Is Anyone Here a Lawyer or Member of Law Enforcement?

[GabyKeepsMeWarm]

I've got a situation.

My dad died in May of last year, and I'm the executor of his estate. It's been a nightmare. He died without a will and sorting through everything has been an awful mess.

My father lived in Iowa, and he had a "companion" that he met online. I've been very skeptical of this woman from the outset, but how do you tell your 78 year old father he's being taken for a ride? His "companion" lives in New Mexico, and my father would go down to New Mexico during the Winter months. Dad bought a motor home and left it in New Mexico, giving her full access. However, the motor home was only titled and registered in his name.

Well, after dad died, I discovered this woman had the motor home retitled and registered in her name.

I've spoken to several lawyers, including the DA of the county in which the motor home was stolen, as well as the state police and local law enforcement, and I haven't gotten anywhere.

Law enforcement is calling it a civil matter, even saying that this woman claims my father gave her the vehicle prior to his death. It's incredibly frustrating. If her claims are true, which they are not, why did she wait until after he died to retitle and reregister the vehicle?

Every attorney I've spoken to is calling this a law enforcement matter.

It's like nobody wants to do their ****ing job, and I'm at my wits end about this.

Any advice?

[NinerDoug]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

I don't doubt he was having trouble later in life. Not to sound harsh but if he wasn't impaired, not leaving a will is a pretty shitty thing to do to your kids.

Lots of people die intestate. When that happens, the state essentially provides a will for you. If you were on good terms with your family, it probably tracks pretty closely what you would have put in a will.

[NinerDoug]

Originally Posted by GabyKeepsMeWarm

My estate attorney reached out to her a few months ago as part of the inventory for the estate. This woman could only provide the new insurance card and new title as proof of her ownership. The estate attorney told me that simply is not proof as there is no documentation provided stating my father gave this vehicle to that woman.

For all those who think I need to just be "Mr. Nice Guy" and happy that my dad had such wonderful companionship and just let it be, if you knew half the shit I've discovered about this woman and how she took advantage of my father, you'd keep that opinion to yourself. This woman is a con artist, plain and simple.

You need to get a hold of a copy of your father's title, that she submitted to the DMV, and check the signature.

[DenverChief]

Originally Posted by NinerDoug

You need to get a hold of a copy of your father's title, that she submitted to the DMV, and check the signature.

and hire a forensic handwriting specialist to examine the document and render an opinion while paying an attorney to file a tort claim....is the juice worth the squeeze....

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by NinerDoug

Lots of people die intestate. When that happens, the state essentially provides a will for you. If you were on good terms with your family, it probably tracks pretty closely what you would have put in a will.

Yeah, that didn't happen for my mother-in-law. She's been sorting out her father's estate since October of last year and it's not slowing down anytime soon. The only thing he left to his kids was a trust that contained his farm and house and some random monetary assets, and the stipulation he put in his trust was that the farm and house couldn't be sold for at least 10 years. All of his kids are in their mid-to-late 60's and he put that in there for a double "**** you" to his kids. The rest of the stuff he left out of the trust he did not put in a will, so the kids are all fighting over it and the state doesn't want anything to do with it.

I guess that follows under your qualifier of whether or not they were on "good terms" but it wasn't like they were estranged or anything. He was just an abusive asshole and wanted to stick it to them one last time from beyond the grave.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by DenverChief

and hire a forensic handwriting specialist to examine the document and render an opinion while paying an attorney to file a tort claim....is the juice worth the squeeze....

Exactly. Hiring a handwriting expert might cost more than the RV is worth.

[the steam]

Your father's signature had to be notarized. I would contact whoever notarized his sig

[BryanBusby]

Did you try licking her ass?

[Shiver Me Timbers]

Originally Posted by NinerDoug

Trouble I see is: She says, "He gave it to me."

What evidence do you have to prove he didn't?

I would start with the whatever she submitted to the DMV when she changed title and registration. I would imagine that, if your father did in fact give it to her, he would have had to sign off on the title. (That's how it's done in California, anyway.)

Check the signature.

What he said^

[Shiver Me Timbers]

Originally Posted by the steam

Your father's signature had to be notarized. I would contact whoever notarized his sig

I have never had to have a sig notarized doing vehicle stuff. Maybe different on a Motorhome

[frozenchief]

The general ideas in here are actually pretty good. The best advice is how much is the RV worth? If it’s worth $5K, how much are you willing to pay? I mean, you could put $20K into a lawyer’s trust account and tell him to go nuts but that’s not real smart.

The first thing you need to do is to get a copy of the title history of the RV. I don’t know NM law about that. Maybe it’s public. Maybe it’s not. But you should be able to talk with the DMV and see what it takes to get a copy of the title history.

Compare the signature of your father on the title he had with the signature signing title to her. If you know your father’s signature, you could testify as to whether they are the same. If they are not, your testimony would help but you can also get an expert on handwriting to compare the signatures. You’ll need various samples of his handwriting so try to find something he has written. If your expert will testify that the signatures are different and the one conveying title to her is not consistent with his handwriting, you’re halfway there. You’ll need samples of her handwriting to get an opinion that the signature is consistent with her. That doesn’t always happen, though, because sometimes people try to match a signature or write in a different way to disguise a forgery.

You can probably do this all on your own. If you get a report from an expert that the signature is not your dad’s, provide a copy to the DA in the county where the RV is registered. I would maybe contact a criminal defense attorney or a former DA in that county because they would know which DA to talk to, although it would conflict them out of the case so maybe throw them a bottle of bourbon. But if a DA were to find out about this case from a defense attorney who has a good reputation, that would make things much different.

[ROYC75]

Originally Posted by GabyKeepsMeWarm

Yeah, I just edited my post. I don't know how she managed to get the thing retitled outside of forging his name and committing fraud. And correct, there is no documentation stating he ever gave her the vehicle. In my estimation, law enforcement is dragging ass.

Did you contact the local police or the state police? I would approach the state police!

[Jenson71]

Originally Posted by Shiver Me Timbers

I have never had to have a sig notarized doing vehicle stuff. Maybe different on a Motorhome

I doubt it would be. I'd be surprised if there's a notary involved.

[ROYC75]

Originally Posted by Dante84

Is a title a public record? I'd imagine this documentation can be had by submitting a public record request.

Was it retitled while he was alive, or after he passed ?

[ptlyon]

Originally Posted by BryanBusby

Did you try licking her ass?

Always the first course

[Skyy God]

Originally Posted by frozenchief

The general ideas in here are actually pretty good. The best advice is how much is the RV worth? If it’s worth $5K, how much are you willing to pay? I mean, you could put $20K into a lawyer’s trust account and tell him to go nuts but that’s not real smart.

The first thing you need to do is to get a copy of the title history of the RV. I don’t know NM law about that. Maybe it’s public. Maybe it’s not. But you should be able to talk with the DMV and see what it takes to get a copy of the title history.

Compare the signature of your father on the title he had with the signature signing title to her. If you know your father’s signature, you could testify as to whether they are the same. If they are not, your testimony would help but you can also get an expert on handwriting to compare the signatures. You’ll need various samples of his handwriting so try to find something he has written. If your expert will testify that the signatures are different and the one conveying title to her is not consistent with his handwriting, you’re halfway there. You’ll need samples of her handwriting to get an opinion that the signature is consistent with her. That doesn’t always happen, though, because sometimes people try to match a signature or write in a different way to disguise a forgery.

You can probably do this all on your own. If you get a report from an expert that the signature is not your dad’s, provide a copy to the DA in the county where the RV is registered. I would maybe contact a criminal defense attorney or a former DA in that county because they would know which DA to talk to, although it would conflict them out of the case so maybe throw them a bottle of bourbon. But if a DA were to find out about this case from a defense attorney who has a good reputation, that would make things much different.

From speaking with some criminal defense guys and personal experience, finding a good handwriting expert is difficult.

My $0.02 is OP should drop this. Likely just throwing good money after bad.