Brother Spreading False Accusations

[Eva 14]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

For the past several months, I've been involved in a legal battle over my parents' estate. I have two brothers: One brother is great and is on my side. The elder brother hates me and will do anything to make my life hell. Unfortunately, the elder brother is Trustee of the family Trust. I have been to an attorney several times, but there doesn't seem to be any way to stop this brother from enacting his vendetta against me.

In short: My brother just sold the home that I've lived in for 20 years, WITHOUT consulting me. I own 50%. Each brother owns 25%. My good brother did not want to sell my house or get any money from it. My elder brother was intent on depriving me of my home (and I've been paying 100% of the mortgage, property taxes, and insurance). My dad only divided things up this way in his Trust to avoid the estate tax. My dad wanted me to have my home.

The house has appreciated wildly since I bought it. For this reason, I was unable to afford to 'buy out' my elder brother's share. My brother refuses to communicate with me, except through lawyers. However, my brother DOES send nasty and untrue emails about me to everyone that I know.

Without consulting me or my younger brother, my elder brother (Trustee) just sold the home that I live in, behind my back. I was NOT given any opportunity to put the house on the market. I wanted to hire a Realtor of my own, but my brother chose his own Realtor, who did not communicate with me at all. My brother is telling all sorts of lies, saying that I refused to 'cooperate' with his Realtor, and that now I must face 'the consequences' for my 'behavior'.

Even worse, my brother sold the house for WELL BELOW market value! It really makes me sick. My other brother is not happy that he was not informed, either. This house is worth at least a million dollars, but my brother sold it for a very low price on purpose---just to make me suffer. (He's only getting 25% and he's already rich, so he'd prefer that I lose my inheritance to getting market value.)

I did not find out that my house was listed until March 24th, and I only found out by accidently checking Zillow. On May 2nd, my brother served an eviction notice on me, which turned out to be unlawful. I've only known about this 'plan' to sell my house for 6 weeks.

My good brother has forwarded me some emails written by my bad brother. Besides the litany of lies about my alleged refusal to 'cooperate' with his Realtor, my brother is spreading malicious and hateful gossip about me.

My brother is sending 'group' emails to everyone that we know, including my financial advisor and random friends of the family. I was absolutely shocked at the pack of lies that he's been spreading. Concerning the house and the sale process, it was one lie after another. (I was deliberately kept in the dark). My brother is trying to blame ME for the low sale price? It doesn't even make sense. If I was going to sell my house, of course I'd want to get top dollar for it.

In these group emails, my brother is alleging one despicable lie about me after another. My brother alleged that I have been 'threatening' and 'abusive' towards people. That is a total lie. Then my brother went on to claim that I am on drugs! That really hurts me, because I've never taken drugs before in my life. My brother is on a crusade to damage my reputation and defame my character.

Is there anything I can do to counter my brother's continual lies? The things he's alleging are hurtful, embarrassing, and simply not true. Many of the people receiving these emails don't know me very well, so who knows? They might think some of it is true. Can a person really get away with alleging mental illness, drug use, or the litany of other derogatory things that my brother is saying about me?

I emailed my financial advisor and told her that my brother has a vendetta against me and is spreading lies. I don't really care so much about these random friends of the family, but this definitely is hurtful and embarrassing. I'm so sick of this brother causing problems for me. I'm not sure if I should just ignore the allegations, or if I should do something to counter them? Thank you.

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

For the past several months, I've been involved in a legal battle over my parents' estate. I have two brothers: One brother is great and is on my side. The elder brother hates me and will do anything to make my life hell. Unfortunately, the elder brother is Trustee of the family Trust. I have been to an attorney several times, but there doesn't seem to be any way to stop this brother from enacting his vendetta against me.

In short: My brother just sold the home that I've lived in for 20 years, WITHOUT consulting me. I own 50%. Each brother owns 25%. My good brother did not want to sell my house or get any money from it. My elder brother was intent on depriving me of my home (and I've been paying 100% of the mortgage, property taxes, and insurance). My dad only divided things up this way in his Trust to avoid the estate tax. My dad wanted me to have my home.

The house has appreciated wildly since I bought it. For this reason, I was unable to afford to 'buy out' my elder brother's share. My brother refuses to communicate with me, except through lawyers. However, my brother DOES send nasty and untrue emails about me to everyone that I know.

Without consulting me or my younger brother, my elder brother (Trustee) just sold the home that I live in, behind my back. I was NOT given any opportunity to put the house on the market. I wanted to hire a Realtor of my own, but my brother chose his own Realtor, who did not communicate with me at all. My brother is telling all sorts of lies, saying that I refused to 'cooperate' with his Realtor, and that now I must face 'the consequences' for my 'behavior'.

Even worse, my brother sold the house for WELL BELOW market value! It really makes me sick. My other brother is not happy that he was not informed, either. This house is worth at least a million dollars, but my brother sold it for a very low price on purpose---just to make me suffer. (He's only getting 25% and he's already rich, so he'd prefer that I lose my inheritance to getting market value.)

I did not find out that my house was listed until March 24th, and I only found out by accidently checking Zillow. On May 2nd, my brother served an eviction notice on me, which turned out to be unlawful. I've only known about this 'plan' to sell my house for 6 weeks.

My good brother has forwarded me some emails written by my bad brother. Besides the litany of lies about my alleged refusal to 'cooperate' with his Realtor, my brother is spreading malicious and hateful gossip about me.

My brother is sending 'group' emails to everyone that we know, including my financial advisor and random friends of the family. I was absolutely shocked at the pack of lies that he's been spreading. Concerning the house and the sale process, it was one lie after another. (I was deliberately kept in the dark). My brother is trying to blame ME for the low sale price? It doesn't even make sense. If I was going to sell my house, of course I'd want to get top dollar for it.

In these group emails, my brother is alleging one despicable lie about me after another. My brother alleged that I have been 'threatening' and 'abusive' towards people. That is a total lie. Then my brother went on to claim that I am on drugs! That really hurts me, because I've never taken drugs before in my life. My brother is on a crusade to damage my reputation and defame my character.

Is there anything I can do to counter my brother's continual lies? The things he's alleging are hurtful, embarrassing, and simply not true. Many of the people receiving these emails don't know me very well, so who knows? They might think some of it is true. Can a person really get away with alleging mental illness, drug use, or the litany of other derogatory things that my brother is saying about me?

I emailed my financial advisor and told her that my brother has a vendetta against me and is spreading lies. I don't really care so much about these random friends of the family, but this definitely is hurtful and embarrassing. I'm so sick of this brother causing problems for me. I'm not sure if I should just ignore the allegations, or if I should do something to counter them? Thank you.

You can sit down with an attorney in your area for a personal review of the emails being sent by your brother, to determine better their defamatory nature. The attorney you see can address with you the costs involved in pursuing a defamation action against your brother, should it appear there is evidence enough to support the claim.

Defamation suits tend to be very expensive legal actions and can take months and even years to work their way through the court system. If you want to consider suing your brother, the reputational harm you have suffered should be severe enough to warrant the time and expense that must be invested.

Here are links to what a jury will consider in a California defamation case, should the matter make it to trial:

Defamation per se: https://www.justia.com/trials-litigation/docs/caci/1700/1704.html

Defamation per quod: https://www.justia.com/trials-litigation/docs/caci/1700/1705.html

I am sorry that your father's death has led to so many continuing problems in your family, Eva 14. Good luck.



edit to add, for background information, a link to one previous thread by Eva 14 which also provides links to Eva 14's other threads:
https://forum.freeadvice.com/computers-software-internet-law-10/change-content-email-620079.html

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

For the past several months, I've been involved in a legal battle over my parents' estate. I have two brothers: One brother is great and is on my side. The elder brother hates me and will do anything to make my life hell. Unfortunately, the elder brother is Trustee of the family Trust. I have been to an attorney several times, but there doesn't seem to be any way to stop this brother from enacting his vendetta against me.

In short: My brother just sold the home that I've lived in for 20 years, WITHOUT consulting me. I own 50%. Each brother owns 25%. My good brother did not want to sell my house or get any money from it. My elder brother was intent on depriving me of my home (and I've been paying 100% of the mortgage, property taxes, and insurance). My dad only divided things up this way in his Trust to avoid the estate tax. My dad wanted me to have my home.

The house has appreciated wildly since I bought it. For this reason, I was unable to afford to 'buy out' my elder brother's share. My brother refuses to communicate with me, except through lawyers. However, my brother DOES send nasty and untrue emails about me to everyone that I know.

Without consulting me or my younger brother, my elder brother (Trustee) just sold the home that I live in, behind my back. I was NOT given any opportunity to put the house on the market. I wanted to hire a Realtor of my own, but my brother chose his own Realtor, who did not communicate with me at all. My brother is telling all sorts of lies, saying that I refused to 'cooperate' with his Realtor, and that now I must face 'the consequences' for my 'behavior'.

Even worse, my brother sold the house for WELL BELOW market value! It really makes me sick. My other brother is not happy that he was not informed, either. This house is worth at least a million dollars, but my brother sold it for a very low price on purpose---just to make me suffer. (He's only getting 25% and he's already rich, so he'd prefer that I lose my inheritance to getting market value.)

I did not find out that my house was listed until March 24th, and I only found out by accidently checking Zillow. On May 2nd, my brother served an eviction notice on me, which turned out to be unlawful. I've only known about this 'plan' to sell my house for 6 weeks.

My good brother has forwarded me some emails written by my bad brother. Besides the litany of lies about my alleged refusal to 'cooperate' with his Realtor, my brother is spreading malicious and hateful gossip about me.

My brother is sending 'group' emails to everyone that we know, including my financial advisor and random friends of the family. I was absolutely shocked at the pack of lies that he's been spreading. Concerning the house and the sale process, it was one lie after another. (I was deliberately kept in the dark). My brother is trying to blame ME for the low sale price? It doesn't even make sense. If I was going to sell my house, of course I'd want to get top dollar for it.

In these group emails, my brother is alleging one despicable lie about me after another. My brother alleged that I have been 'threatening' and 'abusive' towards people. That is a total lie. Then my brother went on to claim that I am on drugs! That really hurts me, because I've never taken drugs before in my life. My brother is on a crusade to damage my reputation and defame my character.

Is there anything I can do to counter my brother's continual lies? The things he's alleging are hurtful, embarrassing, and simply not true. Many of the people receiving these emails don't know me very well, so who knows? They might think some of it is true. Can a person really get away with alleging mental illness, drug use, or the litany of other derogatory things that my brother is saying about me?

I emailed my financial advisor and told her that my brother has a vendetta against me and is spreading lies. I don't really care so much about these random friends of the family, but this definitely is hurtful and embarrassing. I'm so sick of this brother causing problems for me. I'm not sure if I should just ignore the allegations, or if I should do something to counter them? Thank you.

If you own 50% of the house how could your brother possibly sell it without your agreement?

See an attorney.

 

[Zigner]

If you own 50% of the house how could your brother possibly sell it without your agreement?

See an attorney.

S/he didn't own 50% of the house. The trust owned 100% of the house.

 

[quincy]

I do not always think a poster's posting history is important but, in Eva 14's case, it is educational and I recommend a review.

Every forum member on every thread created by Eva 14 on this forum (and on the other forums where she has posted) has recommended she seek professional legal and professional counseling assistance. This advice is as applicable now as it has been before.

I am afraid that Eva 14 is not going to resolve all of her legal and personal issues with her brother by continuing to post about these problems on forums. She needs personal assistance that a forum cannot provide, as much as I am sure she wishes it were otherwise.