Can they do this..
My mother pasted away on April 10, 2004. She and my father, who is still living, had drawn up a Living Trust and it was set up to have everything in the Trust go to the surviving spouse, unless stated otherwise, and my two brothers and myself were listed has beneficiaries. Approximately 6 months before her death, my mother made a change to the Trust and my father had signed off on it. She had changed the beneficiary order and made my brothers and myself equal partners in the Trust with my father. The main reason she did this was to protect us, her children, from losing what her and my father had worked hard all their lives for. She was afraid my father would meet some young female and be taken to the cleaners. She also left each one of us, including my father, approximately $95,000. from money she had re-invested when she had retired from her job. My father had been unaware about the change or the money. I am the first born, and their only daughter. I have two younger brothers, both married with kids, and a life outside of my parents home. My mother was a heart attack victim (5 in total), two by-pass surgeries, an angioplasty, and finally a shunt put in. She was also diabetic on top of it all. The woman survived more than most people ever thought possible and since I was the oldest and only daughter, I was the one who would take care of her during her many recoveries. In 1996, they sold the house we grew up in and bought their retirement home in Las Vegas, Nevada. My father finally retired in January 2002, and they did the complete move the following month. I had moved in with them in August of 1997. They had a rental property in Buena Park that they were living at until my father had been ready to retire. I soon took over paying the mortgage and the bills for that house, and my mother had decided that she wanted the house in Buena Park to go to me after my parents passing. I would continue to pay the mortgage and once paid off, the deed would come to me. This wasn't a decision she had made lightly, and once she had made that decision, she shared it with many of her friends, and it was all in agreement with my father. Her reason was for this decision was simple. Both my brothers were married and had purchased their homes and were pretty well set. I was still single and had no plans on getting married and had spent a great about of time taking care of my mother when needed. She knew that the chances of me buying a house were slim to none. The property in Buena Park was small for a family but just right for a single person. I could afford the mortgage, all the utilities, taxes and insurance, on what I was making at my job, and have money left over. My mother wanted to make sure I had a safe and affordable place to live, and this was her way to making sure it happened. There were a few problems after her death, mainly with my brothers and their disagreement with my mother's decisions. At this point, my father retained a lawyer to go through the Trust and see if there was any way to make any changes and reverse anything my mother had done. My mother was a very smart lady, and as the lawyer found out, covered herself well. The Trust was binding and nothing could be changed without her signature, or without total agreement from the surviving partners in that Trust, my father, two brothers, and myself. My father then had his Last Will and Testament drawn up, along with his Power of Attorney declaration, and each one of us was given a copy. There were several issues that were discussed, and my father had to have an addenum to his Will drawn up. It states at the beginning that it was drawn up to clarify the distribution of certain items listed in Section 4 of the Trust of Frank and Teresa Collins. That's not word for word, but it's pretty black and white. There are three items in question, my father's personal jewelry, his car, and the property in Buena Park (3rd paragraph of the Addenum). He confirms that is was my mother's wish for me to have that property and that he would honor her wish, as would my brothers. I would continue to pay the mortgage and the deed would come to me when paid off. It was also stated that after his passing, the property would then be appraised and that the amount of that appraisal would be subtracted from my share of his estate. I would not be forced at anytime to sale the property by my father, my brothers, or any other family member. There was one stipulation and one only. My father was afraid that I would possibly decide to use drugs again and that was a concern. It was decided, with my knowledge, to add this stipulation. If the stipulation occurred, I would not be given the deed to the house. The house would revert back to the trust, and it would then be sold and the money divided between my brothers and myself. I would not lose my share of the estate, just the deed to the house. The only way I could lose the deed to the house was if I were to be ARRESTED AND CONVICTED OF A DRUG FELONY or OPENLY ADMITTED TO BEING ON DRUGS, prior to the mortgage being paid off. My father added a little kicker for my own protection, I think. An accusation of drug use from either brother would not justify any action being taken. My father would then have to start an outside investigation to look into the accusations. But for some reason, he didn't put was the resolution would be if the accusation were proven to be true by the outside investigator. So ultimately, it reverts back to my father's stipulation. I could agree to sell the house under the right conditions and this is what brings me this long explanation. We had an offer made for the house a few months after my mother's death, and after discussion with my father over this, we decided to go ahead and sale the house. I had wanted to move to Nevada prior to my mother's death and it had been discussed quite often amongst the 3 of us. My father asked if I was still interested in doing that and I wanted to be closer to him, especially after losing my mother. He agreed to purchase me a house in Las Vegas, with the profits from the sale. As escrow got closer to closing, I left my job and started packing to make this move. A few days before escrow was scheduled to close, my father came to me and said he had decided that he didn't want to buy any property and the money would go to him, and whatever was left would be divided between my brothers and I. He basically put me out on the streets with no money, and told me to use the money my mother left me to survive. That was October, 2004 and I have been homeless ever since. I have documented this last year, and recently was in a car vs pedistrian accident, me being the pedistrian. I never wanted to bring this to a court of law but at this point, I need to get back what was given to me, and that is why I'm writing this. I feel my father was wrong, both legally and morally, in what he did to me. I need to know what the statue of limitations is on something like this and what is my next step. I know I need a lawyer, but being homeless also means being without money. I'm would like to find a lawyer that would take this case on a pro bono basis but would get started on this right away. Can someone please help me? My e-mail address is "juliewantsitnow@yahoo.com.
Thank you
Julia Collins
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09-13-2005, 06:17 PM
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