Local woman forced to repay for cheated estate (TX)

September 28, 2012

MCCLENNAN COUNTY – A McLennan County judge wants the woman accused of cheating an elderly man out of his estate to pay that money back.

Melissa Adler was in court today for her sentencing when 54th District Court Judge Matt Johnson reset her sentencing date for November 28th.

Adler and her lawyer, Ray Rushing, were indicted in June of 2011 for convincing an elderly man to sign his will over to Adler, who would later plan on giving $5,000 to Rushing.

The two were accused of cheating the will’s rightful heir out of the estate, worth nearly $170,000, and both were charged with two counts of mis-application of fiduciary property, theft of an estate, and securing execution of a document by deception.

Adler has been ordered to pay back nearly everything she took from that man to his family.

Before the judge sentences her to any sort of probation, he wants to make sure she is able to do that first.

Adler’s attorneys are hopeful to get her 10 years probation.

Attribution:

Local Woman Forced To Repay For Cheated Estate
John Elizondo
September 25, 2012
KXXV.com
http://www.kxxv.com/story/19636257/local-woman-forced-to-pay

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  • Estate of Denial

    Two points of consideration on this. First,
    people mistakenly think only the “wealthy” are targeted for estate
    abuse. Absolutely wrong as this case shows. The estate in question was
    reportedly worth $170,000.
    Second, these cases happe
    n
    daily, law enforcement rarely investigates much less prosecutes. Many
    “bad apples” are quite aware of this reality which makes these cases
    all the more appealing. Parties are expected to take up their concerns
    in civil legal action which many can’t afford, find a lawyer willing to
    honestly represent them or it’s cost prohibitive. This case for this
    amount of money suggests something else is up or someone involved is in
    the sights of some undisclosed interest.
    When a similar
    prosecution recently occurred in Tarrant County, it was revealed how the
    defendant was also starting her own “service” business to help those in
    need, presumably the elderly or incapacitated. With the level of
    organization seen in Tarrant County’s probate cartel, getting this woman
    out of their marketplace so she could pose no risk to their existing
    racket seemed the goal. While her operation would have been far less
    sophisticated (and well-connected), the real danger was in her
    attracting attention to the overall practice of estate
    hijacking/looting.

  • EstateofDenial

    Two points of consideration on this. First, people mistakenly think only the “wealthy” are targeted for estate abuse. Absolutely wrong as this case shows. The estate in question was reportedly worth $170,000.

    Second, these cases happen daily, law enforcement rarely investigates much less prosecutes. Many “bad apples” are quite aware of this reality which makes these cases all the more appealing. Parties are expected to take up their concerns in civil legal action which many can’t afford, find a lawyer willing to honestly represent them or it’s cost prohibitive. This case for this amount of money suggests something else is up or someone involved is in the sights of some undisclosed interest.

    When a similar prosecution recently occurred in Tarrant County, it was revealed how the defendant was also starting her own “service” business to help those in need, presumably the elderly or incapacitated. With the level of organization seen in Tarrant County’s probate cartel, getting this woman out of their marketplace so she could pose no risk to their existing racket seemed the goal. While her operation would have been far less sophisticated (and well-connected), the real danger was in her attracting attention to the overall practice of estate hijacking/looting.