Ask Me Help Desk - Making payments before Collection Agency

I'll try to make this brief since it's a friend & I don't have all the info exactly. Basically, there were 2 sisters & 1 brother. Brother lived with mother last few years of her life (I think) and had her change her will at a point in time when she was not all there. Changed the will to he got everything. When she died, sisters contested will, judge threw out last will, but used the one prior so sisters got some property. But the mother had a lot of money in the bank, which the son withdrew all of it & kept (about $100,000). One sister had a bond or something & cashed it in (it may have had the brother's name on it, not sure). Brother sued sister, sister wasn't notified about court date, sister's attorney was a bad one, brother's attorney brought in another attorney to defend him when sister accused him of some things (yes it got very sticky). Bottom line, sister never knew about the court date, nor did her attorney. The courts told her that everyone served (by the brother's attorney) failed to show. Well, that was because no one received anything. So she is dealing with that matter in one way, BUT the brother is not demanding full payment of $4,500 for the bond she cashed. She is making a payment of $150/month and just received a letter from lawyer that was not sufficient. They want money in full or they will turn it over to a collection agency. Can they do that if she is paying? By the way, the brother is in PA & she is in MD.

Quote:

Originally Posted by carolh

I'll try to make this brief since it's a friend & I don't have all the info exactly......... Can they do that if she is paying? btw, the brother is in PA & she is in MD.

Hello carol:

You don't have all the info. The problem is the game is almost over, and now you want to know how she should start. Does she have an attorney still?? Where is he in all this? Did she just let him go away?? She needs to sue the attorney AND the brother.

excon

PS> (edited) Look, if nobody received anything, a competent attorney would get the judgment reversed. Even an incompetent attorney knows enough to do that. It's true, you don't have all the info.

Quote:

Originally Posted by excon

Hello carol:

You don't have all the info. The problem is the game is almost over, and now you want to know how she should start. Does she have an attorney still???? Where is he in all this? Did she just let him go away???? She needs to sue the attorney AND the brother.

excon

PS> (edited) Look, if nobody received anything, a competent attorney would get the judgment reversed. Even an incompetent attorney knows enough to do that. It's true, you don't have all the info.

The brother got most of the estate. I don't know if she will be suing all the people involved (3 attorneys - including hers - and her brother) because of the expense. It would cost her more than the estate. But she is planning on going to the bar to have them disciplined and the papers for exposure. She has some contacts with the newspaper. But meanwhile, she has this $4,500 debt to her brother and is planning on paying him $150/month. The brother is threatening to send her to collections and she doesn't want her credited marred because she owns a business. Can they send her to collections if she is making payment?

Hello carol:

You're not listening. It's like she's been in a bad accident and she's laying there with her arm half off and you ask if the scratch on her fingernail be repaired.

You just want your one question answered. You're not interested in anything else and don't want to be bothered by the facts. Well, you're asking the wrong dude for advice here. When I get screwed, I don't sit back and contemplate my navel.

excon

It depends, if there is a formal payment agreement and she is adhering to the terms of that agreement, then they can't send it to collections and especially can't mar her credit. But if they haven't agree to her paying $150/mth, they can.

But she should be countersuing him. If the will he influenced was thrown out, then he has to make an accounting of the estate before the court and distribute it according to the terms of the will that was entered into probate.

Quote:

Originally Posted by excon

Hello carol:

You're not listening. It's like she's been in a bad accident and she's laying there with her arm half off and you ask if the scratch on her fingernail be repaired.

You just want your one question answered. You're not interested in anything else and don't want to be bothered by the facts. Well, you're asking the wrong dude for advice here. When I get screwed, I don't sit back and contemplate my navel.

excon

excon,

I'm sorry, it's not that I'm not listening. She is taking care of the "big picture" problem. Those attorneys & the brother will all pay, but meanwhile, I'm asking for an answer to the one little question she needs answered now. It takes time to deal with the big picture, she doesn't have the time before they send her to collections, if they legally can. That is my question. Yes the question I'm asking is just the small part of the problem. But it's the problem that has to be addressed now.