Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I posted a few months ago and got one response about getting a lawyer. My Mother-in-law is in a retirement home and pretty clueless about taking care of her affairs. I gather that the notary that was handling her case at the time of my Father-in-law's death did not perhaps get the best price for a triplex that was worth at least 300,000. The Mother-in-law's deceased husband left her 40,000 in debt. Thus the bank put a lien on the building. The building is held under a corporation. A notary was hired to help figure out the mess. Turns out the secretary in a office next to the notary's office bought the building. My Mother in law turns out to have only 20,000 left in the corporation account as of today.
The building was never put up for sale apparently with a realtor. I will be going to check out at the registry office how much the building was sold for.
The Mother in law thinks she was left with 70,000 after all the dust settled. It seems pretty screwy. My SO who is the son hasn't spoken to his Mother since his father idea in 2005. This is all coming out now since they are now speaking. The building was sold by the way in 2006. Any comments? Ideas? I know there is a lot of investigating that needs to be done as well as legalities.
Last edited by cazelais; 08-18-2007 at 12:05 PM..
Reason: I didn't explain it very well.
A couple questions to start. Do you mean a notary public in spanish? or the american version of a notary? The reason I ask is because the spanish version is actually an attorney, while the american version is simply a notary. If the "notary" was just a typical notary, they wouldn't be involved in any decision making, or even advise. Their job is to be completely impartial, and simply provide a witness to document signings.
GregTraub offers you the best advice, in getting a real estate attorney is the way to go. The house selling to someone next door to the notary's office could be one of two things. They could be in "cahoots" and splitting a profit from a resale, or it could have been someone in close proximity looking for an investment. I would definitely take a look and see if the sold property is back on the market, or has been resold.
The person hired to put things in order, and sell the house, would likely have had a fiduciary duty to the mother in law, and any other client who had power of attorney for the sale. So with that in mind, if they sold it for much less than value, and took advantage, it could scream lawsuit.
It's worth looking into, at the very least for piece of mind. There could be a large sum of money to recover. If the house has not sold, a court could reverse the sale as well.
I'm thinking speed is of the essence...so move quickly. Be sure and interview your real estate attorney before you actually hire them. Your initial talk about your situation should be a good measure of if you wish to hire them or not. You want someone aggressive and knowledgeable.
useJeff, thanks for your response. I smell a rat with this situation. A lot of renovation was put into this triplex and it breaks my heart to see some stranger profit off of it. I lived in the building for 16 years and did some renovating myself as well with my SO when we lived there. I will like I said before have to pursue what happened. Ending up with 20,000 left a year later when she already has a pension is really messed up!
She receives 1400 per month as well as 700 from her Grandson. The Grandson has power of attorney. The Grandson says he gives her 700. I don't know about the notary but I am beginning to think the culprit of the money disappearing may be due to the Grandson. He is all about money and last year bought a mercedes and is only 25 years old. We are waiting for bank print outs and will not leave any stone unturned. It's just too fishy. She was moved into a more expensive home as well which once again her best interests were not serve. She has been sent a lawyer's paper to remit a bill for 2,000 of unpaid rent from the last home. A lot of things are not adding up.
What kind of job does the grandson have? It's unlikely he's making enough at 25 to buy a mercedes, but is possilbe. But missing money and a mercedes????? I'd immediately contact an elder care attorney. Someone really needs to get into court asap and legally review the bills, payments, etc. She may need to have a guardian appointed for her. Who is giving you the bank printouts?
Printouts on Mother in law approvals with her bank. But there are other banks as well. He has all the paperwork. This guy is starting to look worse and worse
as my SO is making calls and finding out more. Well, more than just a mercedes was bought!!!! I mean come on. He is running a business with a business savvy woman he has been with for three or more years now. She has a mecedes too so he wanted to have his own. He bought her a big diamond ring too. She just inherited some big money. He got the ring and car last year. Anyway, looks like we will gather some more info. Can't really afford a lawyer either. I would like to see justice served if he took gross advantage of the Mother in law. Really just justice served at the least. We will turn it over to the police when we get enough info. Will go to past banks with death certificate where mortgage was held, tax records, corporate annual reports ect.
I don't know what state you live in, but there are laws about this kind of scenario. Instead of trying to investigate yourselves, you might do some searching on the internet for agencies in your state that protect senior citizens or contact your state attorney general. At the very least they should be able to head you in the right direction. The reason I suggest this is that from all you've said the Grandson has power of attorney and the legal right to take care of her affairs. Does your SO have any legal right to the documents you mentioned? A bank can't show you those records, even with a death certificate. If you're talking about income tax records he may not have any right to view those either--not while she's alive at least. You might search your county records for past mortgages, sales info, etc. Again, with corporate annual reports--does he have any legal right to the records?
I am in Canada. I guess he would need power of attorney. I am going to the registry office to check on who did buy the building and for how much and hopefully for him the building was sold low to explain why so little money is left a year later. Thank you very much btw for all your imput. It is very much appreciated. You have good suggestions!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
