Location: California
I’m posting on behalf of my 87 year old mother. She married a lovely man 4 years ago, becoming his third wife, the previous two wives deceased. He had a trust in place , which he amended to provide 50k to her upon his death, along with a small insurance policy. The majority of his estate passes to his last remaining daughter from marriage #1 (55 years). My mom and her husband signed prenups to protect their respective estates. They were truly in love and it was heartwarming to see octogenarians happy and acting like teenagers for a couple of years. They moved in together into his home, while she rented out hers. They combined incomes and bills.
The last year of his life was constant battle medically with a broken hip, a stroke, partial blindness, recurring bowel cancer and finally, hospice at home. My mom was with him the entire time, nursed him and ignored her own failing health.
Two weeks before his death, unbeknownst to my mom, he called his investment broker and asked him to sign over a retirement fund that he had inherited from wife #2 (they were married 7 years) to my mom. The fund was not part of the family trust, but the account listed his beneficiaries to his stepdaughters, the children of wife # 2. The broker was apparently not happy about this, but called my mom and asked where to deposit the funds (30k). My mom was surprised about the gift and asked it be put in their joint checking account. The broker reported the transaction to the other family members.
The stepdaughters of wife #2 are upset and claiming undue influence from my mom, and suggest that their stepfather was out of it due to opiate use during his hospice care. They keep suggesting that they are going to sue her, as the money was promised to them upon his death, as it was their mother’s money.
After wife#2 death, the daughters were vultures and demanded 1/2 of funds that were in the couple’s joint bank accounts, which they received. They also cleaned out a lot of the household items after her death and even returned for another clean out , 5 years after their mom’s death, upon the death of my mom’s husband.
They are now threatening to sue the estate as well. This has rattled the daughter on Wife#1, who is the executor of the trust. She has enlisted several family members to call and harass my mom to give the money back. In addition, she’s threatening to withhold the 50K payout that my mom is due upon the sale of the family home.
This is in California and she has not had even a demand letter from an attorney, just threats from both previous families. Understandably, this is upsetting to her as she tried to develop close friendships with her husband’s family during her marriage.
My question is what would her best recourse be at this point?
My feeling is that a lawsuit to prove undue influence would be very difficult, and potentially cost more than 30k, the amount in question. I keep reassuring my mom that it’s all just threats as this point, and on the extremely remote chance that they did get a judgement, it would be almost impossible to collect until after her death, as her only income is social security and pension and her only asset is her home. Should I be worried? I’m the executor of my mom’s estate when the time comes and I want to know what I should be prepared for.