Forged real property titled - What's cheapest fix

mrlandlord said:   There must be more to the story. If op lived 2500 miles away who provided most of the day to day care for the mother? Even if she lived in a nursing home there is still ALOT of day to day stuff a relative has to do. Did op go to the funeral? did sister/other brother pay for/plan the funeral? Does the sister and/or brother possibly have the feeling that they did all the work and should therefore rightfully get the op's part?
Even if they do feel that way, it doesn't mean they're right.

I live a couple of thousand miles away from my parents, while my sister lives in the same town as them. She probably has no idea how much help I have provided to them in terms of estate planning, investment management, tax consulting, etc. My parents decided that they want to split their estate equally between the two of us. Even if she winds up helping them with a lot of stuff near the end of their lives, that doesn't give her the perspective to override their stated wishes to split the estate equally between us.

I am stunned that you would imply that it's okay for the siblings to blatantly subvert the stated wishes of their deceased mother. Criminality aside, it was a utter display of disrespect to the mother.

rsmo2222 said:   I am an attorney, in practice for 30 years but not in Michigan. In the interest of brevity, there are some interesting posts here but I am not going to discuss them individually. You need to retain counsel in the area where the property is located. Get all the documents you have relating to this situation, and sit down with the lawyer. There are too many unknown facts now to try to sort it out here. If there is a forged deed, it may have been forged and notarized long before the sale. There could be a claim against the Notary who notarized the forged deed, but that may have occurred well before the buyer's title company became involved. Assuming a forged deed was involved, this is usually NOT covered by the new buyer's title insurance. There is usually an exclusion in the title policy, and no coverage for fraudulent recorded documents.

The first thing you need to do is get an attorney in Michigan, provide whatever documents you have, and meet with him/her. The attorney can obtain other public records, and lay out your options. I would NOT take any of this to the police until after you've obtained an opinion from your lawyer. When and how to start a criminal investigation will be something to decide with your attorney. I would also stop discussing this with any family members until you have decided your plan of action with your attorney.

Laws vary from state to state. Start by determining your choices and plan a course of action with your attorney. Get a second opinion if you are not comfortable with the first attorney you see. Most attorneys have very reasonable fees (or even no fees) for initial consultations. Make sure you understand how you will be charged, and get this in writing.

The Fat Wallet community is a great resource, but not a substitute for your own fully-informed attorney. Good luck!

IANAL, but listen to rsmo. Very good advice.

ThePessimist said:   mrlandlord said:   There must be more to the story. If op lived 2500 miles away who provided most of the day to day care for the mother? Even if she lived in a nursing home there is still ALOT of day to day stuff a relative has to do. Did op go to the funeral? did sister/other brother pay for/plan the funeral? Does the sister and/or brother possibly have the feeling that they did all the work and should therefore rightfully get the op's part?
Even if they do feel that way, it doesn't mean they're right.

I live a couple of thousand miles away from my parents, while my sister lives in the same town as them. She probably has no idea how much help I have provided to them in terms of estate planning, investment management, tax consulting, etc. My parents decided that they want to split their estate equally between the two of us. Even if she winds up helping them with a lot of stuff near the end of their lives, that doesn't give her the perspective to override their stated wishes to split the estate equally between us.

I am stunned that you would imply that it's okay for the siblings to blatantly subvert the stated wishes of their deceased mother. Criminality aside, it was a utter display of disrespect to the mother.

I am sure you have no idea how much help your sister provides them on a DAILY basis.
The one who does the most should get the most.

mrlandlord said:   
I am sure you have no idea how much help your sister provides them on a DAILY basis.
The one who does the most should get the most.

The one who is legally designated to get it is the one who should get it. Operating any other way is far far too subjective. I can assure you that in inheritance claims there will always be someone who thinks they did more and thus deserve more. The person who should make the decision about who gets what should be the person who owned the money and if they didn't make their wishes known splitting it is the most fair way.

DamnoIT said:   I again think you may have suit against the title company. I cannot see a proper transfer of title without you present and I would now seek to try to nullify the sale or cloud the title since you probably won't get a time out of your sister. Whomever was the idiot agent that handled the close without you needs to be fired and have their notary pulled, their company should take some blame in this matter. But do defiantly get on your sisters good side and BS her into signing a contract, +1 if in her writing an with her signature offering a repayment plan. If you cannot get it out of her at least that may be some evidence for your case against the closing agency that didn't do their job and illegally transferred title. But again get a lawyer.

The lawsuit not be against the buyer's title company -- and we don't know whether or not title insurance was even purchased by the buyers (who were relatives of your brother-in-law). Have you determined that there was in fact title insurance purchased by the buyers? This could have been a cash deal, not involving title insurance. You will be suing the relatives of your brother-in-law (the buyers), and they may or may not have title insurance. If there was actual forgery and fraud involved, you also have a probable separate lawsuit against your sister and brother and the notary who notarized your forged signature. Notaries are usually required to maintain a certain amount of liability insurance.But again...start by meeting with a Michigan lawyer.

LordB said:   mrlandlord said:   
I am sure you have no idea how much help your sister provides them on a DAILY basis.
The one who does the most should get the most.

The one who is legally designated to get it is the one who should get it. Operating any other way is far far too subjective. I can assure you that in inheritance claims there will always be someone who thinks they did more and thus deserve more. The person who should make the decision about who gets what should be the person who owned the money and if they didn't make their wishes known splitting it is the most fair way.

I am certainally not suggesting anyone break the law, just bringing up a point as to what could motivate someone to do so.

mrlandlord said:   I am sure you have no idea how much help your sister provides them on a DAILY basis.
The one who does the most should get the most.
Actually, my parents are still in great shape, so my sister provides no help on a daily basis. If anything, the help goes in the other direction. My sister has received a ton of help from them as she's gone through two divorces and other crises, received a ton of hand-me-downs (some quite valuable such as cars and large TVs), gotten cash to bail her out various crises, etc. But that's not relevant to my point.

My point is that my parents are the only ones who have any basis for deciding how to distribute their estate. If they decide to completely disown one of us, that's their prerogative. If, as is the case, they decide to split the estate 50-50 per stirpes, that's their prerogative too. My sister and I may each have our subjective ideas of how much we should get, but it's my parents' subjective ideas that matter.

It would be the ultimate display of posthumous disrespect to say, "My parents decided to do this, and made their wishes clear. But I know better, and am going to screw my sibling." Your claim that "The one who does the most should get the most" ignores the many other considerations that parents might have.

Ironically, many parents choose equal distributions in an attempt to minimize familial conflict and bad feelings. If the children then scheme to screw each other it has the opposite effect.

I am named as executor in my parents' wills. Even if I wind up spending months living out of a hotel, thousands of miles from my family, to help them in their last stages of life; I'm not going to take it out on my sister and rip her off under the guise of "compensating myself" for my efforts.

Chyvan said:   
I won't be making any claims on anything because I think I was made whole.

It sounds like you were. Your brother either donated $7k or $14k to your sister, depending on whether he got half of your money to begin with. Plus he may have early distribution penalty and tax on the 14k, depending on the IRA and his age.

ThePessimist said:   
It would be the ultimate display of posthumous disrespect to say, "My parents decided to do this, and made their wishes clear. But I know better, and am going to screw my sibling." Your claim that "The one who does the most should get the most" ignores the many other considerations that parents might have.

I know somebody who once did that, sort of. Three sons, dead dad. Dad left it all 50-50 to two sons. One of the two was the executor. He thought the snub would devastate the other son who lived thousands of miles away, so he distributed the estate in equal thirds. One might see it as disrespect to the dead, another might see it as respect for the living. I don't know if the other son agreed to the redistribution or if he never knew he was supposed to get half.

Chyvan said:   Things self-resolved so I didn't have to use any of the advice presented here. I think my brother must have done some soul searching, because he pulled $14K from his IRA and presented me with a bank check while at the bank. I'm confident it's not a counterfeit.

I won't be making any claims on anything because I think I was made whole.

If by soul searching you mean legal searching and realizing he could possibly be arrested as an accomplice or more then yes I agree with you hah.

Still, have this researched. Find out what went on, even if it is to keep from getting blind-sided like this again. I'd have to be in the cookie jar up to my pits, and caught, before I'd let loose with a multi-thousand hunk of greenbacks. YMMV.