I’m pro se, litigating against the former conservator of my 90-year-old father for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and elder financial abuse. He failed to apply for VA benefits and never implemented a 2017 CalVet Memory Care plan he proposed. That led to $500,000+ in avoidable losses; my father is now financially depleted and at risk of institutionalization.
The conservator, his attorney, and the court-appointed counsel have been aligned. At the last conservatorship hearing, they jointly requested mediation. Judge said mediation only if all parties consent; I said I was open but needed time. They also asked for a “global mediation” covering conservatorship and trust; judge denied—mediation applies only to the conservatorship (different judge handles the trust).
Five business days before the hearing, they filed a last-minute response to my objection trying to discredit me. I filed a supplemental rebuttal declaration, which was accepted. I think their six-year VA inaction leaves them vulnerable, which may explain their mediation request. Judge directed me to submit a final declaration limited to conservatorship accounting objections by August 28. What I need guidance on:
Should I consent to mediation now—does it hurt leverage or show weakness?
How to approach the Aug 28 declaration limited to accounting issues?
Title idea: Declaration of Sheri Geoffreys Opposing Approval of the Conservatorship Accounting and Request for Denial of Fees and Surcharge. Include “surcharge” in title, or is my already-filed surcharge petition sufficient?
Summary & detailed objections: failure to apply for VA benefits; avoidable private-pay caregiving vs. CalVet; improper/excess charges; failure to preserve assets. Some entries are in the 4th/5th Accountings (already approved) based on our belief in 2017 that CalVet was underway. Now we know it wasn’t; mismanagement from Aug 2020. How do I object to already-approved entries while opposing the 6th Accounting?
Remedies to request: deny approval (6th, possibly 5th/4th), deny fees, impose surcharge, refer to APS.
Exhibits: 2017 emails re VA/CalVet, timeline of delays and costs, financial summaries showing depletion.
Hello — My mother changed my father’s Will. In October 2020, my mother requested that I review my father’s Will that was left on his laptop so that it may be notarized. At this time, my father was bedridden with Lewy body dementia and Parkinson’s disease.
In this version of his Will, the house was left solely to me to inherit. After reviewing the Will, I informed my mother that the house was left to me. I showed her my father’s laptop so that she could view this section of the Will, which declared my father is “not married” and that the house would go to me.
She immediately requested that we go visit my father in his bedroom. When we did, we asked if his intention was to leave the house to me. He replied along the lines of, “I can’t deal with this right now.” My mother and I then exited the room.
I memorialized the conversation between my mother and myself in a text message to my then-girlfriend. In these messages, I describe what I saw in the Will, my mother’s reaction to the Will, my father’s statement, and the conversation between my mother and myself after speaking to my father.
We had never asked my father again to explain his Will. The Will was notarized a couple of days later in the presence of two neighbors, myself, my mother, father, and the notary.
I moved to Seattle with my partner in May 2022. I requested a copy of the Will from my mother in September 2022, shortly after a stay in a psychiatric hospital in Seattle. When I received the Will, I noticed that it had been changed, and the provision of the house was completely deleted.
I sent emails to my mother and asked her why she had changed the Will, and if the original laptop was still in existence. She denied changing the Will and claimed that my father dictated his wishes that he wanted in the Will in front of the neighbors. She suggested that due to my mental health, I did not remember the provisions in the Will that I reviewed.
When I replied to the email that she was lying, and I had text messages that would confirm this, she didn’t reply.
I acquired a copy of the deed to the house through Minnesota attorney. On this deed of the house, it says that my mother and father owned the house as a married couple — although they were never married.
My father succumbed to his condition and passed away on December 19, 2022.
My grandmother died a while ago, and her house is still in her name. There was a will, but it was never enacted, and the deadline is long past. Who gets the property?
My father died in January 2023. My brother and I are co-beneficiaries of the estate in Sedgwick County, Kansas. I declined to serve as co-trustee and co-executor because I live out of state state, so my brother is serving in both those positions. I also signed a waiver of bond and agreed to the use of the Kansas Simplified Estate Act. He promised monthly phone calls and to settle the estate quickly. I’ve spoken to him twice in two years. He refuses to give me information, won’t put the house up for sale, won’t sell the vehicles — I could go on. What can I do? I’d like to get as much information as possible; I’m sure a letter from an attorney will get his attention. I’d appreciate guidance. Thank you.
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