Update on My Dad's Estate

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I'm not sure if my brother went to the hearing or went to the vet and got neutered!

For four years he has been sitting at his computer hundreds of miles away criticizing everything being done on the Estate, talking about suing everyone involved for millions. That was as recent as two weeks ago.

Now he is saying he is impressed with a slap on the wrist and everyone in the entire system lying to us, ignoring our wishes.

Since this is his first appearance on the battlefield, perhaps he found out it is different when you are there. You find out how little your opinion matters to the system and how it will do whatever they decided in advance that it will do.

Today he is saying that he believes the restitution is a civil matter that the criminal courts do not want to get involved with, when you can view the case file on line and see that restitution is part of the criminal sentence.

All I want to know now is who decided not to accelerate the RA, after telling everyone it would be before the hearing. The Executrix even sent us all a letter saying the attorney for the Estate was going to do that.

[riverdees05 Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close riverdees05]

Sounds like the only one getting money from this terrible thing is the lawyers

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

My uppity stepsister is talking today but not my brother. She was there too.

At first she said it was the criminal who said he would not accelerate the RA, that he would just wait and see what happened at the hearing. When I told her that made me chuckle, she corrected herself to say that it was the attorney for the Estate who decided not to accelerate it, after saying he would and me telling the Prosecutor and the POs.

I kinda figured it was him, but was waiting for someone else to say it.

I then pointed out to my brother and stepsisters that accelerating the RA would not be inconsistent with the judge's ruling. The RA allows us to accelerate it, adding interest if not paid now in full, and making the criminal responsible for our attorney and collection fees. The criminal could pay now, the unpaid balance at any time, or just pay $600 a month like the judge ordered.

If the criminal chose to do that, by my real estate calculator and the online time value of money calulator I use, that would add 155 $600 payments, $93000. Keep in mind that the judge has ruled that each missed payment will result in 6 months in the county jail, even after the probation is over, so that is as good of incentive as we can get.

If we accelerated it and applied to maximum legal rate of interest to which we are entitle, $492 of his nect $600 payment just pays interest. That's a big deal.

I told all that that was the outcome I expected all along, to have the RA accelerated, and then give the criminal the option to pay it all now, or a little each month, with interest.

(I understand how important it is that we take pity on this poor criminal, how sad his life has been since he got caught. )

To that my stepsister said, "Yes, that is what we want to do. How can we do that without having to pay an attorney?"

Of course, that has me chuckling again.

Dear stepsister, that is what we just went through the last two months, and what we were promised. Don't you see that we just got the shaft? And now you are asking how do we do that?!

We first have to determine whether it is even still an option.

I want to contact the Executrix and get her take on this, her explanation as to why the attorney for the Estate--who reports to her, supposedly--did not do what he promised he would, and what she put in writing in a letter to us.

But I sense my welcome is close to up. That happens every now and then, mostly when people stick it to you and you call them on it.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Now no one is talking. That's pretty normal.

My stepsister does not like replying to me because I challenge her when she is wrong. She is not used to anyone challenging her, wrong or not.

I'll give it a couple days and then hit them all with the acceleration idea again.

I suspect the RA has already been assigned to us, the beneficiaries. That will mean we will no longer have to rely on the Executrix or attorney for the estate to do stuff. It also means my list of people I can't trust will be shorter.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I pretty much put the quietus on this!

I asked the County Attorney and the PO how the criminal legal system might view us accelerating the RA.

They did not answer.

I asked the other beneficiaries if they wanted me to pursue it, and my brother and uppity stepsisters have not answered. My other stepsister, who has gone through her share of the inheritance, wants me to because she wants more money now.

The step-granddaughter paid the estate back the inheritance tax it had paid for her.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I see I have not updated this for awhile, but something came up today to remind me.

My brother and uppity stepsister attended the probation revocation hearing. They said that the judge was very severe, but they did not indicate that anything had been said about accelerating the restitution and sending creep to prison if he did not pay. The indication was that none of that even came up.

We beneficiaries had some email back-and-forths about that, and still neither of them mentioned anything about those topics coming up at the hearing. So, I had followed up with the County Attorney who represented the state, asking what he thought about us accelerating the restitution now. All this time I have been thinking he and the estate's attorney totally blew me off on that.

Today a copy of the transcript arrived. In his opening statement, the first thing he told the court was that the beneficiaries want to accelerate the restitution or have creep serve his 10-year prison sentence. Then he recommended against that, asking for stricter probation and an increase in the amount of the monthly payment.

Well, duh, no wonder he didn't answer my follow-up emails! He addressed those issues in court! And where were my borther and stepsister? What hearing were they listening too? Did they purposely let me continue to pursue that, knowing it would make me look like a fool?

Needless to say, what little trust I had in them is gone.

Specifically, the judge increase the monthly payment, made it clear that this payment is creep's #1 priority, since he has no other obligations that carry a 10-year prison sentence if he does not pay them. If he stops paying during the probation period, which runs through the end of 2008, he will be subject to the 10-year prison sentence AND if he misses payments after his probation is over, he will be subject to 6 months in the County Jail (a worse place) for every payment he misses (for contempt).

Originally there was a 5-year probation period and a 17-year restitution period. It was not clear before what would happen if he stopped payments after the probation period, and his family had threatened that payments would stop at that time, but now it is on the record.

Oh yeah, the restitution agreement has been turned over to the beneficiaries, but the estate still has not been closed.

[katiemack Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close katiemack]

Thanks for the update, oh infinitely patient one!

[Keitht Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Keitht]

Jim,

The people who come out of this looking stupid are the ones who attended the hearing and didn't provide you with the information afterwards. I can't see anything you have done wrong so don't beat yourself up about it.
Take care of yourself.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Of course they are the stupid ones, to use your word, and their being stupid in not even being able to listen and report that the very subject we had focused on for the three months leading up to the hearing was the first thing covered by the State, made me look stupid, too, when I contacted him to pursue what he had already covered, and drawn an ending to.

That just makes it twice as hard for me the next time I need to contact him. Attornies tend to not be very long on patience. He and I had done well until now.

Jim,

The people who come out of this looking stupid are the ones who attended the hearing and didn't provide you with the information afterwards. I can't see anything you have done wrong so don't beat yourself up about it.
Take care of yourself.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I have decided to contact the stepsister who is not uppity, and who has made some effort to follow my suggestions and to be supportive, to see if she has any interest in pursuing cashing out the restitution agreement. Of course, it would be at a discount now, instead of at face value.

Attempting that is what started this topic two years ago this December.

I will hear back from my email to her in a couple of weeks!

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I received notice that the hearing approving the Final Report will be September 27. Dad's been gone for 4 years and 3 months.

When I have a slow day I will figure out how the attornies made out.

My not-uppity stepsister is encouraging me to pursue cashing out the restitution agreement, at a discount, of course. I told her that if she can get the others to agree, then I will pursue it.

Don't you think that in so many things, things like I have talked about the last four years, that people just wear you down, and get their own way, or come out better than they should, just because they can get you to give up, to be over with it?

[Oracle Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Oracle]

My not-uppity stepsister is encouraging me to pursue cashing out the restitution agreement, at a discount, of course. I told her that if she can get the others to agree, then I will pursue it.

Sell the note to the mob, they will get their money from the SOB.

[vlariano Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close vlariano]

How true! you need to put an end to all of your stresses and relax!

[chemteach Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close chemteach]

It sounds like the court system has finally set it up so that "creep" will have to make all the payments. I have been keeping up with this story over the last few years. Hopefully, you will have one less thing in your life to worry about. And yes - many people do just give up. You have amazing staying power.

Take Care of Yourself!
Edye

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Wow!

All four siblings are now discussing stuff by email.

That is because I am not contacting brother and uppity stepsisters directly, but through non-uppity stepsister. They would likely not reply if the message was directly from me, but this way they can take a position against me through her.

What I have to do to get us all talking!

Brother is suggesting what I advocated in June, but he would not because I was.

He and uppity stepsister are twisting my intentions.