Q: Should I sign beneficiary paperwork if I plan on contesting the % since the POA changed them to better her position?
POA (stepmom) reduced mine & brothers %s by 20% each & increased hers by 40%. Dad had altzheimers & couldn’t have made the decision at the time it was changed. Poa had authority with restrictions to follow estate plan.
A:
Your attorney should be answering this question for you. That said, I would probably go ahead and take the lower percentage. Once the litigation begins, the company distributing the money may freeze the account. And, you may need the money to help pay for the costs of litigation. But, even if you don't need the money, you don't want it to be frozen for years, and decreasing in value due to inflation, while awaiting the results of the litigation.
Additionally, you have a good argument here. You may even get a burden shift.
"In such a case, a presumption of undue influence arises, and the donee bears the burden going forward and showing, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the gift was free from undue influence."
Modie v. Andrews, C.A. NO. 19543, 2000 Ohio App. LEXIS 3333 (Ct. App. July 26, 2000)
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