My husband has a 104 year old grandpa that passed away. In 1972 he left 50 acres to his 5 children. He left one daughter as the power of attorney. My husband dad died and the pow revoked his portion of land. When the grandmother died the poa had the grandpa sign a transfer on death certificate. The poa gave her two siblings (1) got 9 acres out of the 50. The (2) other got 20 out of the 50 acres. Is there any way to contest this? The poa did not hesitate to have it recorded and kept all of the savings as well.

First, its not a good idea to piggyback your question on someone else's thread. To avoid confusion I've moved your post to its own thread.

Your post is unclear. When did he die? Was there a will? A Power of Attorney expires on death so, if the daughter used the POA to transfer property after death that was not legal.

The way you have written this, the poa had the grandpa, who was already dead, 'sign a transfer on death certificate' (whatever that means) after the grandmother, presumably his wife, died. None of this makes sense.

Please be gentle I'm new to this site!!


In 1972 my husbands grandfather and grandma divided 50 acres between each of there five children which included my father in law, by means of a will. Both of the grandparents name are on the deed. The grandparents left only one of the daughters as the poa
This past year we lost my father in law. The week after his death the aunt who is the poa had the will changed and took back the land that was suppose to go to my father in law.
Within six months after the death of my father in law, his grandma also passed away. She was in her late 80 and suffered from dimentia and was not mentally all there. After the grandma passed away the poa had the grandpa sign a transfer on death deed in which she is the sole benificiary of all the land and money.
Months later we lost his grandpa who was 104 and still had a sound mind. The poa gave 9 acres to one of her siblings and 20 acres to the other siblings and kept the rest for herself. Is there any way to contest this? We also recently found out that the poa has already had the tranfer on death recorded at the county.

Unfortunately, from what you write now, it does sound all legal. Your grandpa changed his mind since 1972. A will written 50 years ago, or 5, or 5 days ago, is void if another one is written.
I'm not really seeing this as unfair. It's sad that your husband's father died before his grandparents did, but it's common enough for the remaining siblings to be the sole heirs. The will will state if this is the case or not.
This happens often when 1 child is nearby or living with and tending to parents in their last years.
You say that the grandpa was of sound mind at 104. He was the last to die, after your husband's father and then grandpa's wife. Unless that wife had a will leaving her portion of property to people other than her husband, grandpa's last will is what counts. He changed the deed to the house and land while he was still alive to include his daughter and it included right of survivorship. He presumably changed the will too, or made her a cosigner of bank accounts, or beneficiary of them.
You should be able to at least see a copy of the deed at city hall, and a copy of the will at the probate court. Finding out about bank accounts might require getting proof from her, or possibly the bank will tell your husband.
The land division appears to be: 9 acres to 1, 20 acres to 2, and 21 for herself. This may or may not be equal valuation.
But he may have given her more than 1/4!
Contesting would take years, tons of money, and your husband would not win, because his father died, unless the will stated that grandchildren inherited if children died. You would start by getting copies of the old and last wills. I doubt that he has a suit.

I have 2 questions:

1) Where is this happening at as the laws are different in most states.

2) Did the great grandfather agree to the new will and participated in its writing or did the sister (POA) change the will herself?

Ok, your clarifications help. And I tend to agree with Joy. After your father-in-law died, his father changed the will to remove your father-in-law. Thereby cutting off your father-in-laws progeny. His Grandpa was of sound mind, then they would stand. When Grandma died, Grandpa because sole owner and signed the transfer on death deed, thereby making the will void with respect to the property.

The only way I see you successfully contesting the transfer is if you can prove undue influence on grandpa. And that would be difficult and costly. For some reason your father-in-laws sister, wanted his family to not share in grandpa's estate and managed to get that done.

Let us separate out what matters and what doesn't:

A will, doesn't do a thing until the person or persons who write it (the testator or testators) dies. This will (Not clear whether one or both of the grandparents signed it. Normally both husband an wife each sign separate wills.) written in '72 would not have changed title to the land as you suggest. It would only be effective on death.

The father-in-law (son of the grandparents) died last year. The OP's aunt, and the father-in-law's sister evidently, had a POA from the grandparents. She supposedly had the will changed. A holder of a power of attorney cannot change her principal's will, in most states. So I am not sure if what she sought to do was valid. Perhaps what OP means is that the aunt talked the grandparents into changing their will. If grandmother was demented at the time, she wouldn't have the capacity to change her will.

Anyway, next grandmother died. After she died, the grandfather conveyed the property to the aunt. Grandfather then died, and the aunt conveyed portions of the property to herself and various family members.

As has been suggested, I do not see how a POA is relevant, with the exception of her supposedly changing the will (which I don't think she can do). Furthermore, the will doesn't appear to have any effect either except as follows.

The original will would remain in effect if the grandmother attempted to change it without still having the mental capacity to do so. If she owned, at the time of her death, an interest in the property (unless it was a joint tenancy with right of survivorship), her interest would pass by (the original will), and the grandfather's subsequent attempt to give the property to the aunt would be invalid (with respect to grandmother's interest).