proactive towards our old folks

 

[vinniedelpino]

What kind of trust?

Most old folks that aren’t loaded would set up a living/grantor trust with the goal of bypassing probate after their passing.

It sounds like she contributed her assets to an irrevocable trust. This can be a shit show from a tax and estate planning perspective, but that’s her kids problem, not hers. Maybe this is a Medicaid trust???

If those assets have been transferred to an irrevocable trust they’re not hers anymore and this is a (steep) uphill battle.

Multiply that $100 by 500 or 1000 and you *might* get somewhere. If you’re lucky.

 

[hollowoutadime]

I think she wanted a revocable trust, you want to get a copy of what she set up to an atty. Power of atty papers, etc.

 

[Maggot]

There must be a elder advocate group there that could help her or give her direction.
Both county and state.

She always has the law, was she over 65 and thinks she was taken advantage of?
Call the county sheriff

just called Athens and got the number of a lawyer who works with elders. Hopefully he'll call me back and we'll see what can be done.

 

[ZiaHunter]

Something doesn't pass the sniff test. Have no idea whether GA is a community property state or not, but as a surviving spouse there was no need to put the assets in a trust unless she was mentally incapable of managing her affairs. Hopefully, the trust has revocation or dissolution language that would return the assets to her. She needs to hire an attorney to review the trust documents.

 

[vinniedelpino]

Something doesn't pass the sniff test. Have no idea whether GA is a community property state or not, but as a surviving spouse there was no need to put the assets in a trust unless she was mentally incapable of managing her affairs. Hopefully, the trust has revocation or dissolution language that would return the assets to her. She needs to hire an attorney to review the trust documents.

Could have been a medicaid asset protection trust (MAPT.)

Your assets at FMV determine your eligibility to receive medicaid. The MAPT is designed to preserve those assets while still qualifying for long term care benefits through medicaid. The grantor can't touch those assets, but they *may* be able to receive the income generated from those assets.

If her net worth is tied up in real estate, she's pretty much out of luck.

 

[HiDesertELR]

Nobody's getting rich but the lawyers...

Maybe take the kid out for some batting practice

Going through a similar mess with my wife's family after her parents passed away. Aggravating doesn't even begin to describe it. People see dollar signs and the inner scumbag shines.

Good luck.

 

[theLBC]

yeah, i'd be tempted to send him to jesus.

 

[RedTimber]

Really. The widow wo one of my oldest friends (we played little league together...65 years ago) is having a problem.

Aubrey, my late friend was killed in a motorcycle wreck and Sue, his wife was badly injured. Her health is not the best but she does pretty well. She finally sold the family home and move to Athena (GA) to be near her kids and grandkids. Her daughters and son in law (who is a POS but more on that later) convinced her to put her house and property into a trust. Now she has to get their signatures to get any money and they are being assholes.

-About the son in law and his wife... A religious zealot, "I know it all and there fore can prescribe whats right for you." I pegged him right away. An example...Sue told me that he had Aubrey's reloading equipment which he doesnt use, so I asked her to see if he would turn it over to me, as I could use it. I would have paid him for it. He reply was "Absolutely not, its for making weapons of war." (paraphrased). They all go to the same church and he has turned everyone against her because she wont agree with him on everything. I considered taking a road trip and having a chat with him but Id end up in jail

She wants out of the Trust but doesnt know how to do that. I told her the first thing to do was to separate herself from them and the church. Secondly, get an attorney and get out of the trust. Unfortunately she doesnt have much money and of course, wanting to keep control, they wont authorize any for an attorney.

If anyone here is an attorney, especially in Georgia, (Athens area?) we could use your advice. I'd be willing to kick in $100 for a consultation. Anyone who would like to send a bit to help her, PM me.

"religious zealot" but can't use bc making "weapons of war". Sounds to me like you don't have a zealot instead you've been saddled with a bad case of too much soy in combination with a pacifist and/or catolico.

if its a MAPT you're going to have serious tax implications when you take the assets out of the trust. you should look into getting advice from a Tax CPA as well

 

[Threadcutter308]

Nobody's getting rich but the lawyers...

Maybe take the kid out for some batting practice

Going through a similar mess with my wife's family after her parents passed away. Aggravating doesn't even begin to describe it. People see dollar signs and the inner scumbag shines.

Good luck.

BTDT.

My brother is a scumbag asshole. Stealing from your Mother. Can't get much lower than that.

 

[BCP]

Sorry OP but if it's a "medical" trust of any kind its gonna be a pain in the ass.

Going through a similar mess with my wife's family after her parents passed away. Aggravating doesn't even begin to describe it. People see dollar signs and the inner scumbag shines.

I have a big family (and a lot of them are overweight chain smoking midwesterners) so have dealt with this a LOT. My grandparents/great uncles were all the WW2 generation and they weren't a problem. Boomer relatives all got vicious over inheritance topics though. Like I have aunts and uncles who are millionaires and they were trying to screw over aunts and uncles who are dirt poor trailer park types. One of them wanted my grandmother's old car which was worth nothing and the other ones all tried to keep it from him. Shit like that.

 

[Maggot]

BTDT.

My brother is a scumbag asshole. Stealing from your Mother. Can't get much lower than that.

Afraid it can.

I know a guy whose mom ended up in the hospital so he moved into her home, slept in her bed and cooked meth there. They woudnt allow her to go home while he was there because of the condition of the house. He even had a buddy and his girlfriend live there and do meth with him. Mom finally died in the hospital. This was a woman who treated me like her own son, helped me through some rough times. RIP Norma Clark. . I still miss her and keep in touch with the one son who is worth something.

Karma can be a bitch. He ended up molesting a 16 year old girl so they searched the house, found all his dope, and put him in the big house for 20 years or so.

Really sad because he was in the Corps years back.

After they got him out the sister went in and stole what was left.

 

[hollowoutadime]

My father, Korean vet and atty put almost all his assets (house, investments, etc) is a revocable trust with me as trustee. Off the trust were bank accounts with me as a cosigner. Upon his passing last year, all the above was a breeze to handle. Close investment accounts, sell home, all assets moved into a checking account. The only PIA was an auto, not in the trust, where we had to fill out time consuming probate paperwork. That should have been setup up with a TOD (transfer on death).

I have learned from this and am doing the same. If you have older parents, you want to set this up sooner rather than later. You'll want power of atty as well.

Maggot, I am sorry for your problems, and your friend's problems.

 

[Franko]

This situation is complicated and it is going to get messy. Here are some things that you could do:

1. Get all the relevant documents. Originals if possible, copies if not. Make copies of all them and you keep those copies, just in case something happens and the children find a way to destroy or steal the originals.
2. Read the trust. See if you can get a good idea what it covers and what it doesn't cover.
3. It's bad enough that the kids are on the trust. Make sure they don't have access to anything else like bank accounts or have powers of attorney. If they do have those things, get them quietly revoked.
4. Document everything, and by this I mean everything. If she owns it there need to be records and photos because it can get stolen or "lost" real fast if this situation gets messy.
5. Look for a local legal aid service. Many times attorneys will volunteer to provide these services to poor and needy folks for free or reduce cost
6. Contact local elder care attorneys. Ask them for referrals for low cost or pro bono work. She might get best results if she visits their paralegal and bends their ear in person with her sob story.
7. If you have a local law school they can be a good resource for legal services
8. Elder abuse is a hot issue. Your state Attorney General probably has a section devoted to dealing with this issue. They can also be contacted for assistance.
9. Your local courthouse could also be a good source for information

This last advice is going to be the hardest - Tell her to make no assumptions and take no chances when it comes to her daughter and son-in-law. Greed and entitlement can make people do very bad things. It already sounds like they already feel entitled to control what she does with her personal possessions (the reloading gear). Your thoughts on leaving her current church are sound, she needs to find a new church and new people to worship with.

Edit

Do your best to make sure the daughter and son-in-law don't know anything about what is coming until it is already a done deal.

 

[thebeav]

When filing death certificates for my folks at city hall here, they had a free attorney/estate consultation service,

 

[Milf Dots]

Bot.

 

[308pirate]

Sue should still consider reaching out to local legal aid organizations or pro bono legal services for assistance, even if some time has passed. They may still be able to help or provide guidance on how to proceed.

 

[Maggot]

Bot.

WTF does that mean?

 

[Redmanss]

WTF does that mean?

A spammer revived the thread, again. Already been cleaned up.

 

[Maggot]

A spammer revived the thread, again. Already been cleaned up.

Lot of that going on. I got contacted by two on the same day about an old ad. Both older accounts, on posts, exactly the same words. Fucking thieves.