Property lawyer or lawyer savvy posters?

MotoMo165 wrote:

I need some advice. My father who just recently passed was in the middle of a lawsuit (he had it pushed back a few times, but now is deceased).
He was fighting it, had a lawyer, but now is gone. If he would have lost the law suit he would obviously owe an amount of money.
So my main concern is, theres this property that my aunts/uncles, and now my mom, will be recieving money from once sold. Will this money go directly to this law suit that was against my dad or is there a way around this or how exactly is this gonna work?He also had 2 cars in his name, will these cars now be in jeopardy?

Sorry for all the random questions.
Interesting tidbit, my first post was an inquire about Houston SX in 14 while my dad received treatment at MD Anderson, and none other than Jeff Alessi offered me a day tour around the rig and qualifying. Sadly couldn’t make it, but the alessi are good people.

I'm not an attorney and can't offer any advice. However, I am the trustee of my parents estate and spent the last year dealing with distribution of assets, selling vehicles, property etc.
I spent a bit of time at the attorneys office that put together the trust for my parents.
I think the answer to your question is, it probably depends on dozens of things and an estate attorney would be who you need to talk with I would think.

Appreciate your reply and insight. Guess I’ll have to look for one

You gotta just pony up a retainer or consult fee and ask a lawyer.

Sorry for your loss. I’m not a lawyer either, but whether or not the party suing him will get anything depends if they win the lawsuit. I’m guessing they will win by default, and will have a claim to his estate in the amount the judge awarded them. If he owes his lawyer or anyone else anything, they’ll be entitled to be paid as well. One thing that MIGHT be possible, is to get all of the assets out of your father’s name before a judgement is awarded. Move everything to an LLC and make your aunts/uncles/mom all equal partners in the LLC. Pay the attorney to keep delaying things to buy yourselves some time. I would definitely consult a pro, though.

OP could you describe the nature of the lawsuit? I’m genuinely interested in this topic.

SEE ARE125 wrote:

Sorry for your loss. I’m not a lawyer either, but whether or not the party suing him will get anything depends if they win the lawsuit. I’m guessing they will win by default, and will have a claim to his estate in the amount the judge awarded them. If he owes his lawyer or anyone else anything, they’ll be entitled to be paid as well. One thing that MIGHT be possible, is to get all of the assets out of your father’s name before a judgement is awarded. Move everything to an LLC and make your aunts/uncles/mom all equal partners in the LLC. Pay the attorney to keep delaying things to buy yourselves some time. I would definitely consult a pro, though.

Yea that’s probsbly the best way. Use the system to your advantage for your family. No reason to work hard all your life to lose everything.

I'm no lawyer but this doesn't sound like a simple issue.

Think you will need to bite a bullet & get a consult - sounds like damage potential, on the face of it. Maybe big damage - all depending on personal stuff we would have no business knowing anything about.

SEE ARE125 wrote:

Sorry for your loss. I’m not a lawyer either, but whether or not the party suing him will get anything depends if they win the lawsuit. I’m guessing they will win by default, and will have a claim to his estate in the amount the judge awarded them. If he owes his lawyer or anyone else anything, they’ll be entitled to be paid as well. One thing that MIGHT be possible, is to get all of the assets out of your father’s name before a judgement is awarded. Move everything to an LLC and make your aunts/uncles/mom all equal partners in the LLC. Pay the attorney to keep delaying things to buy yourselves some time. I would definitely consult a pro, though.

None of that will work except consulting a real lawyer. The plaintiff does not win by default. The estate becomes the defendant and the executor can decide to continue to fight it. Trying to hide assets after the fact gets you in contempt of court or illegal conveyance charges. It never works except with small stuff that is not in a will or trust. Real estate and vehicle ownership is public information. Mr. Magoo can find it.

SEE ARE125 wrote:

Sorry for your loss. I’m not a lawyer either, but whether or not the party suing him will get anything depends if they win the lawsuit. I’m guessing they will win by default, and will have a claim to his estate in the amount the judge awarded them. If he owes his lawyer or anyone else anything, they’ll be entitled to be paid as well. One thing that MIGHT be possible, is to get all of the assets out of your father’s name before a judgement is awarded. Move everything to an LLC and make your aunts/uncles/mom all equal partners in the LLC. Pay the attorney to keep delaying things to buy yourselves some time. I would definitely consult a pro, though.

borg wrote:

None of that will work except consulting a real lawyer. The plaintiff does not win by default. The estate becomes the defendant and the executor can decide to continue to fight it. Trying to hide assets after the fact gets you in contempt of court or illegal conveyance charges. It never works except with small stuff that is not in a will or trust. Real estate and vehicle ownership is public information. Mr. Magoo can find it.

Good to know. Thanks.

SEE ARE125 wrote:

Sorry for your loss. I’m not a lawyer either, but whether or not the party suing him will get anything depends if they win the lawsuit. I’m guessing they will win by default, and will have a claim to his estate in the amount the judge awarded them. If he owes his lawyer or anyone else anything, they’ll be entitled to be paid as well. One thing that MIGHT be possible, is to get all of the assets out of your father’s name before a judgement is awarded. Move everything to an LLC and make your aunts/uncles/mom all equal partners in the LLC. Pay the attorney to keep delaying things to buy yourselves some time. I would definitely consult a pro, though.

borg wrote:

None of that will work except consulting a real lawyer. The plaintiff does not win by default. The estate becomes the defendant and the executor can decide to continue to fight it. Trying to hide assets after the fact gets you in contempt of court or illegal conveyance charges. It never works except with small stuff that is not in a will or trust. Real estate and vehicle ownership is public information. Mr. Magoo can find it.

Yup.

Could be a real can-o-worms in the works here based on what is posted.

Yep, get a lawyer. You can bet the plaintiff has one.

First, condolences for the loss of your Father.

You may want to look into the Texas Uniform Fraudulent Transfers Act before you start transferring assets. I'm not saying people don't do it, but there is a right way and a wrong way to avoid liability.

Without knowing many details, the estate will most likely have to open a probate and have an executor/administrator appointed. Did your Father have a Will? The Plaintiff in the lawsuit will file a claim against the estate in the probate court, and the case will likely be transferred. In these situations the probate court can be a more favorable venue for the estate.

Where are you in Texas?

Get a hold of FTE https://www.vitalmx.com/community/FreshTopEnd,356/all

This whole fiasco is from a remodeling job. Out of the 30 years my dad did this type of work he never had a lawsuit. Remodeled her kitchen, she’s nitpicking cabinets not sitting perfectly, but I believe her house wasn’t even level..(should I delete this part? Lol)

Well the good news is, the amount this lady is sueing for isn’t a terrible amount, just shy of 10k I believe. Also, my dads good friend (lawyer) was helping him push back dates and getting all the papers in order, so no owed lawyer fee atm. I’ll know more soon.

Thank you for the condolences.
SEE ARE125 that sounds like a possible route we might take, and pretty clever.. But will definitely look into the legal/interpretation side of things before attempting that. I can get a lawyer to push back dates if it means saving money in the long run.
I’ll find out the court date come Tuesday, but if I remember correctly I think the next court date isn’t until after Christmas..
Borg, that is good to know, I was honestly thinking how fucked that would be if that was the case, glad it’s not. I will find out Tuesday or possibly Monday about the will/trust. I believe the land was left by my grandparents to my father/uncle/aunts in their will (so not exactly sure).
And actually the plaintiff no showed the first court date while my dad did show. She doesn’t have a very strong case either...... but still. She’s a crazy old mexican lady lol the worst to deal with.


GrapeApe, thank you. I will certainly look into that. Ohh alrIght, ya i know what you mean. Damn. Well he he passed 4 days ago, you think the courts will know in the next week or so?
And My dad actually got and signed a vehicle Affidavit of Moto Vehicle Gift Transfer, signed and notarized back in September. You think it’s safe if I go ahead and finish the process putting it in my name? Fuck I should have done this before he passed. (Just found out about this last Thursday tho so can’t be too upset about it.)
No, I don’t think he did have a will, unfortunately
(?), but could be wrong. We lost most our shit 7 years ago, when the market crashed. But I’ll know more Tuesday.
I live in SA.

Your last sentence, “in these situations the probate court can be a more favorable venue for the estate.”, meaning she could win bigger now that there is not real defendant, assuming she continues with the suit?

I think you are interpreting his last sentence the exact opposite of what he meant.

MotoMo165 wrote:

This whole fiasco is from a remodeling job. Out of the 30 years my dad did this type of work he never had a lawsuit. Remodeled her kitchen, she’s nitpicking cabinets not sitting perfectly, but I believe her house wasn’t even level..(should I delete this part? Lol)

Well the good news is, the amount this lady is sueing for isn’t a terrible amount, just shy of 10k I believe. Also, my dads good friend (lawyer) was helping him push back dates and getting all the papers in order, so no owed lawyer fee atm. I’ll know more soon.

Thank you for the condolences.
SEE ARE125 that sounds like a possible route we might take, and pretty clever.. But will definitely look into the legal/interpretation side of things before attempting that. I can get a lawyer to push back dates if it means saving money in the long run.
I’ll find out the court date come Tuesday, but if I remember correctly I think the next court date isn’t until after Christmas..
Borg, that is good to know, I was honestly thinking how fucked that would be if that was the case, glad it’s not. I will find out Tuesday or possibly Monday about the will/trust. I believe the land was left by my grandparents to my father/uncle/aunts in their will (so not exactly sure).
And actually the plaintiff no showed the first court date while my dad did show. She doesn’t have a very strong case either...... but still. She’s a crazy old mexican lady lol the worst to deal with.


GrapeApe, thank you. I will certainly look into that. Ohh alrIght, ya i know what you mean. Damn. Well he he passed 4 days ago, you think the courts will know in the next week or so?
And My dad actually got and signed a vehicle Affidavit of Moto Vehicle Gift Transfer, signed and notarized back in September. You think it’s safe if I go ahead and finish the process putting it in my name? Fuck I should have done this before he passed. (Just found out about this last Thursday tho so can’t be too upset about it.)
No, I don’t think he did have a will, unfortunately
(?), but could be wrong. We lost most our shit 7 years ago, when the market crashed. But I’ll know more Tuesday.
I live in SA.

Your last sentence, “in these situations the probate court can be a more favorable venue for the estate.”, meaning she could win bigger now that there is not real defendant, assuming she continues with the suit?

Wouldn't your dad's insurance pay if the plaintiff prevailed? It certainly sounds like it'd be less than the normal coverage amounts that a contractor would carry.

Hahah good!!
I have a habit of assuming the contrary of my interpretation.. if that makes sense. I was gonna google the words but was honestly too lazy.
Thank you guys for your input.

MotoMo165 wrote:

This whole fiasco is from a remodeling job. Out of the 30 years my dad did this type of work he never had a lawsuit. Remodeled her kitchen, she’s nitpicking cabinets not sitting perfectly, but I believe her house wasn’t even level..(should I delete this part? Lol)

Well the good news is, the amount this lady is sueing for isn’t a terrible amount, just shy of 10k I believe. Also, my dads good friend (lawyer) was helping him push back dates and getting all the papers in order, so no owed lawyer fee atm. I’ll know more soon.

Thank you for the condolences.
SEE ARE125 that sounds like a possible route we might take, and pretty clever.. But will definitely look into the legal/interpretation side of things before attempting that. I can get a lawyer to push back dates if it means saving money in the long run.
I’ll find out the court date come Tuesday, but if I remember correctly I think the next court date isn’t until after Christmas..
Borg, that is good to know, I was honestly thinking how fucked that would be if that was the case, glad it’s not. I will find out Tuesday or possibly Monday about the will/trust. I believe the land was left by my grandparents to my father/uncle/aunts in their will (so not exactly sure).
And actually the plaintiff no showed the first court date while my dad did show. She doesn’t have a very strong case either...... but still. She’s a crazy old mexican lady lol the worst to deal with.


GrapeApe, thank you. I will certainly look into that. Ohh alrIght, ya i know what you mean. Damn. Well he he passed 4 days ago, you think the courts will know in the next week or so?
And My dad actually got and signed a vehicle Affidavit of Moto Vehicle Gift Transfer, signed and notarized back in September. You think it’s safe if I go ahead and finish the process putting it in my name? Fuck I should have done this before he passed. (Just found out about this last Thursday tho so can’t be too upset about it.)
No, I don’t think he did have a will, unfortunately
(?), but could be wrong. We lost most our shit 7 years ago, when the market crashed. But I’ll know more Tuesday.
I live in SA.

Your last sentence, “in these situations the probate court can be a more favorable venue for the estate.”, meaning she could win bigger now that there is not real defendant, assuming she continues with the suit?

APLMAN99 wrote:

Wouldn't your dad's insurance pay if the plaintiff prevailed? It certainly sounds like it'd be less than the normal coverage amounts that a contractor would carry.

Unfortunately my dad wasn’t the most professional, but did a good job at faking it until he made it. Sort of the opposite of me/my siblings. But he did well, I know for a fact he didn’t have any sort of business insurance.. not even sure how legit his business was if that make sense. He made good money for a while though. He wasn’t just a contractor, he found the jobs, got the workers, but also did the work

MotoMo165 wrote:

This whole fiasco is from a remodeling job. Out of the 30 years my dad did this type of work he never had a lawsuit. Remodeled her kitchen, she’s nitpicking cabinets not sitting perfectly, but I believe her house wasn’t even level..(should I delete this part? Lol)

Well the good news is, the amount this lady is sueing for isn’t a terrible amount, just shy of 10k I believe. Also, my dads good friend (lawyer) was helping him push back dates and getting all the papers in order, so no owed lawyer fee atm. I’ll know more soon.

Thank you for the condolences.
SEE ARE125 that sounds like a possible route we might take, and pretty clever.. But will definitely look into the legal/interpretation side of things before attempting that. I can get a lawyer to push back dates if it means saving money in the long run.
I’ll find out the court date come Tuesday, but if I remember correctly I think the next court date isn’t until after Christmas..
Borg, that is good to know, I was honestly thinking how fucked that would be if that was the case, glad it’s not. I will find out Tuesday or possibly Monday about the will/trust. I believe the land was left by my grandparents to my father/uncle/aunts in their will (so not exactly sure).
And actually the plaintiff no showed the first court date while my dad did show. She doesn’t have a very strong case either...... but still. She’s a crazy old mexican lady lol the worst to deal with.


GrapeApe, thank you. I will certainly look into that. Ohh alrIght, ya i know what you mean. Damn. Well he he passed 4 days ago, you think the courts will know in the next week or so?
And My dad actually got and signed a vehicle Affidavit of Moto Vehicle Gift Transfer, signed and notarized back in September. You think it’s safe if I go ahead and finish the process putting it in my name? Fuck I should have done this before he passed. (Just found out about this last Thursday tho so can’t be too upset about it.)
No, I don’t think he did have a will, unfortunately
(?), but could be wrong. We lost most our shit 7 years ago, when the market crashed. But I’ll know more Tuesday.
I live in SA.

Your last sentence, “in these situations the probate court can be a more favorable venue for the estate.”, meaning she could win bigger now that there is not real defendant, assuming she continues with the suit?

APLMAN99 wrote:

Wouldn't your dad's insurance pay if the plaintiff prevailed? It certainly sounds like it'd be less than the normal coverage amounts that a contractor would carry.

MotoMo165 wrote:

Unfortunately my dad wasn’t the most professional, but did a good job at faking it until he made it. Sort of the opposite of me/my siblings. But he did well, I know for a fact he didn’t have any sort of business insurance.. not even sure how legit his business was if that make sense. He made good money for a while though. He wasn’t just a contractor, he found the jobs, got the workers, but also did the work

Well, if it helps any your dad certainly wasn't alone. Commercial insurance is pretty confusing sometimes and for a semi-small business it can be so difficult to meet all the criteria that an awful lot of guys just say "screw it" and do the cash-under-the-table thing, even if they start to do quite a bit of business. When I owned my insurance agency I sold commercial insurance, but if anyone even remotely involved in home repair came in, I'd point them in the directIon of someone who specialized in that type because of all the crazy exclusions and stuff. In our area it seems almost impossible to find a legit "handyman" kind of service because of that. Either it's a large "restoration" type of company, or it's hiring a guy under the table. Not much in between.

My condolences to you and your family. I hope this ends well for everyone whatever happens.