Ask Terry Questions Hidden Info Mother in Law’s dementia

Hidden Info Mother in Law’s dementia

By Terry Savage on May 08, 2017 | Wild Card

my MIL is widowed, currently suffering from dementia, has assets she told my husband are in a trust. We have no documentation other than Health Care surrogate. We are very concerned that the assests she has will be consumed by the state she lives (Ohio). She has verbalize her wishes ,but we are not sure anything is documented, now with her current dementia we are not sure what our next step should be. My husband is her only living child, she said some of her assets go to her deceased daughter's husband.Daughter has been deceased fr 20+ yrs. Please address if you can.

Terry Says

You have two choices -- neither of them pretty.  You can go to court in Ohio right now, declare her incompetent, and gain power of attorney over all her assets.  Then you can make plans for her care (especially if you have a healthcare power recognized in her state and signed while she was competent), and for her money.  It is the smart thing to do. The second choice is to wait until she passes.  Then everything will be a mess -- and you will have a long and expensive fight in probate court over how her assets are to be distributed.  By the time it is worked out, the probate fees will probably consume the estate -- and all your energy. I urge you to consult an estate planning attorney in Ohio who can help you work through this situation.  Either ask a banker for a recommendation of use www.Search-Attorneys.com, which is the website of the estate planning bar.  I recognize that this is a difficult situation, but your mother in law took care of her son when he was a child.  Now he has to switch to becoming the caregiver and planner for her.

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