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My husband’s brothers took their mother to his accountant to ensure that her mutual funds, stocks, and bank accounts were handled properly and that no one could extort money from her. She is rich. The will says that everything must be divided equally, half and half.
She has two homes. My husband’s brother has taken one of the houses and let his mother-in-law live there without rent.
Now my husband finds out that his brother 100% benefits from certain IRA and insurance claims. Both my husband and his brother are adopted. They have different opinions. Their mother said that my husband’s brother would never fail to give half of his inheritance to my husband. Due to COVID-19, we did not hold family gatherings, so they avoided each other.
Can my husband’s brother prevent him from inheriting half of their estate? His brother made himself the executor of the will and power of attorney, or something.
I think they should go to CPA together. My husband doesn’t listen to me. am I wrong?
-C.
Dear C.,
I don’t know what you want of your husband, or why you think you may be wrong. But I can’t imagine, if your mother-in-law wants her two children to be split 50/50, why she would leave everything to one sibling. If your husband counts on his brother’s goodwill to inherit the inheritance, he will suddenly wake up.
I am also a little confused about the role accountants play in this situation.Usually, you need a lawyer to draft legally binding documents, such as Will or trust.
But your mother-in-law does not need to divide everything in two. In fact, she doesn’t need to leave anything for your husband. It sounds like your brother-in-law is very sketchy here. But sometimes parents have good reasons to allow a sibling to take a larger share of their property. For example, if a child takes care of them in their later years, or a sibling has greater needs than others, then parents may choose to distribute things unevenly.
It is possible to challenge a will in the probate process after someone dies, but this is an uphill battle. Generally, you must prove that the person lacks the mental capacity to make or change a will, or that they signed the will due to fraud or improper influence. You can also argue that in some cases, the will was not properly signed or witnessed.
I should note that some of the assets you mentioned, such as IRAs and life insurance policies, are designated by beneficiaries rather than probate. This means that the person listed as the beneficiary will receive them regardless of the person’s wishes.
But objecting to a will is a long and expensive process. Most people who initiate the challenge will fail.
A better option is to have your husband Talk directly to his mother and brother Concerns about him. This means that your husband will have to re-establish contact with his brother. They don’t have to be best friends, but they need to be kind. Sometimes, when parents know that the relationship between siblings is tense, they will avoid discussing estate planning with their children.
I think that if your husband does not engage in dialogue from where he should be, then he is most likely to succeed. This is not to ensure that he gets his half. The discussion should be to ensure that they understand the mother’s wishes.
Your husband can then suggest that his mother meet with an experienced lawyer to ensure that her estate plan is structured in the best way to ensure that these wishes are fulfilled. I’m sure that the estate planning lawyer will tell your husband’s mother to leave everything to the trap of a sibling, hoping they can share the estate with another person. The attorney may also recommend the appointment of a more neutral party as the executor of the will.
But this will be done between your mother-in-law and her lawyer. It is important to understand that in this case, the moral obligations of any lawyer are to your mother-in-law. Their job is not to ensure that your husband or his brother gets what they think they deserve.
Your husband can try to promote discussion. He can be as transparent as possible and avoid disputes with his brother. But in the end, these are not your husband’s decisions. This is your mother-in-law’s money, not his. You and your husband will need to accept any choices she makes.
Robin Hartill is Penny Hoarder’s certified financial planner and senior writer.Send your tough money questions to [email protected] Or chat with her Penny Hoarders Community.
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