Chapter 7 #2
The lawyer nodded. “I was able to do some research, based on what you told me when you called. I do have some information, and what you’d heard was correct in that the farm business is going under,” he confirmed.
“So I made a few phone calls to see what all I could find out,” he shared.
“Your aunt has a daughter, who at one time lived there with her and was working the property with her. Your aunt also has a few health issues, according to a news article I read, which is why they’re looking at closing down the business.
But what is most interesting to me,” the lawyer pointed out, “is that she hasn’t been able to sell the place. ”
“Why not?” Sterling asked.
“Because it’s not in her name.”
At that, Sterling stared at him. “It really isn’t in her name? I always wondered about that.”
“No, it isn’t, and I have reached out in my legal capacity as your agent to request any rental agreement and the bank account where all the rent money has been deposited.
” He smirked and added, “I don’t imagine any such document exists or any rent monies have been paid.
Regardless, I didn’t suspect I would get a very pleasant reply.
I considered reaching out to the daughter but thought better of it because I don’t know if she even has an inkling of anything about this.
I understand that she is younger than you. ”
“Right. So, how do I prove that it was my mother’s property?”
“If it was still in your mother’s name at her death, it would seemingly have to be declared in your name, with a trustee appointed for you, since you were not of legal age.”
Sterling sank back and stared at him.
“Yes, this is theoretical, and more digging must be done. However, if the land is in your name and in your mother’s name, once your mother passed, the property automatically becomes yours.
I bet your aunt has been living there free of charge all these years.
Now she’ll most likely say that she’s lived on it with the full belief that she owned it and that all the improvements on that place are things she wouldn’t have done if she didn’t believe that she had full rights to it. ”
“Is her name on the property?” Sterling asked, just to confirm this one more time.
“Probably not. That needs to be sorted first.”
“So why would anybody think she had full rights to it?”
The lawyer nodded. “They wouldn’t. That’s also why she can’t sell it, although apparently an attempt to change the ownership happened not that long ago, but it didn’t go through.”
“Didn’t go through, why?”
“I don’t know. I’m trying to contact the lawyer involved in it.” Just then his phone rang. He looked down at the number and pointed. “Excuse me. I think this is him calling me back.”
Sterling stepped away, giving the lawyer some privacy. When he was called back over, the lawyer gave him the update.
“You won’t believe this, but the reason it didn’t go through is because this guy, your aunt’s lawyer, happened to know your mother way back when and also knew she had died some time ago. So he assumed that you were part of the sale. When he realized you weren’t, he refused to push it through.”
“Wow,” Sterling muttered. “No insult to you, but I’m damn happy to see evidence of an honest lawyer.”
Sterling’s attorney laughed. “I won’t take it as an insult.
I know we have a bad reputation in the general public, but thankfully at least some of it is not deserved.
I told him that you were here in the office with me and that you had never been informed about the attempted change or anything else for that matter.
When I shared that you were looking at reclaiming that property, he certainly understood, but he wanted to give you fair warning that your aunt wouldn’t cooperate.
When I explained about you suddenly being orphaned and how your aunt refused to take you in but sent you off to foster care without a word and cut off all communication, let’s just say he was less than impressed. ”
His lawyer added, “But she has built a business which is now failing, so any lawyer she retains is likely to say that improvements she made to the property are something she should be repaid for. Our rebuttal would be that, since the business itself is clearly not viable, she didn’t add any value.”
“So, this will need to go to a judge then?” Sterling asked.
“Ah, yes, it’s possible,” he agreed. “If she wants to fight it, I would expect that to be part of her legal representation.”
“What about the fact that she dumped me into foster care?”
“I can tell you that a judge won’t look on that favorably, not when she then kept the property, cut off all relationship with you, and has lived on it for free all these years.
She is likely to argue that, if you had wanted it, you would have come back all these years ago, and of course our answer to that is, as an orphaned child, you didn’t know it was yours,” he explained.
“Now, since I have already reached out to her, I suggest we wait and see what her response is, assuming she responds at all. My next question would be whether her daughter is of the same mind or not.”
Sterling frowned as he stood to leave, then asked, “If they don’t vacate easily, what are my options?”
“It will definitely have to go to court,” he said, “and possession would have to be ascertained. There could be a financial judgment if the judge deems that your aunt has added value with the full expectation of it being hers.”
“Sure, but isn’t that just being a squatter?” Sterling asked.
“Yes. Our argument would be that she very quickly dumped the true owner into foster care, then cut off contact, effectively excluding you, a minor, from the family and your rightful inheritance. Then she moved on in and took what was yours without your knowledge. I suspect you have a very good case, but these things are not always a slam dunk.”
“How is it not a slam dunk?” he asked incredulously.
The attorney smiled. “Partly because of the number of years that it took for you to come forward and partly because of whatever she may have done to the property. That her business is failing won’t do her any good. If she had a business worth millions, then potentially the cost of losing her home—”
“Her home?” Sterling asked in outrage.
The lawyer nodded. “Yes, her home, as far as she’s concerned. However, keep in mind that, whatever she’s been doing, she was doing it illegally, and we must make her aware of that fact. Still, I can’t guarantee it will matter to her.”
“It won’t. It won’t matter to her at all,” Sterling declared. “So, are we talking about a full-blown trial, or is this something that we can take straight to a judge?”
“I’ll be talking to several people about it,” his lawyer shared, “but it could definitely go to court. You have to prepare yourself for that.”
“Right,” he said, with a headshake. “I’m sure my mother is just having a grand old time over this.”
“You really didn’t know it was yours, did you?”
“No, how could I? That’s not exactly something a kid thinks about.
I was eight years old when I was dumped,” he stated, staring at his attorney.
“Only when I got out of rehab and realized just how much I would need a home did I go back to the only thing I had, which was a couple old letters from my mom, and I wondered.”
“Your aunt seems to have paid the property taxes all this time.”
“Has she received any money for my care or anything like that? I don’t know how all that works, but I always thought my grandfather had money. I don’t even know what happened to him. All I know is that, when my mother died, I lived with him a short time, until he passed too. Then I got the boot.”
“Right. I’ll look into that as well,” the attorney noted. “That would be a different search.”
“If a death certificate’s been issued, that should be easy, right?”
“Maybe. … I’ll let you know what I find.” He frowned. Obviously something was on his mind. “Was your grandfather healthy?”
“Yeah, he could do anything,” Sterling replied, “but then again, I was young.”
“Of course you were. Sorry, stupid question. I guess I still haven’t wrapped my head around the fact that you were estranged early on. So, you really had no contact with any of them?”
“No, absolutely none. Not on Christmas, not on my birthday, nothing. I was completely cut off from all of them.”
“Damn,” he muttered, “that’s pretty cold.”
“It was not only cold, it was mercenary. To me it just seems as if she wanted only one thing—my mother’s farm.”
“Did she live there with you and your mom?”
“No, I don’t know that I ever even met her,” Sterling noted.
“I don’t know anything about her, except the fact that she didn’t want anything to do with me.
For all I know, she and my mother were mortal enemies or something,” he theorized.
“Maybe this was a way to get back at her somehow. I really don’t know. ”
He nodded. “At some point in time you’ll have to meet her.”
“Yeah. I’ll try to be civil,” he offered, “but I won’t be anything more than that. She left a little kid to fend for himself in the foster care system. That’s all I need to know about her.”
“Keep in mind you don’t know the reason behind that,” the attorney pointed out. “For all you know, she’s got some debilitating disease and couldn’t handle that aspect of life or something.”
“Yet she managed to run a farm and also managed to have a kid of her own at some point, though I have no idea how old that child is.” Sterling frowned as his attorney nodded, realizing how that just added salt to an old wound for Sterling.
The attorney sighed. “Okay, so I have more work to do. Just leave it all to me, and I’ll see what I can figure out.”
And that’s what Sterling did. He headed out to pick up the items on the list he’d gotten from Toby, and, per instructions, before leaving town, he phoned to see if there was anything else.
“Hey,” Toby answered, “glad you called.”
“Uh-oh.”