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My sister was the caregiver for my aging dementia mother.my mother passed. My sister had an attorney help her thru the process. All siblings was not made aware of my mother's debilitating state nor were all made aware of the estate change until after my mother past. my attempt to have my mother and father's will read was told to me by probate representative to be fruitless due to the fact my sister had my mother's estate changed before my mother past even though my mother was in the her last stage of dementia which was not known by the rest ot the siblings because my sister did not share this information with all of the remaining siblings. at this point life insurance plicies, property ,and my mother's bank accounts and personal property has and is in the sole possession of the one sister which was the caregiver. pretty much an hostile takeover on her part when i know my parents worked hard to leave an inheritance for all their children and children's children. both my parents were very organized people and would have never meant for one child out of 10 to inherit what they worked so hard for. greed was not a characteristic of my familyalthough sharing definitely was. prominient people in the community

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So that inheritance is to be split 10 ways according to you? Unless your Mom was a multimillionaire.. how much are you all expecting? I know something is better than nothing... but really?? Sis did all the work from the sounds of things, and if the other 9 of you were not aware of the situation it looks like you all were not REALLY involved in Moms care. Sorry if I am wrong, but your post is pretty open to interpretation here.
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Maybe she sees your rules as unreasonable, or perhaps she just doesn't agree with them. Not knowing what those rules are, it's hard to say.

It would be very nice for you if you could work out an arrangement with your stepdaughter (his daughter?) and she could help with her father's care. Maybe then she could see the need for rules.

Not everyone in a family can see things the same way.
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What is with the siblings and children of those afflicted with AD, many will not lend a hand to help and assist, get upset when the caregiver makes the rules, I find this with a step daughter who refuses to help or visit her father because of my rules, that's the only way we can survive as caretakers, and when all the hardship is over, they want their fare share. Very sad, to say the least.
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I totally agree with the above posters cwillie, freqflyer, gardenartist, jeannegibbs, txcamper, Jessiebelle, Whitney. I had the same thoughts but didn't know how to say it tactfully.

You all said it very well and I appreciate it. To borrow a phrase from Jessiebell, a well-thought out, carefully-worded post serves us all who would like to be able to say the same things.
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I had to re read this a couple of times, but I think the poster is saying
"sister had my mother's estate changed before my mother past....... which was not known by the rest ot the siblings".
I also, however, wonder how may years sister gave up to take care of her mother, and how much compensation the rest of the family feels she deserves for that.
When you say "greed was not a characteristic of my familyalthough sharing definitely was" I wonder why not sharing the money is greedy, when you were apparently not sharing the caregiving but that is apparently OK?
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Wait a minute. Nine of you didn't know your mother had dementia? You couldn't tell when you talked to her on the phone? When you visited her? Some dementia develops slowly and others go quickly, but even a "quick" progression would last a couple of years. And none of you had a clue?

If you hadn't been close enough to your parents to know that Mom had dementia, how can you be sure that "they never meant for one child out of 10 to inherit what they worked so hard for"? Things may have changed substantially while you weren't paying attention.

You caregiver sister might be a greedy monster. She may have coerced your parents into rewarding her with their estate. If so, I am very sorry for the nine of you. We are all just reacting to the information you provided, and as caregivers ourselves, many of us totally abandoned by our siblings, we are seeing this through a different perspective than you do.

It might help if you can explain how your sister kept you from knowing your mother's condition. Were you all on different continents?
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Were you and your siblings visiting your mother, as surely you would have known about her condition if you and your siblings were visiting her? Of course, I do not know about your situation, but sometimes elderly parents initially intend to divide the inheritance equally, but fast forward 20-30 years when some of the adult children are not in the picture, (in other words, they do not visit or offer to help their elderly parents in any way) and the parents decide (albeit at an advanced age) to change the will in favor of the sibling that does help.
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Jessie, excellent point that the caregiver serves the entire family by caring for a loved one. I hadn't thought of the concept in those terms. Her sacrifices enable the others in the family to continue their lives without compromise.
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A little more information about your sister would make things clearer. Did she give up a job or freedom to help take care of your parents? If she did, it could be that your mother realized that she would need something extra to make up for what your sister lost in wages and retirement. Many parents will do that for a child who assumes responsibility for them. They want to take care of the person who spent so much time taking care of them.

Did your sister taking care of your parents free you from having to worry about them? If it did, perhaps you could see it in the same light. A family caregiver serves the entire family in letting the non-caregiving siblings continue with their own lives.

We don't know how close to death your mother was when she signed the will, but the attorney must have felt that your mother was acting on her own wishes. If you choose to challenge the changes, you will need to get documentation that she was not competent.

Another thing that may surprise you is that there probably isn't as much inheritance as anticipated. I remember my brother used to tell me my mother and father had some millions. He thought they did. The truth was that they had enough to live out the remainder of their lives if everything goes okay. There won't be a whole lot left over. I imagine this is the situation when it comes to many families these days. Elder care is horribly expensive.
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I agree with FF. When you write that:

"my mother was in the her last stage of dementia which was not known by the rest ot the siblings because my sister did not share this information with all of the remaining siblings" - I just have to wonder where all of you were when your mother was going through the earlier stages of dementia.

Perhaps your sister was too busy and overwhelmed caring for your mother to provide regular updates.

"both my parents were very organized people and would have never meant for one child out of 10 to inherit what they worked so hard for"

Maybe they decided to leave it all to the one sister who helped them.

Seriously, where were the rest of you during all this time? Did any of you even help out your sister?
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jrayrat, is your posting for real? Honestly?

How on earth can a family that has 10 siblings, where 9 siblings had no idea of their mother's condition, but were fully aware of Mom's life insurance, property, bank accounts, etc. That says volumes.
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You must not have been very close to your mother or your sister for you to be so unaware of your mother's health. Caregiving is not easy and truly, there isn't enough money in the world to compensate someone who has done this alone for years. NO ONE in their right mind does this strictly for the "inheritance". It is an act of love and compassion, yes, but also lots of work and worry. Usually whatever money there is, is used up for caregiving expenses. So, unless sister is driving a new Porsche or vacationing in Monte Carlo, it is unlikely that there is all that much of an inheritance left.

Unless you and your other brothers and sisters were there relieving the caregiving sister on a regular basis, you should be happy for her to have whatever there is left over. Perhaps if you guys ask her for a memento, she would be willing.

I am sorry for your loss. It is difficult to lose a father, but even more so to lose your mother. She must have been some woman to have raised 10 children. Please don't make their memory be all about the money.

This is just my personal opinion and like Maggie says, there would have to be lots of proof (hard to prove after death, though) and there would be lots of hard feelings. Not worth it in my opinion.
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In order to undo what caretaker sister has done, one would have to prove that your mom was incompetent at the time the changes were made and prove that your sister used her POA for self-enrichment.

Talk to an attorney and see what can be done. What your family is experiencing happens allll the time.
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