ChristineAB
Junior Member
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Texas
I have a questions about depositions in Texas.
Long story short:
My family has a farm; my grandmother left her farm to her 5 children. The farm was held as an estate for 10 years for inheritance tax reasons. That time period is up 7/15/05. My father died, leaving his 1/5 to my mother in his will. My uncle died (his 2nd wife predeceased him), no will, his stepchildren are suing us for his 1/5...purely monetary gain as they had nothing to do with the farm, never lived here, worked here, etc.. I am administrator of my uncle's estate, not one of his stepchildren.
So, we have been in court for a year, winning all the little procedural issues, leading up to a jury trial...many lawyers are wondering how the judge has allowed this case to go so far in the judicial system in the first place. Anyway, we are deposiing the stepchildren, to finally get one story out, as they keep modifying responses, and only their lawyer shows up in court. You would think if they were intent on this, THEY would show up, very odd to say the least.
My question: They have until 7/11/05 to respond on a deposition setting, and their lawyer does tend to wait until the last minute to file papers and responses, so I know the 7/11/05 deadline from our lawyer does mean right up to the wire. What if they refuse or don't respond to deposition? Is this the same as NOT showing up for court if one is summoned? How does this work? Is there a possibility that the court could find in our favor due to their lack of willingness to be deposed? Could the case be thrown out? Our trial date is 8/3/05-8/4/05.
A lot of what-ifs, I know. I understand the perjury aspect, and the deposition IS a sworn statement, just as would be sitting on the stand. Just wondering...
Thank you,
Christine
I have a questions about depositions in Texas.
Long story short:
My family has a farm; my grandmother left her farm to her 5 children. The farm was held as an estate for 10 years for inheritance tax reasons. That time period is up 7/15/05. My father died, leaving his 1/5 to my mother in his will. My uncle died (his 2nd wife predeceased him), no will, his stepchildren are suing us for his 1/5...purely monetary gain as they had nothing to do with the farm, never lived here, worked here, etc.. I am administrator of my uncle's estate, not one of his stepchildren.
So, we have been in court for a year, winning all the little procedural issues, leading up to a jury trial...many lawyers are wondering how the judge has allowed this case to go so far in the judicial system in the first place. Anyway, we are deposiing the stepchildren, to finally get one story out, as they keep modifying responses, and only their lawyer shows up in court. You would think if they were intent on this, THEY would show up, very odd to say the least.
My question: They have until 7/11/05 to respond on a deposition setting, and their lawyer does tend to wait until the last minute to file papers and responses, so I know the 7/11/05 deadline from our lawyer does mean right up to the wire. What if they refuse or don't respond to deposition? Is this the same as NOT showing up for court if one is summoned? How does this work? Is there a possibility that the court could find in our favor due to their lack of willingness to be deposed? Could the case be thrown out? Our trial date is 8/3/05-8/4/05.
A lot of what-ifs, I know. I understand the perjury aspect, and the deposition IS a sworn statement, just as would be sitting on the stand. Just wondering...
Thank you,
Christine