How to Recover Stolen Inheritance
If inheritance is unlawfully taken, legal action, supported by solid evidence and facilitated by a probate attorney, can lead to a restitution order to recover the assets.
stolen inheritance
Legal recourse is available if inheritance is misappropriated. Gathering substantial evidence allows a probate lawyer to seek restitution for the stolen assets.
What to Consider when someone steals inheritance from other beneficiaries
A probate attorney can help you send a legal notice to the person or people responsible for the theft of your inheritance. In many instances, you can identify the thief and what bank accounts, if any, were depleted of funds. A person who steals from an estate can face the consequences, such as confiscating the stolen property, or they can return the item in exchange for the dismissal of all charges. When confronted with a lawsuit, most people will gladly return the assets in question.
If the parties involved fail to return the stolen inheritance, you can take them to court. If someone has stolen your inheritance and you can provide sufficient evidence, your probate attorney can file a petition for a restitution order. Generally, the court will impose a fine for inheritance theft and order the convicted party to pay for all related filing fees, legal costs, damages, and other legal ramifications.
What Is Considered Stolen Inheritance?
Most cases of stolen inheritances involve some form of deception. The theft of an inheritance can be petty or involve multiple assets. Someone close to you, whether a relative, health care provider, friend, or employee, may start stealing inheritance from a beneficiary when they are most vulnerable. For instance, thieves may target an empty house to make off with valuables within the funeral period. Here are some other forms of inheritance theft:
- An executor or attorney uses their authority to extort inheritance money from their client or make unfavorable choices without consulting the beneficiaries.
- When your executor uses pressure or manipulation to force you to make decisions, you don’t want to and do not follow their fiduciary duty.
- When a relative, friend, or executor of your will attempts or is successful at stealing estate assets.
- Attempting to or using trust funds for personal gain.
- When your trustee or executor overcharges for their work.
- When someone involved in the will or trust documents, such as the executor, or attorney, commits fraud through undue influence.
Key Considerations when Recovering Stolen Inheritance
Who Stole the Inheritance?
The most common perpetrators of inheritance theft are close relatives. Greed is the primary motivation, while others steal to fund their substance abuse or because they feel compelled by financial constraints.
What Was Stolen?
The attorney needs to know what was taken to devise a recovery strategy. The first thing how to recover stolen inheritance is to consider is usually inheritance funds, which might be the most difficult to trace and retrieve. Also, you may have misplaced some valuable items passed down through the family or other assets, such as a car, real estate, or even a plot of land. While filing a lawsuit against the individual who stole from you, you should provide the lawyer with a copy of the will that details the inheritance.
How Was It Stolen?
To steal from a vulnerable older person, a thief will often earn their trust before resorting to deception, lying, intimidation, manipulation, or forgery. It means that theft is possible when they are alive or deceived. It could involve stealing jewelry and other valuables from the decedent’s possessions or as intricate as stealing an estate meant for the beneficiaries.
When Did The Theft Take Place?
A lot rode on the timeline when the theft occurred. Commonly, a thief will have been stealing inheritance for some time. If someone has stolen your inheritance, it will help your case if you can provide details about how they did it. Was this someone who knew the departed well? Perhaps they convinced the deceased to name them in the will as executors, or they were able to convince the vulnerable party to change the will. In the worst case, they wrote others off because they were too ambitious.
When a close relative steals from you, it may be because of coercion or fear. You can prove whether the theft was planned or an impulse buy by collecting evidence that backs up your timeline. To help you assess whether the case is worth pursuing, this is one of the first considerations of a lawyer when you go to them for help.
Is a Lawsuit Worth It?
Before taking on your case, your attorney will want to know if it has any chance of success. If you’ve recently had valuables taken, you feel rather emotional now. Especially if the loved one who passed away left you their property and possessions. We agree a lawsuit is the best option to ensure justice is served. There are occasions when the investment of time and resources is pointless. Let’s consider everything that could play a role in determining whether or not you should file a lawsuit.
The Cost of the Lawsuit
Remember to factor in attorney fees when estimating how much it will cost to sue someone. Adding a lawsuit to the court’s schedule will also cost you. To help you budget, consider how much money you will lose if you skip work for court proceedings.
Value Of Inheritance
Your inherited wealth must satisfy the set value requirement in various states. For example, to pursue a lawsuit, you might require an inheritance of at least $3,000. The value needs to be at least $3,000 in various states. Your probate lawyer will end the case if the filing does not match these criteria.
Evidence to Prove your Case
Insufficient evidence can be a significant obstacle when trying to prove your case. To win your case in court, you’ll need to undertake some investigating to gather the supporting documentation you’ll need to present as proof. An inventory is essential to pinpoint the stolen assets. Large cash transactions from trust funds or beneficiary changes in the life insurance or retirement funds are possible red flags.
You might need to show the foul play involved, for instance, if the deceased was coerced into changing the title or beneficiaries and list someone other than a family member as a beneficiary. You can hire a forensic accountant to examine financial records in the event of stolen inheritance. However, you won’t have to worry about this if your attorney handling the estate engages a specialist.
When is Stealing from an Estate a Criminal Charge?
In most cases, an inheritance stolen from an estate rarely results in criminal prosecution. And unless you file a lawsuit, the criminal court will not hear it. That means the victim must be committed to pursuing criminal charges and go through the motions of filing the complaint. In most cases, family members or close acquaintances are reluctant to press criminal charges due to concerns about reputational damage and possible jail time.
Penalties for Stealing from an Estate
Turnover
As a beneficiary of an estate, you can file a discovery and turnover proceeding. If the turnover is granted, the perpetrator will return the wrongfully acquired property to the rightful owner. A case can be discussed with the decedent’s estate being paid back due to attorney’s fees.
Surcharge
If a beneficiary believes another recipient has taken more than they are entitled to, they can request the probate court to penalize that recipient. Suppose the executor is also a beneficiary and doing a fraudulent activity, and the court discovers that they have been stealing from the estate. In that case, the court can recover the executor’s portion of the estate, thereby distributing some or all of the executor’s share to the other beneficiaries.
Discharge of executor
It is possible to appoint a new administrator or executor of an estate if there is sufficient evidence of the current executor’s fiduciary misconduct and a suitable removal procedure is initiated. The most typical penalty for stealing inheritance is the removal of the accused person and the termination of their administration documents.
The ultimate purpose of filing this petition is to have the court issue an order revoking the executor’s power. When a person’s letters of testamentary are revoked, they no longer have any say as executors of the estate. When one fiduciary’s term ends, the estate is turned over to a new administrator. In the absence of a willing or qualified heir, the court provides a public administrator to manage the estate’s finances and oversee the distribution of its assets. Talk to your attorney about the range of outcomes that could occur in the probate process.
Attorneys’ fees
Another possible penalty for stolen inheritance is when the executors pay for legal representation with estate funds. The executor may be required to pay the estate’s legal fees if a court rules that they have misappropriated estate assets. In some circumstances, the court can require the executor to cover the beneficiaries’ legal costs.
Criminal penalty
Charges of theft from an estate that involve a significant amount of money and are proven with convincing evidence can lead to criminal prosecution. Sometimes, a person may be sentenced to prison for their criminal behavior.
Take Away
Making sure you have an estate plan that is complete and up-to-date is essential to prevent stolen inheritance and stay out of probate court. Having your legal documents in order provides extra security for your property when you pass away by making it more difficult for anyone to contest your wishes. Here’s where Industry Leader comes in; we’ll draft the legal documents for you to use in estate planning that will provide you peace of mind.
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