QUESTION
Can a sibling have their dying father of 86 sign over his stock without an attorney present in Massachusetts
Asked on Jan 07th, 2020 on Litigation - Massachusetts
More details to this question:
My mom died in December of 1997 at the age of 86. She took one of my siblings out of the will in 1997. After she passed my dad asked if we could have him put back on the sale of the house. He has always been shady and went through a horrible divorce. My siblings and I agreed for my dad. A month before my dad died My father kept telling us not to trust this particular brother and he had us change the locks on his house He died a month later on June 6 1998. He had been in ant out of hospitals since February. We found a contract from my dads company while we were cleaning out the house last week. He owned 7% of the company he worked. I emailed the general partner and he sent me a copy of a contract my dad that he gave my brother his remaining shares. My dads will says all shares and assets only go to the four siblings. We think the contract is forged. there is not witnes and they cant say where he signed it. Is this coercion on an 86 year old man?
1 ANSWER
You've raised a lot of issues. There is no need for an attorney to be present when your father gave or sold his stock to your sibling, however the contract would obviously be invalid if it is forged, if your sibling defrauded your father or used undue influence or duress to get your father to sign it, or if your father was not legally competent when he signed the document. If you believe that any of these situations apply, you can sue to invalidate the contract, but you will have to prove the basis on which you claim the contract is invalid.
Answered on Jan 08th, 2020 at 10:19 AM