Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Massachusetts
Foul play in death of mother
My mother died recently, and I know there was neglect involved, as well as financial abuse. My brother, one of five, took my mother from her home a year and a half ago, after I reported him to Elder Services for abuse and neglect, and kept her at his house, with a no-trespass order
because I reported him to Elder Services.
Over the years, he conned my mother into handing everything over to him, in part by trying to make her believe that he was the only one that cared about her, and talking negative about all the siblings. He has always bragged about playing with people's heads and that is exactly what he did.
My mother was very healthy and independent up until my brother and one of his customers (he's a carpenter) started ''taking care of her''. ''Taking care of her involved
teaching her to be TOTALLY dependent on this woman by doing EVERYTHING for her, feeding her food she wouldn't eat- she would throw it away when no one was looking, -wouldn't sleep because she had an empty stomach- would be up all night, until early morning when she would get to sleep - and then every morning she would be woken up at 7 a.m by my brother's customer for breakfast -which reduced her to a zombie and skin and bone.
Any advice?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Foul play in death of mother
First, I'm very sorry for your loss.
You don't state whether the elder services investigation determined that there was abuse and/or neglect, although I am guessing that it did not as your mother remained with your brother until her death. You also don't state the period of time during which he "conned [her] into handing everything over to him". There are limits to when claims for such actions may be made. Moreover, claims of financial exploitation / breach of fiduciary duty are difficult to prove without substantial evidence.
I'm sorry to say that the time to address many of the issues you raise was during your mother's lifetime. However, if you want to make the types of claims outlined above, you may contact me or another probate attorney to discuss the merits of this specific case.
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