Inheritance disappearing

LARD1

Registered User
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17
Hi Folks ,
A brief outline of my dilemma . My father died several years ago and one of my brother lives in family home with my mother .My mother has Alzheimer's but she is manageable and doesn't wander off or anything ...just her memory not great .

My brother gets carers allowance ,he is single and has great patience with my mother and does a great job minding her etc .When my father died he left the house and about 100,00 euro. My mother gets about 420.00 p/w in pensions and this covers all the bills . All good so far!

So here's the thing. Another brother calls over usually once a week ,is very well paid as is his wife. I mean probably taking home between them 1600.00 p/w. They are both professionals with four children. When my brother calls over he is always moaning about having no money, and that they cant afford this and that, holidays, new cars etc. Now in fairness their cars are old, they dont smoke or don't go out for meals or weekends away etc. Their kids though are dressed in the best of gear and always were ie ,Hollister superdry etc. Now when he calls as I have said he is moaning about having no money, petrol, food, clothes or whatever.

The brother that lives with my mother feels sorry for him and maybe a bit intimadated, and has gotten into the habit of giving him my mother's debit card to go and get himself groceries while he is visiting. The rest of us siblings have known about this, havent been too happy with it, but as my brother who gives him the card has said, mother would have done it for anyone of us if she was in her right mind .

Recently I found bank statments from my mother's account and it seems that my brother that's always moaning has been using the card not only to buy groceries (sometimes 300.00 euro or more is spent in Dunnes stores) but also to pay for holidays, TVs, college fees for his kids and even burger king . That 100 K that my father left is now down to 40K, mostly from the brother helping himself.

My mother could live for many more years and if the money keeps depleting her inheritance will be gone and God forbid maybe the house will have to be sold .
So the dilemma is my mother and her children's inheritance is disappearing fast.

My brother has helped himself to nearly 60K but as my mother is still alive he can say he was given it and was not borrowed, so the money does not have to be paid back if mother dies from the proceeds of the her estate . This would leave the rest of us siblings with little inheritance while he has pocketed nearly 60k . My brother who is helping himself, and his wife, earns more than any of his sibling by a country mile and we can't understand how he can't survive on 1600.00 p/w while some of us and our partners are earning less than half of this . He has a mortgage of around 1300.00 p/m so should be well able to live on his income. So what can we do to recuperate money taken already and going forward. Any help appreciated .
 
Have you spoken to him about it? And is the brother who gives him the debit card still doing that?
 
Have you discussed this with the brother who gives him the debit card ? Time you called a family meeting and laid all bare I'm afraid.
 
Have you spoken to him about it? And is the brother who gives him the debit card still doing that?

Brother still getting card from other brother .Not sure if card giver realises how much is been put on card but he has access to bank statements so should know .I am discussing situation with one of my other siblings at moment on how to handle situation . Its sure to cause family tensions but we have to do something pretty soon . We havent spoken to brother who is giving the card yet,but in the past it has been mentioned to him to stop letting other brother use card by some of the other siblings ,but only really in passing.
 
Um frankly that doesn't sound at all good, it sounds closer to theft. Who is responsible for your mother's finances? I doubt you will be able to recuperate the money taken but you need to put a stop to it immediately.
 
I think you need to stop pussy footing around and arrange a meeting among all the siblings asap....How many siblings are there? If the worst comes to the worst and your mother needs full time nursing home care you may find that there is no money there to meet the bills..
 
Take. The. Debit. Card. Away.

Make other arrangements for the finances - two signatures?

Consider if you need to make your mother a Ward of Court - there can be no unauthorised financial dealings on her account if that is done.

And, yes, the brother has got used to this additional source of funding - sure, isn't it what his own mother would want him to have! He probably has no concept of just how much money he has spent - it is a blind spot. A convenient blind spot.

And you may take it that the money is gone, long gone.

mf
 
Elder financial abuse it quite common. A selfish child taking a parents life savings with the attitude of "sure I'm going to get it as inheritance anyway".

It's going to cause hassle with your brother but it's his fault not yours. He has to be told that he's after spending €60,000 over the last few years and that's the end of it, no more debit card. The rest of the money is for your mother and the additional care she may need.


Steven
http://www.bluewaterfp.ie (www.bluewaterfp.ie)
 
Recently i found bank statments from my mothers account and it seems that my brother thats always moaning has been using the card not only to buy groceries (sometimes 300.00 euro or more is spent in Dunnes stores) but also to pay for holidays, TVs, college fees for his kids and even burger king .

Would a bank statement show that a TV was purchased, a meal was had in a Burger King? Is the narrative on the statement that detailed?

Call a family meeting. Have the statements to hand. Ask for an explanation.
 
So €60k over 4 to 5 years?

Just thinking out loud here myself, but would that not bring up tax issues for your brother as the amounts per year would be above the gift tax threshold
 
Would a bank statement show that a TV was purchased, a meal was had in a Burger King? Is the narrative on the statement that detailed?

Call a family meeting. Have the statements to hand. Ask for an explanation.

it should give the name of the retailer or some indication as to where the card was used but not necessarily what it was used for.
 
Brother still getting card from other brother .Not sure if card giver realises how much is been put on card but he has access to bank statements so should know .I am discussing situation with one of my other siblings at moment on how to handle situation . Its sure to cause family tensions but we have to do something pretty soon . We havent spoken to brother who is giving the card yet,but in the past it has been mentioned to him to stop letting other brother use card by some of the other siblings ,but only really in passing.

The problem is not just the brother who gives the card, or the brother who takes the money it is the siblings that have done nothing about it too. If you cannot get rid of the card I suggest you report it to the bank that your mother has Alzheimers and that her card is being abused.

This is going to cause war of course. In addition if you want to keep the family toether you need to agree on what you are going to do in advance with the other siblings. I suggest that you all forget about ever getting the money back, it's highly unlikely, but you can use it against the brother now to get things back on track. I suggest you take a copy of the bank statements to back up your accusations, and make a second copy, when you show your evidence the 'steakling' brother might destroy them.

By the way, it's probably more than 60K. Your mother has a weekly income and if she's not spending all of it then he's gotton that too.
 
One last point, are you sure that the money is purely being spent by the one brother ? It could be a case of combined withdrawels.
 
That's a good point..how do you know that the brother who lives with your mother is not also taking advantage of having access to her funds all the time..
 
Have seen this before and the only advice to you is to speak to all siblings and have a family meeting. This is theft and you need to make this clear to all
 
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