hey all, unfortunately after a long battle with various health issues, my grandfather passed today. a few days ago, my family became aware that we were completely removed from my grandfathers contact info at his nursing home and hospital. after talking to multiple nurses/admin, we discovered that my great aunt told everyone that he had no children. she had poa, but at this point my grandpa was lucid and able to make his own decisions, and he had no idea about it. a few days ago, he was sent to the icu and my family only found out after an empathetic uncle told us. aside from that, we found out my aunt didnt care at all about him being injured. after a nurse from the hospital called her (because she was the only contact) and informed her that my grandfather was being rushed to the icu, her response was "why would i f******g care? tell one of his kids, thats not my problem." after talking to his nursing home, we found out that she very often replied like that. aside from her horrible morals, after looking at his financial records, we discovered multiple... suspicious ? things. for example, someone had been investing under his name for quite some time. my grandfather had no interest in investing, nor did he know how to. in addition to that, we noticed that neither my mother or my uncle were explicitly listed in his inheritance (we knew they had been listed at one point). theres a bunch of other stuff but i think this dump is enough for the time being. im so frustrated and angry. is there any way for my family to seek legal action against her or am i merely overreacting? and do her actions count as elder abuse? it hurts me on a personal level to think that my grandfathers sister would treat both him, and my family, like that. (not that this can change anything legally but i think some context would be helpful. she is LOADED, as is my grandpas brother. my mother and uncle, on the other hand, live below the poverty line. my mother is raising multiple children by herself and literally cannot afford to live. i hope you can see why this frustrates me so much)
If your grandfather left you a share of his estate in his will, and the size of his estate has been reduced by investments in his name and using his money, PLUS the investments have lost money, then that is your monetary damage.
If his will has been changed to leave your side out, then you have to show that the will is forged, or that he signed it under undue pressure, or that he replaced a former will and signed this one when he was not legally competent. Of course, check whether it was drawn up by a lawyer, and who went with Grandpa to see the lawyer.
None of this is easy, but if there is a lot of money at stake it may be worth pursuing it. Document what you can, right now particularly when and who gave wrong instructions to the nursing home and hospital. If you have enough ‘dirt’, you are in a better position to get a settlement in your favor. Most civil cases don’t actually go to court, they end up settling, sometimes ‘on the court steps’. So ask everyone that might know your difficult aunt for their recollections. Be careful about defamation but let them come to their own conclusions about her behavior. If aunt finds that her reputation is suffering, it increases the chances of getting a settlement.
I’d recommend collecting a lot more facts before you spend money on a lawyer. Lawyers aren’t investigators. Margaret LLB FCCA
It sounds as though you yourselves were not keeping very close watch over grandfather.
His facility would call his POA. The POA would call anyone he or she chooses to. Apparently she has not had a good relationship with you, and didn't call you. Glad that there was an Uncle whose relationship was close enough with you to let you know. This happens with families at war with one another over the failing bodies of their loved ones. It's quite common.
You have told us a nurse told you some things I cannot imagine a nurse repeating.
You have told us you have enough access to understand investments recently made. If you are not POA you should not have this access, so I don't know where all that's coming from. But a POA makes investments for an incompetent senior. I was POA and Trustee for my OWN brother and I made his investments.
Now it seems that you are concerned with beneficiaries and inheritance?
A good way to follow up on all of that is to wait for a will to be filed for probate.
Unless this was a TRUST and aunt was also trustee; then you are out of luck getting info.
As your Grandfather is sadly gone now (my condolences to you on his loss), this would seem over. Legally you will be notified if you stand to inherit. Otherwise consider the choice to move on with your lives. When the person who was being warred over is dead, there is little reason to continue the war. If you wish to, there are lawyers out there more than willing to be paid to take up the armor. For a price.
Good luck.