Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Sorry for your loss.

Depending on the terms of your grandmother's trust, you are most likely not entitled to asset information or an accounting before the date of her death. You can always ask and see what the response is to your question.

You should know that if your grandmother had in-home care, it is very practical that her $200,000 could be used up in three years time for that care. The cost of care for an indivdiual with Alzheimer's is expensive.

I would suggest you contact an attorney to discuss the matter including the fact that the caregiver is the trustee and/or the executor.

You have the right to demand an accounting of the assets but likely not the bank books; the caretaker will not give you that material if she is appointed administrator of the estate.You need to figure out what is in the trust, who the trustee is [ person carrying out the responsibilities of the Trust], what assets are in the Will, should you file for probate and nominate yourself as administrator, etc. How could any real estate broker and escrow agent go through with the sale of a property if your grandmother clearly had Alzheimer's. If the vacation house was sold at significantly below the market value you might want to try to void the sale. You have reasonable grounds to suspect the caretaker misused funds; was she improperly appointed when your grandmother did not have lucid moments?

You need to speak in detail with an estate and trust attorney. The money it will cost will be justified by at least your peace of mind and might result in substantially more money for you.

I am sorry for the loss of your grandmother. As the other attorneys have said, you are entitled to an accounting of trust. You are also entitled to receive copies of her trust and/or will. Since you use the term executor, did your grandmother have a will or trust? For purposes of this answer, I am assuming that she may have had both.

I am concerned that the caregiver is also your grandmother's executor (and successor trustee?). The law is fairly strict as to the ability of a caregiver to act as a fiduciary (trustee or executor) to his/her patient. You would need to determine what efforts were made, by whomever drew up your grandmother's will/trust, to ensure that the caregiver's appointment as the trustee/executor was proper, that your grandmother was competent when choosing him/her, and that the caregiver did not unduly influence your grandmother. As your grandmother had Alzheimer's dementia, she may not have had the ability to make the such decisions as selling the family vacation home. As far as the $200,000 cash goes, care of an elder with dementia is very expensive, so it is entirely possible that much of that money went to grandmother�s care.

The accounting of trust may give you some answers as to whether the funds were properly used and as to whether your grandmother was a victim of financial elder abuse. I would recommend you talk with a Probate Attorney to determine how you should proceed.