Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New Jersey

Re: Railroaded Aunt

I read and concur with the other writers, but have some additional suggestions. It appears that your aunt may not have sufficient capacity to handle her affairs, since she is letting other people do that for her. You might want to consider having her evaluated for competency. If she does not have sufficient competency to handle her financial affairs, a Guardian can be appointed. The Guardian can change the Will if anything improper has taken place. I suggest contacting an elder law attorney about this possibility. Another suggestion, without reading or having knowledge of the Power of Attorney, is to determine if it allows the holder to make a Will for your aunt or to change ownership of her assets, including the title to the real estate. If you could get me a copy I could review it for this authority. The holder of the P/A may also have the right to move her accounts to another bank, which you may want to consider, to get your aunt out from under the influence of Mira. You do not say what the relationship is between the nephews and the aunt, which might also have a bearing on the issue. Your aunt should have, at least, gotten a copy of the Will, if not the original. A Will is a document that can be changed at any time, providing the person is competent when the new one is made. I also agree that you must take action promptly, and not wait until your aunt dies, as that will involve protracted and expensive litigation, and people with current information and knowledge on what happened, why and mental condition of your aunt may not be around. I might also suggest you contact her current doctor to see what his evaluation is of her current mental condition. If he has any questions, the Guardian suggestion should be explored further.

Re: Railroaded Aunt

Is your brother currently acting under the POA? Is there any concern that your aunt lacks capacity to have signed the will?

There appear to be suspicious circumstances if what you say is true. The fact that your aunt and 'Mira' appear to have a confidential relationship and Mira had her lawyer prepare the will for your aunt is a possible concern. The fact Mira may have witnessed the will signing does not invalidate the will, but could raise suspicion about her control over your aunt. Likewise, the fact that Mira apparently does not have a copy of the will is not 'illegal' but raises suspicions that there is some foul-play afoot.

Taken together, there appears to be a real concern that Mira has acted improperly here. Your aunt needs to meet with an independent advisor and a competent estate planning attorney who can ascertain her mental capacity, determine her true intent and prepare a will based upon what she (not a potential beneficiary) wants to do with her assets.

Re: Railroaded Aunt

I have read what the other attorney said, and he is bang on the money, based upon what you have said.

I have litigated several cases similar to your situation, and the WORST way to handle this is do nothing for now and end up in Court fighting this after she passes away. You need to take action NOW to do what you can to prevent this. If your Aunt is not able to make decisions for herself, then the brother who has Power of Attorney needs to take care of her affairs. NOT the bank employee. This should be looked at now.

No guarantees as to the result, however. If your aunt knows what she is doing, and is NOT being manipulated, then she is perfectly entitled to give her earthly assets to whoever she wants to. Those are big 'ifs', however. You should move quickly. I suggest you find an experienced attorney reasonably near you who handles will and estates.

If you would like, give me a call. My contact information can be obtained from the links below, just click on the Attorney Profile link. Let my secretary know you found me through LawGuru, and I will give you a free initial consultation.

Disclaimer: you can not rely on the advice of an attorney given over the internet. The exact facts of your situation, including facts which you have not mentioned in your question, may completely change the result for your situation.