Father With Alzheimer’s Wants to Change His Will

I’m Reed Bloodworth, Founder and CEO of Bloodworth Law, PLLC, in Orlando and Winter Haven.

I’m a Florida estate and trust litigation attorney and today I would like to talk about what happens when a father with Alzheimer’s wants to change his will and dissolve his business partnership.

This is an estate and trust litigation scenario where a father and son came together and formed a construction company partnership. They ran this construction company together as father and son partners for 25 years.

Then, in the last two years of the father’s life, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

Also, just prior to that, the son started a separate business a consulting business and a single-member LLC.

During the time period after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and prior to his death, the father began accusing the son of stealing from the company.

The problems continued when the father accused the son of stealing money, of stealing equipment, of starting a company unbeknownst to him competing against the partnership.

Dissolve The Business Partnership, And Change His Will

The father wanted to dissolve the business partnership and eventually wanted to just keep it all for himself. And please recall, this is all taking place while this gentleman had Alzheimer’s.

This is when the father with Alzheimer’s wants to change his will.

Sadly the father passes away. At the time of his passing the father had not instituted any litigation against the son pertaining to his allegations of theft and fraud and things of that nature.

The wife of the husband and mother of the son in this scenario was named personal representative in the decedent’s will. Prior to his death his will was not changed. The mother and son were the beneficiaries of the will, nor did the will address how the partnership was to be handled after the father’s death.

Lawsuit Based on Allegations From Person with Alzheimer’s?

The mother’s question in this scenario was “can I bring a lawsuit based upon my husband’s allegations against my son and should I?”

Well, the answer to the first question is yes. As a personal representative, the wife had the ability to bring a lawsuit against the son, if in her role of personal representative she believed that there were assets there that could be brought into the estate.

However, should she do that is a different situation. Her husband and the father of the son in that scenario had Alzheimer’s which ultimately is attributed to his death. So should the wife institute some type of lawsuit based upon the statements made by someone with severe Alzheimer’s?

Breach of Fiduciary Duty?

As I said, both the son and the wife were beneficiaries under the will. Instituting a lawsuit against one of the beneficiaries to bring assets into the will’s estate only to be redistributed to the son and the wife doesn’t make a lot of sense.

It could potentially be a breach of fiduciary duty by the wife. But the recommendation would be based on what the client wanted to do.

What Happens to Assets of the Partnership?

The other question at that juncture is what happens to the assets of the partnership?

Well, the son and the wife could discuss that and make that decision on their own or they could pass the assets, his share of the assets of the partnership, could pass into the probate estate. But again, there are different scenarios here that could be worked out.

But the bottom line here is should the wife institute a lawsuit against her son based upon statements made by her husband who had Alzheimer’s?

If you have a difficult legal decision to make about a will or a trust, speak with an experienced estate or trust litigator to help provide you with legal options.