Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Michigan

Long standing will changed to trust & new beneficiaries

A relative of ours passed away recently and it has come to our attention that his will (which had been in existence for probably 20 years)had been changed recently to a living trust. The original will had 6 beneficiaries,everthing to be sold and divided,now to find out somehow he was convinced to change to a trust and leave everything to another relative which was not even in the original will except for being the executor. Is there anyway of finding out when all this was changed? IF the will was not filed at the courthouse how would we go about finding the attorney who came to his house and took care of changing the will to a trust? OUr uncle never got over the death of his wife and was never able to take care of his affairs, he was very volnerable and would not have even understood or thought of doing this without some advise from the sole beneficiary. His estate was not big enough to be taxed so why would anyone advise him to go to the expense of changing it over to a trust rather than just changing his will other than making it very difficult to contest. WE have been lied to about the circumstances, we want to know what happened and when and need help on how to do this. Please advise Thanks


Asked on 12/28/03, 9:11 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
William Stern William Stern, P.C.

Re: Long standing will changed to trust & new beneficiaries

Lots of people start trusts to avoid the hassles of probate. The value of the assets is a secondary consideration for most people. In fact, it is not even that expensive normally. Your concerns seem to involve the potential for someone exerting undue influence. A beneficiary under the prior will could file an action to have the trust declared void due to undue influence or even an inability to execute a will or trust due to mental infirmity. However, these are very difficult cases to win and might involve considerable expense. If you have the facts to show the above, it could be worthwhile. However, the attorney fees could be substantial due to the major investiture of time such a case would demand. Bill Stern 248-353-9400

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Answered on 12/28/03, 12:01 pm


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