Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Virginia
My husbands grandma left him money in an account to be given to him at age twenty one. His mother was in charge of it until then, he is now 29 and has never gotten the money. His mother has used all the money, my husband now has brain cancer and I being his wife have power of attorney and would like to know what can be done .
1 Answer from Attorneys
Well, it would be important to check exactly what the grandmother required.
The mother would have a fidiuciary duty (legal duty) to care for the money and deliver it at the age of 21. It woudl be possible to sue to recover this money from her.
As your husband's "attorney in fact" (power of attorney) or agent, yo umay have a DUTY to recover this money if necessary to pay his medical bills. If it comes down to paying his medical bills or not, you may have a responsibilty to collect money that ANYONE owes to him.
However, you would have to check very carefully what exactly the grandmother required.
If the mother was alloed to use the money until he was 21, then she might be within her rights.
It is probable that she had authority to spend the money FOR HIM (your husband) as she saw fit.
If she spent the money for herself, not for his benefit, then she would owe the money back.
If it is unclear whether she was spending the money "for him" or "for herself" this might get very difficult and she would probably win on that one particular point.
Every expenditure woudl be examiend separately.
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