Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Florida

Family Issues with estate and Power of Attorney
My father passed away leaving the estate to my mother while also my older brother has Power of Attorney over her. In will it states, that only my younger brother and me get the estate after my mother. I want to make sure that he doesn't change the will or my mother's life insurance. Also, I have been receiving bills in mail and he is not paying my mother's bills or passing father's debt and I don't want to get a lean on the homestead since, my father added my name to title and I had to refinance house to keep it. My mother's name is still on title also and my older brother has threaten to sell the house underneath me and has been threatening which i have had to put in a police report. I just want to know if I can do anything so I am not screwed financially and get him to pay for my mother's bills and half owner ship of the house or remove her name and I pay full price. he has not helped at all and even let the vehicle get reposed and isn't paying it off which is messing my mother's credit and is risking my own investment into my parents house which I live in and younger brother. Thanks,

Asked on 6/15/09, 10:49 am

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Re: Family Issues with estate and Power of Attorney

Your question is difficult to follow, and you might get better results by rewriting it or breaking it up and trying to really spell out your situation. That said, I am going to try to give you some general information that might be useful.

Power of Attorney: The power of attorney document might be limited to certain issues. Also, unless it says otherwise, it is only valid as long as your mother remains competent. So, if she starts to have any mental problems or severe health problems that could affect the power of attorney. A power of attorney that remains valid after a person becomes incompetent is called a "durable" power of attorney. You should try to get a copy of the power of attorney and read what it says.

Deed vs a will: If the deed to the house says it is owned in such and such a way, and gives a right of survivorship to someone when your mother dies, then what the deed says goes. The will only enters the picture if the property passes into your mother's estate.

A major thing to look out for is any signing your brother does that passes ownership of the property to anyone. This can cloud the title and make it so that you cannot sell the property without first clearing title (can take a long time). So, if you could not keep up with mortgage payments and wanted to sell in a hurry before foreclosure, a cloud on title could delay that sale.

Life insurance: The insurance company will pay out quickly to whoever the named beneficiary is. Try to check who the beneficiary is and also try to verify that your brother is still making payments on the policy to ensure that the policy still exists and has not lapsed.

Answered on 6/16/09, 2:47 pm

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