This is happening to my grandmother. She passed away and we have found out that her home healthcare worker was in her will? My grandmother was of sound mind and would have definitely mentioned it to me since I'm in the will and close with her my question is, is that even legal? Since the worker was employed at the home care services? and only been around my grandmother for about a year.
It's also possible your g'ma was very appreciative of the care she received. Also positive she was not in 'sound mind' like you think. You weren't there. You have to physically participate in someone's life to know what's going on. People who can be taken advantage of, or memory issues/etc, can be very coherent when talking to outsiders while being mentally diminished with those around them all the time. You may never really know what her mental capacity was prior to her death simply because you were not there.
Did anyone else go into the home regularly (from the family)? If not, it would seem you may just have to go with the assumption that she was cared for well, got to stay in her home, and was happy via the care of outsiders.
And may be difficult in court.
The fact that your grandmother gave this caregiver 1/3 of the estate is odd. I could understand a token of appreciation but 1/3 seems to be strange.
the agency would have nothing to say about this (unless it has happened previously, you might want to ask about that.)
Before you contest the Will you might want to discuss it with the lawyer, the one that drew up the will, unless this was a written note/letter added later just to determine how or if your grandmother was influenced.
"...unless this was a written note/letter added later " referring to addition of the caregiver. Only a properly prepared and executed Codicil to a Will would be binding. It would also specifically include statements referencing the original Will, and clearly stating that the Codicil modified the Will of _____ date. That ties the two together.
Also, as to SSAretired's comment: An attorney who prepared a Will and is named as the Executor/trix is not unusual. I saw that frequently in Wills prepared by firms for which I worked, and in fact sometimes the attorney was named as Executor/trix b/c the testator/trix lacked confidence in the family. Another valid reason could be that there were complicated provisions and bequests in the Will that would challenge someone w/o legal experience.
I also suppose Alva's observations and conclusions.
GeeWhiz, how often were you able to see or talk to your GM?
He told his caregiver that he wanted absolutely nothing in return for his generosity.
The caregiver was not expected to move into his room after the marriage. She remained living in her private room.
You never know what people will decide to do with their money and estate.