Legal Advice - Spanaway,WA

Don't let money ruin family relationships.

You say all four siblings were raised by this Aunt. Did she get child support for them? Did the Dad's contribute to their care? Or did she finance their childhood? Was she wealthy, or struggling to support four children? Did she fore go putting money into a retirement account in order to take of the siblings?

Did she love the siblings and raise them with care and compassion?

Then let the money go - if the Aunt and Mom did something underhanded, what does it matter - the siblings are adults now and all the money in the world left to them by their Dads will not make up for years of the Dads not being there for them.

It's just not worth it.

God Bless

First, let me say that I am have been a paralegal/legal assistant for a lawyer in Washington State for over 20 years, and we primarily practice in the area of elder law (estates, trusts, probates, guardianships, etc.). I am not sure where you are located, but I can answer this: Powers of Attorney become null and void when someone dies. That is a fact. Did the father have a Will? If so, then depending on how the father had his assets titled and what was stated in his Will, then those assets would pass to the beneficiaries, or a probate would need to be started. If he did not have a Will, then someone would need to petition the court to start a probate to administer his estate. If the ex (mother) and aunt take any money under the assumption that they have the power of attorney, then they are breaking the law and could be held accountable for the money they take (the children's inheritance). I can't stress enough how important it is to have a Will made to avoid these types of issues!!

Second, are the children (youngest siblings) adults? If so, then one or both of them could petition the court to probate the estate and then, depending on whether there was a Will or not, our state (Washington) has a "law of succession" which states that in the event that an individual dies intestate (without a Will), then the first person to receive the estate would be the surviving spouse (if any), then to the children, then to siblings, then to parents, etc. If the children are minors, then someone else would have to petition to probate the estate. Anyone can petition to administer an estate, however it is up to the court to determine who would be the appropriate person to administer the estate if the individual died without a Will.

I hope that helps answer your question. If you have any other questions, please feel free to message me!! Good luck!!

First, if any paperwork was ever filed with the courts in relation to his estate then it is available to the public. Go to the courthouse and make copies of everything in the file. Everything should be under your FIL's name. That will give you some information to start with. Regardless of whether there is anything at the court house, consult with a probate attorney. There are a few things that you mentioned that are really troubling other than the fact that other family members may be hiding a rightful inheritance - the forging of signatures for one. That sounds an awful lot like identity theft and fraud. I don't know what kind of a war you want to wage, but it sounds like you might be able to sue the mom and/or the aunt. If you get an attorney involved and they decide that there are adequate grounds, you'd be surprised at the amount of information that can be available - especially when dealing with money - even years later. I don't know how much you'd be able to recover unless there's a chunk sitting in a bank somewhere still or significant assets are around to liquidate, but it might be worth it. Good luck!

You need to see the will that was filed. How old are these younger siblings? If they are under 18 they are entitled to his social security. The mother and her sister the aunt are very shadowy people when it comes to money.
You need to get clear with the brother and sister about what happened with the money and the testament.
Many families when it comes to money and inheritances cause rifts that last forever. Even if the aunt was a good soul to raise her sister's children she not an honest person. What is she doing to pay your husband and his sister back the money she forged the signiture on?

Is there a will? A verbal agreement means that all parties are SOL if the power of attorney says it's to be split evenly in the absence of a will. If there is a legal will and it says that the money is to only go to his children then it has to be honored. If it is not honored you can sue the POA and ask for the money to be returned. It is criminal not to uphold a will. I think that it is terrible how people fight over material wealth in the after math of a passing. I would speak with an estate attorney and check with the county or city building to see if a will was ever legally filed on his behalf.