My father and grandpa both recently passed. To our surprise, both had recently changed their wills and POAs to people we didn’t know. My dad changed it to the father of the daughter who became my grandpas. Not only did they change their POAs but also their wills and left the POAs almost the entirety of their estates. Now these people have pushed my family aside and refuse to communicate with us and we are left with near to nothing. But they are so smooth at this that my assumption is that they have done this before. We are going to be taking them to court but what I want to know is if we can find out someway if they have done this to others? The more proof that we have, the better. As it is, in the town that they live in, they have a very bad reputation. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
2. You need to find someone to do investigations, including legal background, on these people. This might be available through an attorney who handles elder fraud, so you could try that method. Have you contacted or retained an attorney yet? If so, what does she/he advise?
3. Have you contacted law enforcement? If so, what was their position? If you think they've done this elsewhere, federal law enforcement should be involved, but the local prosecuting attorney and/or police can handle this aspect better as they'll know who to contact and what information would be needed.
4. What about elder law agencies within the applicable states? I would probably start there, as they may have more resources available than you could find by yourself.
Be prepared to provide names of the potential fraudsters, history, and any other data you can find to make it easier for anyone who does background research.
5. You write that almost the entirety of the estates were left to these people. Were they actually by any chance acting as caregivers? How did you learn about them and what background information you know? Was this when the wills were probated?
6. How were they introduced to your family, and by whom? Or what method of contact did they initiate?
The lawyers that are part of this whole scheme need to be held accountable and threatened with losing their licenses. It is supposed to send up a red flag when a beneficiary or other family member brings an elderly person to a lawyer to change their will or trust to benefit themselves.
I’m happy that you got some justice. Jail time is needed for people who do this to the elderly!
I’ve tried everything to get help .........from APS & other state agencies. No one would do anything! They all told me to hire a lawyer which I can’t afford.
This is so prevalent in our country today from what I’m reading from different organizations. I’ve been told that our whole system is corrupt even as far as lawyers, judges & court systems.
From what I’m told it could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight them. Laws need to change to better protect our elderly from these predators!
I wish you luck in your pursuit for justice.
Good luck getting this sorted out and hopefully getting these people prosecuted for exploiting vulnerable seniors.