I'm in my mid 30s. I have a decent career making decent money. Unfortunately, I'm a bit of a n00b when it comes to financial planning. I'm looking for advice on how to best handle this situation.
My grandmother is in her 90s and had quite a bit of money saved. She's been able to live comfortably off interest from her savings. Her home is worth well over a million. Both my mother and my Aunt are in their 60s and live with her. Unfortunately, both my mother and my Aunt have problems. One of them has mild schizophrenia. The other is addicted to pain medication. Grandma has always been the responsible and alert one looking after them. The two daughters have the mentality of teenage girls and have pretty much always been reliant on Grandma. The two daughters also scream and physically fight with each other constantly. It's a bad situation.
Other than Grandma, my aunt and mother, I'm the only other family member. I have no siblings or cousins. It's just me. Despite their problems, I care about all three of them very much. Unfortunately, as their physical, mental and drug problems get worse, so too does their decision making. They have fallen for significant scams multiple times in the past 6 months. They also have a tendency to search online for a Prince Charming - which opens them up to many potential scam artists that don't have their best interests in mind. I worry very much about what will happen to my Aunt and Mother once my grandmother passes away.
I haven't taken an active role in my Grandmother's finances. But given the condition her daughters are in, it's becoming very apparent to everyone that I personally am the only level-headed responsible person left in the family once she passes away. Whether or not I'm officially involved, I'm going to be involved one way or the other, because both my Aunt and Mother speak to me daily about their issues. I've asked my Grandmother about how she has her Will set up and currently she says it's just set up to give "half" to each daughter.
I'm concerned about this arrangement for a number of reasons. I can't imagine them living together comfortably indefinitely. I can't imagine them them being able to handle the responsibility of paying bills, taxes, etc. I can't imagine them being able to handle large transactions given how frequently they have been scammed over the past year. Ultimately, it might be in their best interest to sell the house and buy individual condos. And as they get older and their health potentially fails, I'll probably have to be the one to oversee their transition into group homes or things of that nature.
What I'm wondering is... does anyone have any advice on what the ideal situation would be for them? Friends have told me it's in their best interest If I'm made executor of the estate where the daughters are only granted a certain allowance every month and any large transaction needs to be approved by me. Also so that I could potentially oversee the sale of the house in an official capacity as opposed to letting the two daughters kill each other over it. But I'm weary about bringing this up, because I don't want either daughter to think I'm trying to steal their inheritance (unfortunately one of them is paranoid schizophrenic and my grandmother is a little in denial about it).
I also dont' think my grandmother currently has a Financial Planner... just a lawyer who drafted out her will. Would an appropriate next step be to set up a meeting with my grandmother and her lawyer to run by concerns and options with him? I also don't think anyone other than my grandmother knows currently where her fiances are set up... it's just a mess.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Submitted April 01, 2017 at 08:27PM by Duncanthrowsaway http://ift.tt/2nsdGDH
