Brother took away Mom's credit card when she entered a rest home. What rights do my siblings and I have?
He used it, and her bank account to remodel her house that he moved into and bought for below market value. Now that Mom has passed, these charges are being taken out of the estate before it can be settled. Do My 2 siblings and I have any rights?
Your Mom was private pay I assume because if she was on Medicaid this was fraud. Your Mom should not be held liable for any purchases after she was in a home. Bbrother should not have used her money to fix up his now home. I am assuming, he has POA and thinks he had rights. Wrong, he abused it. You have a case against him. He needs to account for every cent in Moms accts and investments. Moms money was for her care. Anything more than that is stealing, Consult with a lawyer and also ask him if you can sue brother for the lawyers fees.
Who's Executor/trix/PR of your mother's estate? I assume it's being probated; are there any individuals involved in oversight who aren't family members? I.e., an attorney handling probate of the estate?
Very importantly, how was, and who, discovered these transactions, and who made the decision to deduct the costs from the estate (if I understand your post correctly)?
I would think that this kind of decision would be made at a judge's level (assuming Probate is involved). Who told you that those costs would be deducted from the estate? Hopefully not your brother!
You do need an attorney, someone skilled in white collar fraud, probate litigation, and elder abuse. Do your research carefully and screen potential attorneys just as carefully.
One option is to become acquainted with the court's coding system for fraud actions. I.e., courts in my experience use a 2 digit system to identify the type of case. If there is a code for fraud, spend some time at the courthouse skimming through indices of fraud cases to see which law firms handled them.
You would be looking for something probably with a 2018 prefix, then several numbers, ending with a two letter code for the type of litigation. A court clerk can help you with this identification code.
Then contact those firms re representation of you and your siblings.
Your focus probably should be twofold: deduction of the costs from the estate to repay (and this is important: WHO?) and civil action against your brother, including to recover costs if possible. Any results supporting fraud should be raised with local law enforcement for prosecution.
I'm not clear though why the costs are being deducted from the estate if your brother has already expended the money. Who's receiving these deductions? Something seems amiss here.
And are you sure that there wasn't a caregiver agreement in place between your mother and brother? Make sure you've explored possible background issues before concluding that fraud in fact did take place.
BTW, was your mother getting Medicaid? I could see that your brother, instead of being a white collar criminal, could have moved in to care for your mother, including remodeling/rehabbing for assistive devices, and charged the costs to her credit card.....until she moved into a facility placement. So, what's the timeline on this? When did he move in, when did he remodel, and how does this relate to the time when she moved into AL, IL or some other type of care?
You need to be absolutely sure of these facts and timelines before concluding that fraud took place.
I'm also (seriously) wondering though....did you and your siblings have any idea what your brother was doing while your mother was still alive? Was it only after her death that you became aware of your brother's actions? Are you in geographic proximity to your mother's home, and how was it that so much took place w/o your knowledge? Or were you aware of these actions while she was still living?
HMMM... THAT was my question when i read this, he took them but did he cut them up or use them...hmmm.. I would suggest you consult a lawyer on this...I dont see why it would bother the estate. I dont believe credit card are connect to an estate.. do check with your "attorney".. If it is part of and inheritant then it should be taken out of his part and not the rest of the siblings..meaning if each gets $25,000 a piece and he owe $15,000 debt, then his share of the inheritance would be $10,000...just my thinking GET A LAWYER!!
This is fraud. Was he on the account or POA? Contact an elder law attorney. Most will not charge for the initial consultation to determine if you have a case. Let the attorney deal with the credit card company. Do not answer any calls from the credit card company or direct them to your attorney.
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nanashis3 probably meant credit companies have filed claims against the estate to try to get paid.
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Very importantly, how was, and who, discovered these transactions, and who made the decision to deduct the costs from the estate (if I understand your post correctly)?
I would think that this kind of decision would be made at a judge's level (assuming Probate is involved). Who told you that those costs would be deducted from the estate? Hopefully not your brother!
You do need an attorney, someone skilled in white collar fraud, probate litigation, and elder abuse. Do your research carefully and screen potential attorneys just as carefully.
One option is to become acquainted with the court's coding system for fraud actions. I.e., courts in my experience use a 2 digit system to identify the type of case. If there is a code for fraud, spend some time at the courthouse skimming through indices of fraud cases to see which law firms handled them.
You would be looking for something probably with a 2018 prefix, then several numbers, ending with a two letter code for the type of litigation. A court clerk can help you with this identification code.
Then contact those firms re representation of you and your siblings.
Your focus probably should be twofold: deduction of the costs from the estate to repay (and this is important: WHO?) and civil action against your brother, including to recover costs if possible. Any results supporting fraud should be raised with local law enforcement for prosecution.
I'm not clear though why the costs are being deducted from the estate if your brother has already expended the money. Who's receiving these deductions? Something seems amiss here.
And are you sure that there wasn't a caregiver agreement in place between your mother and brother? Make sure you've explored possible background issues before concluding that fraud in fact did take place.
BTW, was your mother getting Medicaid? I could see that your brother, instead of being a white collar criminal, could have moved in to care for your mother, including remodeling/rehabbing for assistive devices, and charged the costs to her credit card.....until she moved into a facility placement. So, what's the timeline on this? When did he move in, when did he remodel, and how does this relate to the time when she moved into AL, IL or some other type of care?
You need to be absolutely sure of these facts and timelines before concluding that fraud took place.
I'm also (seriously) wondering though....did you and your siblings have any idea what your brother was doing while your mother was still alive? Was it only after her death that you became aware of your brother's actions? Are you in geographic proximity to your mother's home, and how was it that so much took place w/o your knowledge? Or were you aware of these actions while she was still living?