My 87 year old grandmother was diagnosed with dementia in 2007. She passed away January 30th 2014. The reverse mortgage application was submitted late December 2013. Loan was approved and funds were wired to her account January 3rd on that same day, my aunt (her daughter) withdrew a portion of the money, 8 days later, she withdrew ALL of the remaining money. My aunt lived with my grandmother and was her power of attorney. She had access to all of her personal information. I also discovered that the counseling was done by phone. I truly believe it was my aunt who conducted the interview. She doesn't work and has lived off my grandmother for years. The time in which the loan was obtained, and my grandmothers passing are so close. I suspected fraud immediately. I intend to fight till the end to clear my grandmothers name, but does it seem as if I have a strong and valid case?
I'm putting money on the theory that the counselling session on the phone was recorded. That can probably be subpoenaed.
This kind of garbage goes on all the time within families. It's not unusual. I'd advise you to seek out an elder law attorney, and see what (s)he has to say about it and what your next steps might be.
If, for instance, she left the house to her grandchildren, well, there'll be a home to sell and a mortgage to pay off from proceeds.
If she had it in trust for the grandchildren, same thing. The grandchildren would inherit the house as the contingent beneficiaries, and they'd be left with a house to sell and a mortgage to pay off from proceeds.
Even if you proved fraud, chances of actually getting that money back may still be slim. From what I'm reading about reverse mortgages, the maximum amount available for lending would be 80% of value. And the maximum one would be able to access in the first year would be 60%. nolo/legal-encyclopedia/reverse-mortgages-retirees-seniors-30277.html
If auntie and uncle were the inheritors of the house, no harm no foul. *shrug*
I still don't understand why gram's name needs clearing. Auntie and uncle were her children. If they've benefited from the reverse mortgage, and it allowed them to be happy just walking away from the house? They're actually pretty crafty.
It's not as if a reverse mortgage lets them borrow scads of equity out of the house. Maybe they needed that money to live on and support gram....?
Good luck..
Q, if you really feel that the women-folk should just work for free as a caregiver & should be just grateful to get free room & board you probably are not going to get much empathy in this. Ditto for your being upset that they left the house that you are supposed to inherit dirty.
I wouldn't be surprised if that old secret will done in 1993 was replaced by another with your aunt & uncle (the caregivers) as the heirs. 20 years is a long, long time and who grannie favored back then could have changed over time. Aunt was named POA after all. There is going to be a good deal of money you will have to pay for discovery on all this. Pam is right, you will need hard evidence and doing discovery is going to have a pretty good paralegal costs alone.
Was grannie on Medicaid or on any community based state subsidized program? If so, the states MERP program will have a claim or lien on the property ahead of you. Emotions aside, it may not be worth spending time & $$ on all this if that is the case.
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