Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Massachusetts

This is such a sad and completely unnecessary situation. Unfortunately, there are no easy answers.

The health care agent only has authority over medical issues. That leaves you with two choices at this point. Either someone needs to go to court and file a petition for temporary and permanent conservatorship; or wait until he passes away and the law of intestacy will decide who gets what. Any assets which lack a beneficiary designation would then go into the estate. What answer is more feasible depends on the nature of the illness and how close to death he may be. Keep in mind that the court may not see the situation as an emergency warranting a quick hearing on the conservatorship.

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Attorney Golden is correct. Please feel free to contact my office if you would like to work with a compassionate elder law attorney who can assist you in handling your father's affairs. Don't wait any longer! Please feel free to contact my office at 617-357-4898.

First, my sympathies for your father. This is a difficult situation. A health care proxy gives a person only the right to make medical decisions not financial ones.

You have two choices, go to court and have a conservator appointed for your father, or if your father's demise is very near and there are no financial issues at the moment, you can wait until your father dies and file a petition for administration of his estate. Someone will have to be appointed as Administrator, sometimes two people are appointed. It would be best if you all could agree on who will act as administrator,

I suggest you meet with an attorney as soon as possible to determine the best way forward.

Please feel free to contact me at your convenience.

Based on your facts, it seems likely to me that your father will pass without creating a will. Because of his condition, that is probably a good thing, because that will would, from what you have described, potentially be open to attack. ...it is unfortunate, but often siblings replay their various childhood dramas when a parent dies by bickering over his or her estate.

For that reason, if your father passes, I would strongly encourage you and your siblings to agree to the appointment of a neutral third party attorney as Administrator. An attorney who handles probate matters will know how to do the probate work. Often, when an heir is appointed, he or she has no idea what he or she is doing, stalls, and upsets all of the other heirs, leading to tremendous intra-family squabbling.

Hiring an attorney as administrator will allow you and your siblings to have confidence that the affairs of your father are being handled in the fairest way. An attorney owes a duty to the heirs to administer the estate, and distribute the proceeds evenly.

Moreover, assuming you can find an attorney backed up by a malpractice policy (hint: look no further) if an error is made in the administration of your father's estate, your family has some recourse. If one of your siblings is the administrator, what recourse does your family have?

I have seen many family administered estates devolve into rancor, bad feelings, and lost relationships. The only people who profit in those cases are the lawyers. Do yourself, and your siblings a favor: when and if your father passes away hire a lawyer to act as administrator of his estate.

My condolences in this sad time.

Jonas Jacobson

617-230-2779

[email protected]