What if my sister took my mother’s money? 3 places to look in Florida probate litigation

Suppose that mom had a $3 Million estate and lived in Boca Raton Florida when she passed away in 2015. Hypothetical.  So, you’ve hired an aggressive probate litigator West Palm Beach to answer one question: what can you do if you think your sister took your mom’s money? So, you have been waiting for your inheritance, but your sister is mum: your sister won’t tell you anything about mom’s estate, mom’s Florida revocable living trust, even though your sister is the trustee of mom’s trust.  You’ve heard that people, even daughters, who take money from a senior citizen in Florida may have committed elder financial abuse, what some call financial exploitation Palm Beach.  Did your sister steal your Florida inheritance?  Here are 3 places to look for your inheritance when you think your sister may have taken it.

1. Tax Returns.  Get a hold of the Boca Raton’s estate’s estate tax return if one is being filed.  That’s form 706. But if your mom’s estate is only $3 Million, no federal estate tax return form 706 is probably being filed. More importantly, perhaps, get a hold of your mom’s federal income tax returns, form 1040. Why? Federal income tax returns form 1040 should get a good idea of what assets are in your mom’s Florida living trust, and in her own name, and what assets mom owed over the last few years.  Look at the income tax returns.  Why?  Because assets like mutual funds, stocks and bonds which can make distributions, pay dividends and interest are reported on income tax returns. So, for each tax year, you can get a snapshot of what bank accounts or assets mom had while living in Florida, and how much mom was worth. That’s a starting point.
2. Bank account & financial account.  Where were mom’s bank accounts, checking accounts, brokerage accounts, IRA, mutual funds?  Get that information and find out if there were any transfers of money over the last few years.  Your probate lawyer Palm Beach County needs to help you answer the following question to find out if your sister took your inheritance or if your sister did nothing wrong at all:  where did mom’s money go and how did it go? (By what authority did money leave mom’s checking account?) Did your sister write the checks which mom signed and money went out of her Boynton Beach checking account?  Was your sister put on mom’s bank account as a joint tenant?  How and when did your sister become a joint owner of mom’s Boca Raton bank account? And how did sister get named as trustee of your mother’sFlorida revocable living trust?  Was a beneficiary changed which put your sister on life insurance, TOD, Pay on Death or other transfer at death accounts?  When was your name taken off the Florida annuity or life insurance as beneficiary? How?
3. Where’s that POA?  Who was mom’s power of attorney in Florida? Did your sister use the POA to transfer real estate to herself? To close bank accounts or transfer money to herself? These are some of the questions you want ask those advisers (of mom) who know where the money was and where it went.  Remember: the Florida Probate Code is important, but there is a brand new (OK, so, by now “newer”) Florida Power of Attorney Law that covers all this stuff.

Probate Litigation Florida: start looking for witnesses

• One final thought: start gathering witnesses to prove your case at the estate litigation lawsuit trial.
• That’s right, if you open a Palm Beach probate in the Delray Beach probate court, what documents and evidence do you have?
• Who are your first witnesses to call at your estate lawsuit trial? 
• My point is this:  start talking to mom’s CPA, accountant, bank officer, trust officer, financial adviser and estate planning attorney Lake Worth.  If they wont’ talk, take theirdeposition or issue subpoenas.