Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania
My grandfather passed away almost a year ago. In the year prior to his death, my youngeest uncle and his wife moved in with him to "take care" of him. They proceeded to spend all of his savings ($30,000) remodeling the house, buying new cars, furniture, etc. They also managed to get him to change his will to make them the sole beneficiaries. There are three other children involved, and while everyone finds this questionable, they have all resigned themselves to the idea that there is nothing that can be done. My mother, however, requested that they send her family pictures and her mother's rings, which they agreed to do. It has been several months with no results. She spoke to them a few days ago and was told that if she contacted them again they would have her charged with harassment. This isn't right, and I can't believe there is nothing we can do. What are our options?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Unless you are an heir/beneficiary, you can do nothing. Possibly the other children need to seek out the aid of a lawyer and see if a caveat (challenge to the will) can be made based on unde influence. Whether this succeeds will depend on how much money is to be gained by getting the will kicked out and whether the proceeds of your grandfather can be traced into assets owned by your uncle and his wife. It may be that it can be done, but the gains from any lawsuit do not justify the costs involved.
Even so, sometimes even the threat of lawsuit/caveat can be effective in getting things resolved by a family settlement agreement. So I would have your mother and any of her siblings who are interested go and see one attorney and get advised on the effectiveness of a caveat challenge under the circumstances.
Time is running out so I would not delay.
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