Urgently need a good lawyer!

[Willem Fick]

Hi guys,

A very close friend of mine passed away a few weeks ago. Sadly his estate has turned into a very, very messy affair and his family urgently need the services of a good lawyer stateside – preferably in GA.

Basic summary:

• He went through a very nasty divorce a few years ago, and the court decided that he gets to keep all the toys. (she was found to be a serial cheater and abuser.)
• Takes a long time, but meets the love of his life (really, really sweet southern girl), who promptly moves in with him. He really plans on marrying her, and goes ahead buys her a car and lavishes her with all sorts of gifts.
• Business sends him off to Italy where he sadly and unexpectedly passes away.
• No sooner had he died or the ex-wife takes control completely.
• Gets access to his house, and makes sure there is no will or other documents to be found (access fact, theft of documents speculation).
• Takes over his social media accounts (access gained on the back of her getting into his house).
• Poses as his next of kin and arranges for body to be cremated in Italy without consulting with his family.
• Also under the guise as next of kin arranges for her to be in control of all matters relating to his retirement fund through his employer.
• Has herself appointed as executor of his estate (not sure what US term is)
• Arranges for girlfriend to be served an eviction notice on the basis of her (minor) daughter now being assumed the owner of the house in the absence of a will.
• Moves into house with daughter and boyfriend – boyfriend is given my friend’s car.
• Starts spending his money under the guise of it belonging to her daughter.
• Has mother in law threatened with arrest for trespassing when she arrives in the US from South Africa to mourn her son.
• Has police stationed at funeral to ensure his mother and “non-approved” friends cannot pay their respects.
• On the day of his funeral closes his social media accounts.
• Prevents family/girlfriend from claiming ashes.
• Withholds access to the house for the girlfriend to collect her car and other assets.

Can you say "train-wreck"?

At this point we would like to see what legal avenues can be followed to stop the pilferage of his assets by the ex, and to urgently have specific assets restored to his girlfriend. The problem we have is that we (his friends /family) are based all over the world. We have no knowledge of US and State law, and no one on the ground on that side that can advise or assist us.

If anyone here is a lawyer interested in assisting us, or knows of a (good) lawyer that we can be in touch with, that would be hugely appreciated. To this end, please drop me a PM!

[stomachmonkey]

If she is the mother of his (their) minor daughter and thee is no will I think you have a very long uphill battle.

Absence of will the daughter gets it all.

The best you could hope for is an independent court appointed administrator for the estate.

Once the daughter turns 18 she is in control, or as much control as her manipulative mother will allow.

[sc_rufctr]

That sounds horrible William.

First things first. Was there a will or are you speculating?
If there was shouldn't there be a copy or some records with the Lawyer that prepared it?

Best of luck.

[rcecale]

My attorney of a few years ago. Guy is a former US Marine and is not afraid to get mean and nasty...in the nicest of ways, of course!

Hunter, Charles S  
Attorney
Address: 1640 Powers Ferry Rd SE, Marietta, GA 30067
Phone: (770) 952-8043
Hours: Mon - Fri · 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Randy

[MBAtarga]

Here's another lawyer - we used him for our wills/trust docs. He is very knowledgeable on estate law.
Charles Hampton
750 Hammond Drive
Atlanta GA 30328
770 805 8000

[Scuba Steve]

Best of luck, hopefully there was a will filed somewhere that she could not destroy and will be forced to abide by it or pay the consequences.

[URY914]

Better call Saul.












Surprized no one else hasn't said it before now.

[Willem Fick]

Thanks for all the feedback guys!

Peter, post the divorce he told his mother he had updated his will. We suspect the ex made this disappear when she got into the house, well knowing that it would lead to the daughter getting everything. Sadly we have no proof, so will not be pursuing anything other than getting the girlfriends assets, and of course getting the ex's filthy hands off the daughter's inheritance.

[wdfifteen]

Is there any way to find out who his attorney is? I only have a copy of my will, the signed original is in my attorney's safe. I thought that was SOP.

[Willem Fick]

Wd, we are trying to follow up on this too. Problem is that without access to the house we have access to nothing - including his doxuments, contacts etc. Being stuck on the wrong side of the Atlantic (some of us are in South Africa, some in Scotland, but none in the US) doesn't exactly make this easier as you can imagine. We are sort-of hoping that retaining the services of a lawyer in GA will at least help with chasing this sort of thing up!

[Scuba Steve]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Is there any way to find out who his attorney is? I only have a copy of my will, the signed original is in my attorney's safe. I thought that was SOP.

Beat me to it because in the event of a fire or natural disaster it would be like the will never existed.

Crappy situation all around, I'm sorry you have go go through it.

[1990C4S]

A court order for access to his bank records will turn up his cancelled checks. And that will tell you who is lawyer is/was.

[Rot 911]

I'm an attorney, but not in Georgia. But for what it is worth, you need to locate a lawyer located in the county where your friend resided in Georgia.

Quick look at intestate laws in Georgia do indicate if he died without a will, and is divorced, all property will go to his children.

wdfifteen is correct that the original of the will should be with the attorney who prepared it. Even if your friend asked to have the original, most attorneys will keep a copy.

[Willem Fick]

Thanks guys! His cousin in Scotland is already following up on the lawyers mentioned in this thread. The cancelled cheques is a good lead and we will be following up on that too.

Lots of lessons to be leatnt out of this experience though!

[MBAtarga]

Originally Posted by Willem Fick

Thanks guys! His cousin in Scotland is already following up on the lawyers mentioned in this thread. The cancelled cheques is a good lead and we will be following up on that too.

Lots of lessons to be leatnt out of this experience though!

Good luck on favorable resolution!

Also - this emphasizes the importance of having a will and making sure it is available/accessible to those you trust! In the past few years my wife and I have had 3 relatives that failed in this regard. Two of them had advanced stages of cancer and months' notice to get their estate in order - and failed to do so. They had no will or did not revise it - assuming their offspring would handle things appropriately. Well - that didn't happen.

[stomachmonkey]

Pro tip on wills.

Assume the copy you have is the only one that exists and never ever remove the staples.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by Rot 911

if he died without a will, and is divorced, all property will go to his children.

Is the daughter his?
If not does the divorce nullify that?
And, as a minor can she legally act as power of attorney/trustee to supersede his own mother?

Ex-wife seems camped out locally with a good attorney and with a solid history of court decisions to strengthen her position.
Some local courts are quite inbred and won't want to reverse their own judgements.
Maybe a change in venue or higher court is possible to start anew?


(A friend of mine went through the same thing: His sister in another state took over parents house with a forced POA contrary to the will right before he moved out there. The physical will disappeared. She claimed abuse and committed cowboy dad who died a few days later from excessive wrong drugs based on her advice. "She killed him" he said. Then an iron fist over everything mom was allowed to do. Daughter moved in and became expensive 'caretaker' paid out of the estate. Personal property disappeared or was sold for pennies to boyfriend.)

[Willem Fick]

Sadly John you raise a very uncomfortable, yet valid question, that I don't feel myself in a position to ask.

I guess the reality is however that, even if she weren't his, her raised her as such and therefore I think she is entitled to the inheritance. The fact that her mom is what she is cannot be held against the daughter, and this is why we are not in this game to contest the will per-se, but rather to try to break the mother's control over the assets.

Forcing this down the path of genetic testing will also of course absolutely destroy any semblance of a relationship that may remain after things have been concluded, and at this point there is still a glimmer of hope with the grandmother that she may at some stage have normal contact with her only grandchild.

[1990C4S]

If the daughter was raised as 'his', then she is typically assumed to be 'his'. There's no going back. That's my recollection.

[stomachmonkey]

I don't think any of us were asking if she was possibly not his biological daughter but rather was he her stepdad.

If he is listed as father on the birth certificate then the point is moot.