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Your Father Has Dementia in the Orlando, Florida Area and Your Stepmother Says She Owns Everything

Your father has dementia; and your stepmother says she owns everything. Your father is currently married to his second wife, your stepmother. Your mother was your father’s first wife, but she is deceased. You are a child from the first marriage. Your father never made a last will and testament. Now, he cannot legally make a will because he has dementia. He is not expected to live much longer because he has severe health problems. You are concerned about what will happen to his estate if your father dies.

What Can you do? You can see a Guardianship Attorney to discuss your options regarding this matter. The attorney will discuss the Guardianship Law and how it applies to your situation. You can then discuss options on how you wish to proceed in this matter.  

You need to make sure you discuss with the attorney whether there is any financial exploitation or elder abuse occurring. You need to determine if a guardianship should be set up, or if an injunction for protection against exploitation of a vulnerable adult should be filed. You need to discuss who would be the guardian of your father and the responsibilities of a guardian

You can discuss with the attorney whether it is appropriate to file a petition for plenary guardianship of your father. The Guardian of the Property, if appointed by the court, would control your father’s finances. The Guardian of the Person, if appointed by the court, would make the medical decisions of your father, unless there is a health care surrogate. It would depend on whether the court left the health care surrogate in place or revoked it. However, a plenary guardianship can only be set up if your father is found by the three-member examining committee to be incapacitated. 

If you are concerned as to what you will receive from the estate when your father dies, you can discuss that with the attorney also. As to who obtains what from your father’s estate when he dies, if your father has not made a will, then Florida Statute 732-Intestate Succession and Wills would control as to the distribution of your father’s estate. That chapter specifically lays out what relatives inherit from the estate if there is no will.  However, if either you, your stepmother, or anyone else are on accounts with your father, depending on how the account is titled, the account may pass outside the probate estate and go directly to the beneficiary on the account. Further, you can discuss with the attorney about petitioning the court to be appointed as the personal representative of your father’s estate.  

If you have more questions regarding a Guardianship Law and Probate  Law matter, you may call Ann Marie Giordano Gilden at Ann Marie Giordano Gilden, P.A. at 407-732-7620 and set an initial consultation. You may also visit my website at: https//:www.AnnMarieGildenLaw.com

This article is for informational purposes only; and it does not form an attorney client privilege.