The inquirer, an adult son has found that since his father died, that nothing has happened in relation to winding up the estate.

He contacted his sister.  The sister had a Power of Attorney over the father’s estate, and said that all of the money had been given to her by the father before the father died, and there was nothing left.

The father had moved in with the sister, sold his house, and perhaps all of his funds had been pooled with those of the sister.

The sister also said the father had given her a gift of $200,000, and had employed her and paid her $900 a week for looking after him.  The inquirer also believes that the sister’s husband was  receiving a carer’s pension for looking after his father-in-law

Under the legislation for Powers of Attorney the sister should be liable to repay any monies misappropriated, but this can be difficult to prove, and it can be very hard to trace funds.

This is not a Will dispute problem, but more a matter of fraud and abuse of a Power of Attorney.

If funds can be claimed back and they go back into the estate, then perhaps the inquirer can contest the Will successfully, so long as he has financial need and had a sufficiently close relationship with the father.