My father had alzheimer’s and was 95 years old. His caretaker that he had for over 8 years took him to banks and convinced him to give her money once his mental health was declining. I had POA and I own the house he once lived in. I tried to evict her when he passed, but with covid eviction was not allowed. Once the eviction ban was lifted, I gave her an eviction notice. I gave her six months, after that two months, after that 30 days. They told me she has 5 days to contact them about the eviction or going through to fight for ownership of the property. She contacted them on the last day to say she is going to take me to court to fight for ownership of the property. It has been 75 days since then and I have an unlawful detainer on her now. I have seen over 10 attorneys who have been no help and have said she now owns the house for how long she has stayed there. She took over $100k in funds by confusing my father that he owed her money and taking from his belongings. She has taken money from my kids' futures and the house my daughter could’ve lived in when she had her first-born child. Last time I talked her, she told me she was the only real daughter he ever had. This woman is crazy.
What do you think I should do?
Thank you.
The aspect in which it applies to real estate was in connection with a fence, i.e., someone who constructed a fence which encroaches on the adjacent property - after a given number of years, ownership of the fence cedes to the owner of the property on which it was constructed, and the fence builder him/herself loses ownership.
Did some quick research. The concept of "adverse possession" might be applicable.
Just generally:
"Requirements for Adverse Possession
If a piece of property has been used by someone other than the rightful owner for a number of years, the doctrine of adverse possession may apply. State laws vary with respect to time requirements; however, typically, the possession by the non-owner needs to be open, notorious, and under a claim of right. In some states, the non-owner must also pay the property taxes on the occupied land. A permissive use of property eliminates the ability to claim adverse possession."
https://www.findlaw.com/realestate/land-use-laws/adverse-possession-continuous-trespassers-rights.html
And what kind of attorneys did you see? Real estate attorneys? I think they would be more likely to understand the principles of acquisition by occupation.
Did any of them mention acquisition by adverse possession?
You refer to "they" who gave you advice; is this the attorneys? Sheriff's offices in our area handle evictions; did you speak with any of the deputies?
What proof do you have that she "took" (I.,e. stole?) $100K? Do you have documentation? If you can prove that, it might mitigate her claim that she's entitled to the house. Are you building a case against her for financial fraud? If not, why not?
I'm surprised that she's taken this position, but suspect that she's gotten some legal advice somewhere about adverse possession.
Where I live it takes 10 years of "possession" before adverse possession can be claimed but, it requires proof that you were told you couldn't use or occupy and were never stopped.
Pretty sure a paid caregiver does not meet that criteria.
This is not to pry, but was your father wealthy, someone who could be a target for this kind of person?
I think you may need 2 kinds of attorneys: one to address what appears to be fraud in her attempt to "manage" his financial assets, and another, a real estate attorney or criminal attorney with knowledge of Adverse Possession actions. That may be hard to do; I'm not sure how many have experience in this area.
If you can find a firm with specialists in both areas, that would be ideal. I'm guessing that Adverse Possession would be something handled by large firms with multiple practice areas.
I do not think this legally falls under adverse possession.
You can see the duration of her residency making eviction proceedings lengthier, more painful and more complicated, but it wouldn't give her *title* to the real estate.
It seems improbable that attorneys of all people would just throw up their hands and turn defeatist, doesn't it?
Saramariel, when you say you own the house that your father once lived in: do you mean it was always your house and you allowed him (with caretaker) to live there, or do you mean that now he has passed away it has become yours because you inherited it from him?
Then 30 days later their stuff is moved out in the street with them in it.
Unless there was written agreement possibly like trading her services for equity in the home. A Medicaid filing?
I agree with others, you need to get your ducks in a row and prove current ownership, then eviction process or elder abuse attorney.
Continue the eviction process. Even in an eviction, the evictee gets to tell their side of the story and the judge makes a decision. Covid probably slowed down all those courts with the backlog of evictions that could not take place for so long.
Do you have any medical proof of about when dad was diagnosed with his dementia? Any money w/drawn after that date by her would be questionable. Not necessarily illegal if he was with her at the bank, but questionable enough to establish a pattern of increased withdrawals and financial abuse of an elder.
There is also the chance that she had him do a new will or other document leaving things to her.
I do have to ask, if you had POA over his affairs, why didn't you shut down the bank transactions immediately? Why didn't you start an eviction on her when she began stealing dads personal belongings. Just curious about the events when she became a financial problem to him.
If you have the deed to the house - you might want to see a house investor who will buy your deed directly from you and then it becomes their problem to get her out of the house. You are losing money every time you see a lawyer and filing fees/court fees while continuing the eviction. At least with investor, you get something.
At that point you can never let her back into the home under any circumstances. You are going to have to install a security system so that should she try to break back into the home, you can call the police and say there is a break in.
Pack up her things and give her a date and time that she can pick them up from the curb. Explain that she has so many days to pick up her items or they will be disposed of.
Flip the script! Put the burden of proof and the burden of a lawyer on her.....
First, you need to know what the squatters rights/laws are in your state. In Texas for example, if you let them stay there for 10 years or more, they have the ability to claim the property. So if you're under that timeframe, then keep going.
Second, call the police and work to have her removed if you have the proper eviction or contact eviction specialists. Again, because I'm in texas, places like these can help: https://www.texaseviction.com/
Third make sure you have the deed to the property and that the local tax board has you on file as the owner.
Fourth, file a elder abuse complaint about her and gather up the paperwork to show she took advantage of your relative. You need to be as mean and aggressive as she is.
Next, call the TV stations and tell them you have a great story that could happen to anyone, then ask to be interviewed in front of the house.
And keep going. She's most likely on social media. Find out all her fb, instagram, etc. accounts and outline what you just did here on all of her accounts. If she works for an agency, make sure you file a complaint against the agency. Also turn her in for tax evasion. She took money from your relative and most likely did not pay taxes. If she is taking possession of the house, same thing. Cozy up the tax man and they will make her life a living hell.
If she has her own business or if she works for an agency, post the worst reviews you can. She most likely needs to work, so find out where she is working and let them know what she did. But don't go over the line.
Keep fighting. Yes, she may have bonded with your father, and he may have spoken poorly about you to her because of his condition or feeling like you should have taken care of him (you didn't have to and shouldn't), so she might feel entitled, but I've dealt with these kinds before. They are low-life scum so you have to fight at their level. good luck
A house given to someone in a will can be transferred to that person by deed via probate or by transfer on death deed. The owner of property can start eviction process. (Slowed down when evictions were stopped during covid in 2020 and recently allowed again). May take some time, but you can't just squat in a house and get to keep it.
That being said, if the house was left to OP in the will, OP can say how the house will be used.
I would go to the tax assessor's office to make sure I paid the taxes and that my name is listed as the owner.
I had a similar problem with my late father's girlfriend squatting in his house. I saw a real estate lawyer who explained to me that because I had my father's full POA the minute he became incapacitated, for all intents and purposes I become him and make decisions in his name.
I had to evict the girlfriend. She refused to leave of course because she was a squatting freeloader. Squatters have certain rights in my state. There's a certain amount of time allowed by law for how long someone can legally squat in a property. The second they step out of the place you can change the locks and take possession of their personal property. When the legal amount of time she could squat was up it was up. I waited for her to go, then change the locks.
The estate will have to be probated in court. If the OP is prevented from getting the original deed for some reason like the former caregiver did something with it, the court will obtain an official copy of it from city hall.
It will take some time for the estate to be probated and it will cost to get it done. Once it's done the squatter is done.
If you own your father's house, it is a done deal. She has nothing to fight in court and is just trying to buy herself some time. She is squatting in your house.
If you've already served her with eviction and it's all done on the up and up, then you can go with a sheriff and literally put locks on the doors and take possession of all her belongings.
I'm sorry but I do not believe that ten lawyers told you that she owns the house because she lived there for so long. In no state in the country is that argument going to fly. The person whose name is on the deed owns the property. Or the person or persons named in a Last Will and Testament own the property. Or the legal next of kin does if there's no will or prior arrangement of a deed made.
If your name is on the deed to your father's house you own it unless she is mentioned in a will.
Have the police physically remove her from the premises then take possession of her belongings which will be your right to do so if she is squatting there. Then change the locks.
She had to, with her own money, hire an attorney to get this woman out and claw back any of what dad's equity was. The lawyer said he sees this ALL the time. Then, with her own money, she had to put him in an AL and hire a day private aide to be with him.
I feel terrible for my grandparents being taken advantage of and how the stress has taken a toll on my mother. i really do appreciate all the replies and have not been gone i read everyone’s comments and write it down in my notepad. thank you all so very much and me and my mother are far from giving up on this fight!
Are the people stating this aware of how much it costs for a legal education to get a law degree? Or the time sacrificed? Or the challenges of being an attorney, especially when clients have no concept whatsoever not only of the nature of laws applicable to their situation, but don't even try to educate themselves?
What degrees do you, as poster and critic of attorneys have? Did you put yourself through college?
Like any other professional, attorneys have the right to determine how best their training can be applied, not only for their individual benefit, their families, their firms, but also the community.
I've heard attorneys comment that they won't get involved with certain potential clients b/c of (a) the clients and families can't get along and don't know how to or aren't interested in compatability in caring for someone (b) attorneys aren't interested in wasting time being referees between feuding families, and/or others and (c) they didn't spend 7-8 years of schooling to become involved in feuds, or babysit adults who can't get along with their family.
I wish some of the folks here who are so critical of attorneys could have the experience of working in a top law firm, with top attorneys, and see how dedicated they really are. As are their staff.
On one occasion a secretary came in around midnight to work on a highly confidential and critical M&A. I've been lucky; I've only worked 12 hour days, and 7 day weeks, but also took a lot of work home with me when it was necessary to provide the best care for clients. And I'm not even an attorney, but was a paralegal.
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