Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Texas
House in Trust and Power of Attorney
My younger brother was listed as Power of Attorney for my mom's house and property and executor of will. My mom had given me Power of Attorney for her medical care. She passed away this week. My brother arrived in August to stay with her. We found he has not been advising us of things he's doing. For example, he hired a lawyer and took the Power of Attorney away from me. I was not notified of this until later. My mother never said anything to me about changing it, which I believe Texas laws state that I have to be notified in writing. I want to know if this was legal for him to do this. He apparently had her home placed in a trust since he has been here. I was not aware of this until last month. My older brother told me that our younger brother is now going to deduct a piano my mother promised me, and anything else that we may want, from our share of the estate instead of dividing up the property. I am not asking for anything out of her estate, but my Mom had told me several times, as well as my brothers, that the piano is mine. We would like to know if this is proper procedure or not for my brother to do this, and if not, is there anything we can do about it.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: House in Trust and Power of Attorney
It's not necessary for your mother to have notified you in writing that she was revoking your power of attorney for medical decisions. It would have been nice if someone had told you.
Your brother may have put your mother's house in trust to avoid a forced sale if she had to go into a nursing home. If he had her power of attorney over her estate, he had the authority to do so.
As executor, your brother is responsible for dividing up your mother's estate according to the terms of her will. The piano was not yours as a matter of law, unless your mother gave you a writing stating that she was giving you the piano as a gift.
Your brother could sell the piano and divide up the money. If he's giving you the piano, then he has to deduct its value from your share of the estate as a matter of law. Otherwise he's in violation of his fiduciary duty to the other devisees under the will.
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