By Bonnie King
Salem-News.com
Mar-31-2009
Financial elder abuse is a bigger problem than the authorities can manage. BUT~ isn't that their job?
Erna Boldt came to the U.S. in the 1950's as a war bride. She worked all her life, creating a stable home and a financially secure future.
In 1998 she created an Estate Plan, in which she gave half of everything she owned to her son, upon her death.
"He knew all along that whatever I put in my estate plan, was for after my death," Erna Boldt said. "In fact I gave him half of it so he would have access to everything. But the way it turned out, the courts gave him all of it. It just doesn't stand to reason. Why? Because he had a smart attorney. But I feel he didn't outsmart me because I caught on."
Leroy Newton, Erna's only child, is an investment banker in California. Erna trusted his knowledge and advice. The next thing she knew, her house, her stocks and all her worldly goods were the property of her son. Far before her death.
She appealed his creation of a trust that kept her from accessing her own money, and she won.
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