Oregon estate looting case
Financial elder abuse is a bigger problem than the authorities can manage. BUT~ isn’t that their job?
Bonnie King
March 31, 2009
Salem-News.com
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/march312009/elderabuse_032509.php
(SANDY, Ore.) - Erna Boldt came to the U.S. in the 1950’s as a war bride. She worked all her life, creating a stable home and a financially secure future.
In 1998 she created an Estate Plan, in which she gave half of everything she owned to her son, upon her death.
“He knew all along that whatever I put in my estate plan, was for after my death,” Erna Boldt said. “In fact I gave him half of it so he would have access to everything. But the way it turned out, the courts gave him all of it. It just doesn’t stand to reason. Why? Because he had a smart attorney. But I feel he didn’t outsmart me because I caught on.”
Leroy Newton, Erna’s only child, is an investment banker in California. Erna trusted his knowledge and advice. The next thing she knew, her house, her stocks and all her worldly goods were the property of her son. Far before her death.
She appealed his creation of a trust that kept her from accessing her own money, and she won.
She changed her house back into her name, and waited for her other assets to be returned.
Sadly, there was a lack of follow through by the Clackamas County Oregon lower court, “administrative neglect” it’s called. The court documents from Erna’s “win” were never filed, and therefore left her son a window to finalize his takeover.
When Erna learned of this mishap, she appealed to the court to uphold the decision in her favor, and she was denied. Next, a trustee was assigned to Erna’s inheritance without her ever being declared “Incompetent.”
Eight years later, now recovering from a stroke, Erna has spent herself into debt defending her right to her own property. Her son has fought her all the way.
Finally, in November of 2007, the Oregon State of Appeals court agreed to allow the documents to be submitted, and the case revisited.
Erna filed the paperwork in January 2008 and her son’s attorney drug his feet in responding, receiving two extensions after defaulting, and even missing the extension deadline by three days. His paperwork was accepted, nonetheless.
Erna’s a survivor, and she’s vowed not to let her son get the best of her. She intends to see justice served.
Salem-News.com will be watching to see if Oregon’s judicial system will rise to the occasion, and take a stand for our aging citizens, or add to the pain and suffering of the elderly.
Both the Supreme Court, and common sense, tell us that “justice must satisfy the appearance of justice.”
That remains to be seen.
