Ward of Court, Life Loan and will

T

Taylor1

Guest
My father developed Alzheimer’s disease in the late ‘90s.

In early 2003 my mother had him put in a home for the elderly and infirm (not a private nursing home).

In July 2003, with the help of my brother’s solicitor, she had him made a Ward of Court.

My father died in October 2006.

Recently, I discovered that my mother, again with the assistance of my brother’s solicitor, took out a Bank of Ireland Life Loan to the value of 25 per cent of the family home (about €70,000). ( a life loan is the release of equity on a property, all monies plus interest are recouped after the demise of the borrower)

I believe this happened before my father passed away.

All of this was done in relative secrecy; only recently have I found out about this.

In December 2008, my brother and I had a falling out. My mother took my elder brother’s side and had me thrown out of the family home. The locks on the door were changed. It was a nasty situation, and I was shocked at their callousness.

Though never a close family, this was very coldly done.

I had to seek a place in a homeless aid organisation.

I was amazed at the vehemence of the reaction towards me. Being the only unmarried sibling, I have lived in the family home all my life. And I have always paid my way and been no trouble at all.

I am a passive type of person.

That was when I started to investigate what went on with my mother taking out equity on the family home before my father died.
The money never really interested me before this happened.

Reading the terms and conditions of a Life Loan, I realise that a possible reason for their action was that the person taking out the loan should be the sole occupier of the property.

Clearly, this was never the case.

Now, I would like to check my mother’s will.

I would also like to know what happened to the €70,000.

The sum of money was NOT used for my father’s care; he was never in a private nursing home and his funeral expenses were minimal.

Has anyone any idea about the legality of all of this? Or, in a Ward of Court case, are the family protected against any misappropriation of monies?

I have written to my mother’s/brother’s solicitor, but he is stonewalling me.


As relations with my family have broken down beyond reconciliation, I wish to claim my shareof my inheritance, find closure and have no further contact with any of them.

Sad, but not a situation I created, or asked to be part of.

I feel like I'm in a legal limbo; I have no idea what has been done, or where I stand now.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Thanks,

Joe
 
1.Is your mother still alive?
2. Did your father make a will?
3, Are you working and do you have an income?
3. Have you taken legal advice?

It is entirely possible that there is no inheritance, you are entitled to nothing and that everything was entirely above board.

It is a long, painful and expensive procedure to deal with interfamily situations like you describe and it may be that the healthiest thing you can do for your own health is to move on.

Not what you want to hear I know but perhaps bear it in mind.

mf
 
If this is a genuine problem, why are you posting it on a public forum where ( for all you know ) your relatives may be reading it, and even offering you advice?

If it is a genuine real problem, talk to your solicitor.
 
My mother is still alive. And I don't waste my time as a troll, so yes, it is a genuine post.

Regarding solicitors, that will be an option later. Solictors are known for their torpidity in these matters...

Can I request a viewing of the will? Obviously, there is some transparency needed in this case.

Not that it is remotely relevant, but I am self-employed...

Joe
 
I assume that Probate has been granted at this stage so if it has therefore, a copy of the will is available at the Probate office.
 
If he died intestate (no will), the children are entitled to 1/3 between them, so if there were 2 children you'd be entitled to 1/6, 3 children and you'd get 1/9.

If he died testate (with a will) the children have no automatic right, but there is a right to action under Section 117 of the Succession Act, 1965 where the testator has failed in his/her moral duty to adequately provide for his/her children. But beware, this route is long and arduous, and would involve the airing of a lot of painful things, so unless your fathers estate was substantial, you might be best off for your own wellbeing to walk away now.

As for the 70,000 loan, you'd have to show it was done inappropriately. Given that the property that the loan was taken on was the most likely the family home where your mother was living, that would probably be hard to show
 
Thanks for taking the time to reply. I am guessing that my mother had my father made a ward of court in order to change their will. does this sound feasible?

As stated, I was totally excluded from any of this, so I can only guess at what has been done.

I have never seen nor heard anything about a will, though I once heard my mother mention that the property was to be divided betweenj the three children.

In my mind, the 70,000 taken from the property complicates this somewhat?

I suspect my brother got a substantial amount of this already. I have seen no other evidence of it's use...

Joe
 
Taylor1 said:
I am guessing that my mother had my father made a ward of court in order to change their will. does this sound feasible?
Click to expand...
No. Wills are not collective documents - your father may or may not have had a will, but it certainly won't be the same one as your mother's. And once someone is declared a ward of court, they have no legal capacity to enter any contract or to make a new valid will.
 
At a guess I'd say it was necessary for your mother to make your father a ward of court as he was either sole owner of their house or joint owner. She needed to release some equity from the house, he wasn't competent to sign loan documents, therefore made him a ward of court. When someone is made ward of court all dealings with their property must pass approval of the high court, wards of court. So evidently someone passed judgement on the need to release equity, thought it was a good idea and gave the okay[ ie someone totally independant of your family).

It might have been that either they were joint owners in which case your mother automatically inherited on his death, or he had made an earlier will where she benefited. When your mother told you it was left between the three children this may well have been meant after both of their deaths.

Unless the house was in your fathers sole name and he died intestate you have no automatic right to any share in the house.

Personally think you are labouring under a misapprehension that you have some automatic entitlement to the 'family home'= this is your mother and late fathers family home, and children have no such automatic right.
 
Thanks again for taking the time to reply. I am not saying I/we have any right to the family home.

I am more concerned about the "disappearance" of quite a large sum of money (see original post).

Also, much of the dealings have been done without transparency. Please note that my brother was the only family member who was privvy to all of this.

Indeed, his solicitor was employed in the ward of court case, and subsequent Life Loan.

It should be obvious to anyone that if I was interested in money, I would have questioned all of this a few years ago.

It is only in light of recent events i.e. my mother and my brother making great efforts to get me out of the family home, for no good reason, that I feel something is not quite kosher about the whole deal...

I have written to the solicitor; he has stonewalled me completely.

Thanks,

Joe
 
Vanilla said:
At a guess I'd say it was necessary for your mother to make your father a ward of court as he was either sole owner of their house or joint owner. She needed to release some equity from the house, he wasn't competent to sign loan documents, therefore made him a ward of court. When someone is made ward of court all dealings with their property must pass approval of the high court, wards of court. So evidently someone passed judgement on the need to release equity, thought it was a good idea and gave the okay[ ie someone totally independant of your family).

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Again, this sounds quite probable.


But, is there accountability for the monies released?

Surely an independent body would require proof that the money was used properly?

I am certain that only a small fraction of the 70,000 was used for my father's care; he was in a state hospital, not a private nursing home.

Also, funeral expenses were minimal.

As someone who lived in the house, I certainly did not see any home improvements or life changes that would account for a large sum of money.

thanks,

Joe
Click to expand...
 
I don't think you have any rights in this case - that is if you are over 18. The house was likely to have been in joint names of your mother and father so any money raised would legitimately have been used by your mother for her own purposes (possibly including giving it to your brother).
As you don't have any rights to the house you have no right to find out information if your mother doesn't want to tell you (unless as previous posters have pointed out your father was intestate and a share might have gone to the children). Similarly your mother would have no right to inquire into financing arrangements of any home you owned.

Contacting your mother's solicitor is useless - it will only aggravate relationships. So find out (from the probate office) if your father had a will and if so and if you were not left any right to the house by him then you have to drop this matter. You might feel annoyed - maybe you are entitled to - but that is a relationship matter not a legal matter.
 
You keep saying the solicitor was your brother's solicitor. It seems to me it's your mother's solicitor. You have no right to see your mother's will. If she inherited the house from your father she can leave the house to whomsoever she pleases. The fact you lived in the house and paid your way does not give you any entitlments. 70K since 2003 is not a lot of money. Did your mother use this to live on. There may have been some debts to deal with. If she is entitled to take out the loan it is none of your business what she did with it. Sorry if this sounds harsh but you have not demonstrated how anything was underhand or illegal. Your mother seems to have done the right thing by getting your father made a ward of court as you acknowledge he had Alzheimer's disease.
 
Thank you for all the replies. I shall seek the services of a solicitor.

regards,

Joe
 
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