This could happen to you!

My Brother – Is making me so angry: Help me

My father died five years ago.  He and my mother had a Revocable Family Trust.  Both I and my brother were named as successor Trustee after both mom and dad passed.

After my Father died mom entered an assisted living facility in Arizona.  Both my brother and I also had financial power of attorney.  Since my father had done quite well financially during his working years, and had planned well for retirement, I was not worried about finances. 

My brother lived in Arizona so he took care of the everyday finances for mom and I trusted him completely.  After all, we both loved mom and I knew he would take care of her, and I lived in New York.  I was unable to handle the everyday expenses.

Last month my mom passed away.  After all the emotional stress ended, I was informed by my brother that all of mom’s money had been spent on her care.

Of course I believed him, at first.  However, I started to calculate the amount of expenses it would take to go through the substantial amount of money I knew had been left by my father.

I asked for an accounting and my brother told me to go to he--, so I hired an attorney.

The attorney wrote a demand letter and he brought in only half the documents she asked for.  However, I did get full access to all the accounts.  I have found so many inconsistencies I don’t know what to do now.

There are a number of avenues you can take in this situation.  First, a second demand letter pointing out to the brother his duties as a fiduciary.  Also, that his lack of proper record-keeping could end in a legal action. 

If his brother does not respond properly then an attorney can take legal action.  Of course, these are family members so the best outcome will be a reconciliation where both parties come to an agreement and all is set straight.