Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Virginia
Fathers Will
My father passed away on Oct. 3, 2005. In his will he left everything divided between me and my 4 siblings equaly. About 2 months prior to his death he added my oldest sister as power of attorney and added her to his checking and savings as a joint account. This was done because he could not see very well and could not write very well. He told us that when he passed he had told her that he wanted her to make sure that all his bills were paid and then the remaining money in his checking and savings to be divided between the 5 of us, my sister even told us that is what dad had wanted and that she intended to do that. But now she says that she has talked with a lawyer and he told her that leagaly all that money was hers. She has closed out both accounts. It is clear that this was not what dad had intended for her to do, we donot have it in writing but he told us this and she admitted it. Is there any legal recourse that can be taken in this matter.
Also three of the siblings want to sell the house ASAP does everone have to agree before the house can be sold.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Fathers Will
This question has recently been submitted and answered by attorney Strupp, if memory serves.
As Mr. Strupp indicated in his answer, your father likely executed the power of attorney(POA) to your oldest sister as a "convenience appointment" of sorts due to his(your father's) diminshed capacity to see and to write and that this POA was likely in no way a manifestation of an intent on his part to bequeath all of his checking and savings account assets to this greedy sibling of yours.(Particularly, in light of what your father told you as to what his intent actually was in regard to this matter.)
You could report this allegedly unauthorized and unwarranted seizure (from your perspective)to the commissioner of accounts responsible for overseeing the lawful probate of this particular will but in all probabilty in order to get anything of substance done you will likely need to retain counsel and be prepared to file suit against the will's executor.
And, yes, everyone who is a named beneficiary in the will as entitled to an inheritance of the property must agree that the property should be sold before it can be legally sold by the executor. If the parties cannot agree on this matter, as Mr. Strupp also indicated in his answer, the solution to this issue is a suit filed in the circuit court where the property is located to partition and, if necessary, have the court order a sale of the property with appropriate division of the proceeds from the sale among those so entitled to receive such.
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