Forged real property titled - What's cheapest fix

My mother's home was given to me and two siblings prior to her death. Now that my mother is dead, I've discovered today that my older sister had my name forged on property documents and has never paid me my 1/3 cut. I would have thought that a notarized signature would have been required on those type of documents to convey the property, but maybe not. My cut would have been 1/3 of $42,000. The older sister does not have the money to make me whole. The middle brother got his cut, so he may have been complicit, or not have had a clue that I was shorted. Now that the sister has been found out, she swears she'll make it right, but I know she's lying. She's never had much more than the clothes on her back.

Is the act of reporting the forgery enough to make stuff start to undue itself?

If reporting the crime will fix things, where should I start: In the county the property was owned, the place where the documents were signed, or the county where my sister lives?

Do I really need an attorney?

Chyvan said:   
Do I really need an attorney?

yes

weaselslave12 said:   If I was in the situation, and I was financially stable (don't know if you are or not), I would ask my sister to give me my share of the inheritance. If she refused, I would move on.

You have to make the decision of whether or not you want to potentially *destroy* your relationship with your sister and put her in a bad situation. There could be legal ramifications for your sister, and if she's never had much more than the clothes on her back maybe you should try and settle things with her before taking legal action.

I think you have that backwards...she should have decided if she wanted to destroy relationship... and whether or not she wanted to put herself in a bad civil/criminal situation. Looks like she made her decision.

Chyvan said:   I've discovered today that my older sister had my name forged on property documents and has never paid me my 1/3 cut.There's got to be more to this story. Your brother and sister sold your mother's house and stiffed you? Where were you while all this was going on? How long ago was this? You didn't know the property was sold?

To change title you need a notary. (At least in Cali)
Did they ever 'borrow' your ID one day.

And yes you need an attorney

We all have black sheep in the family -- the point is do other family members put them in jail, or forgive the crime. Since it's just a financial hit and no one was physically injured, I would not involve the authorities. Make her sign a note promising to cover the loss, and let it go. Perhaps you could be pleasantly surprised by some attempt at repayment if that's the goal. But what's the likelihood of that happening if you destroy the relationship and have her rack up lawyer fees...

Chyvan said:   My mother's home was given to me and two siblings prior to her death.
Could you please clarify what you mean?

Do you mean:
a) Your mother left the house in her will.
b) Your mother called the children together and said "I want you all to share the home equally after I'm gone."
c) Your mother had actual legal documents drawn up and filed that conveyed immediate ownership of the house to you.
d) Something else.

I think everyone is presuming the answer is "c" but often people don't use language so precisely when it comes to legal/financial matters, so I'm hoping you can clarify.

LordB said:   I disagree with the people talking about destroying the relationship. Someone stealing $40k from me I consider the relationship destroyed. That said if she has no assets I question if it is worth doing anything about this.

I would talk to a lawyer. It could be that the forgery makes the sale invalid and thus you get the house back or otherwise able to get funds from someone other than the sister (like the new owner's title insurance).

That said any actions will probably not make the rest of the family happy with you if the sister ends up arrested and you will inevitably be blamed for all this despite it being the sister's fault. If you value the rest of the family it may not be worth it.
I like your thought of thinking. The way I see it, if the rest of the family doesn't like what he does, then they're properly not worth listening to. What the sister did was horrible and nothing to defend - they should feel happy if he goes after her.

I think the relationship is over and it's not worth keeping.

talljay said:   IANAL but isn't forgery a crime (as opposed to a civil matter) where it would be the state bringing charges? If so, could OP get in trouble for not reporting it?
You don't get in trouble for not Reporting a crime

Op what do you want out of this ? You say your Sis can't pay you, right? Has the home been sold and cash spent, or can you be added back on title ? If the cash is long gone, she has no money to pay you, etc, you can punish her by a criminal complaint...which will probably get her probation and a restitution order if your evidence is good. The police and da will do this for free , but only if your evidence is strong. If you can get her to admit in writing or video she forged your sig, that would be great before you head to the cops.

Bringing your own private Suit in civil court can be done cheaply in small claims but the dollar amount may be limited. Or you can hire an attorney but that will cost almost as much as the 1/3 of $42k she stole if it proceeds all the way through trial. And in the end you'll have a worthless judgment if she can't repay

You might also be able to make a claim on the current owners title insurance policy, if a title policy was issued...... but I'm not familiar with whether title insurance would pay out. There's no cost to try this

Regarding some of the questions people had

Where were you?

I live 2500 miles away.

Were you really on the title?

Absolutely. I was a 1/3 owner in a right of survivor titling

When did the sale take place?

No clue of the exact date, but sometime after 10/2010. I only know that it has sold because the middle brother was showing me the stuff he bought with the proceeds. He admitted to the forged signatured saying, "Older Sister thought you'd try to block the sale."

Wouldn't some company have cut three checks?

I don't know. I've never held property jointly.

For me, I would have received $14K out of $42K. 1/3 of the proceeds.

I don't want to negotiate anything with the sister other than immediate payment in cash. She's already declined. She wants me to wait. If there is time bar, I don't want to turn a criminal matter into a civil matter because my delay could be construed as acquiences.

I haven't seen or spoken to my brother and sister in 20 years. They have their own families, I have mine, and 2500 miles is enough of a buffer that any hard feelings won't affect me.

Regarding what I want:

I want the money, but it's gone. Therefore, my next thing would be to attempt to void the sale because my signature was in fact forged. I haven't seen the forgery yet, so I can't say whether it was even a good one.

I like what was said about the title insurance. I didn't want to unnecessarily mess things up with the buyer having turned over funds for the property, but I'm not convinced the buyer's hands are clean because they are relatives of my Brother in Law.

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.

We don't know if op was removed from title long before the home was sold, forged during the escrow, etc.

rmhop said:   Chyvan said:   Regarding some of the questions people had

Where were you?

I live 2500 miles away.

Were you really on the title?

Absolutely. I was a 1/3 owner in a right of survivor titling

When did the sale take place?

No clue of the exact date, but sometime after 10/2010. I only know that it has sold because the middle brother was showing me the stuff he bought with the proceeds. He admitted to the forged signatured saying, "Older Sister thought you'd try to block the sale."

Wouldn't some company have cut three checks?

I don't know. I've never held property jointly.

For me, I would have received $14K out of $42K. 1/3 of the proceeds.

I don't want to negotiate anything with the sister other than immediate payment in cash. She's already declined. She wants me to wait. If there is time bar, I don't want to turn a criminal matter into a civil matter because my delay could be construed as acquiences.

I haven't seen or spoken to my brother and sister in 20 years. They have their own families, I have mine, and 2500 miles is enough of a buffer that any hard feelings won't affect me.not trying to judge by any means.....

but if you live across the country and haven't seen each other in 20 years...why are you so concerned when it's only $14k? I could understand if it were $50k+ etc. Obviously you haven't kept in contact with them for a reason. So why is that now worth $14k?

i'm not saying what they did was right....but for only $14k it doesn't sound worth it.
$14k or even $1k is worth it to many people. Especiallly when "what they did isn't right" sometimes the dollar amount doesn't matter, you just don't want them to get away with it

He's not trying to mend or preserve the relationship , just wants the cash and /or make sure they don't just "get away with doing it ".

OP, you can probably go to Zillow.com to find out when the home was sold and maybe even a price. YOu might be able to find a RE agent on CL to see when, how much and which agent, escrow co and such too. Usually there are eager agents looking for biz leads on Craigslist so approach a few of them and ask about your mom's house and the history on it's recent sale. They might provide some help. Maybe with that info, you can decide to go after your sis/bro, the title company/notary and anyone else who wronged you.
I agree with someone earlier in the post, they initiated the destroying of the relationship not you. You are simply responding to their mis deeds against you. $14K or $1K it doesn't matter, you should be allowed to spend your mother's gift on your terms.

Chyvan said:   I haven't seen or spoken to my brother and sister in 20 years. But your brother was showing you the "stuff" he bought with the proceeds? So are you the rogue blacksheep of the family, or are they? Who handled your mother's estate? Not trying to sound harsh, but have you been gone for many years and now just showing up looking for money? How would your siblings describe this transaction? Just trying to get the whole story here.

Hey Moose, Rocco, help the judge find his checkbook, will ya?

Did sister truly take all of the $14K, or split it with brother? Does he have assets to go after for repayment? If the house was sold to relatives, I'd be checking into whether all you're really entitled to is just $14K. There could be more to the story yet that you weren't told. Do you know the fair market value of the house? IANAL, but can OP sue for 1/3 of FMV if greater than $14K if property was fraudulently sold under FMV without his consent?

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.