T
toolatesmart
Guest
State is Minnesota.
My father recently passed away (age = 78).
Local bank came forward at probate to place a lien against the estate, for a loan that my father co-signed on for my brother, sometime in 2001 or 2002 (not sure yet when, still trying to discern all the facts here). Amount of lien is ~$10,000.
When my father co-signed, he was in poor health and no way competent -- although he had never been legally declared incompetent. My mother had not let him near anything financial in years.
Mother did not co-sign, and had absolutely no knowledge of the loan.
Bank turned the loan over to collections in July 2003, but now (2004) has place a lien against the estate. (Bank officer is giving us some double-speak; says there is nothing he can do as the loan was turned over to collections, but yet the bank has placed the lien.)
My brother has since gotten himself declared disabled by SS & VA (the guy is a total scammer; he can absolutely work, but he is too f*'ing lazy). I know he is receiving SS disability checks already. His VA ones have not started; as they have declared him incompetent and want to appoint a financial guardian for him before sending him any money. He is going to fight the incompetency label, as he doesn't want anyone else handling his money (but he sure doesn't mind scamming it out of others). He is anticipating receiving back payments for ~2 years once the incompetency determination is made one way or the other. (If anyone knows how I can contact the VA to influence that, let me know.)
My questions:
What are the laws in MN regarding elder financial abuse? (From a different thread by kristianne, the CA-style laws seem to have some teeth where my brother could be pursued.)
Can my dad's estate sue him for payment? Likely a long and expensive process, I would guess.
Can the bank go to SS or VA directly and start attaching funds from his payments? Or do they need to sue, get a judgment, etc. to do this?
What can my family do? My mother is 74 and, while competent, has her own health issues to deal with. She lives month-to-month financially and doesn't need this stress. There is land in the estate; but my brother farms it for his livelihood, so liquidating that would send him seeking a new career at 42.
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A sidebar: Even when they were younger, my parents co-signed on tens of thousands of dollars for this f*'er, which he never ever paid. The bank never cared, they always knew the farm was good for it. My mom was smart enough to finally give up and say "No more". But my dad was always a softie, and my brother preyed on this right until the end. Other siblings co-signed on mortgages, etc.; at least they were left with an asset when he skipped. But no less headaches -- who wants to own a house you have no interest in living in and a mortgage that is not putting a roof over your own head.
This guy has been running around virtually bragging about how he is getting SS money and will be getting VA disability money. (Believe me, the military did not disable him. He was multiple AWOL, showed up for duty drunk, hit an officer, etc. They kindly gave him an early medical discharge [back injury] instead of a dishonorable one so as not to impact his future livelihood.) It is time for him to get his come-uppance and be responsible for his debts, instead of leaving his family members holding the bag.
My father recently passed away (age = 78).
Local bank came forward at probate to place a lien against the estate, for a loan that my father co-signed on for my brother, sometime in 2001 or 2002 (not sure yet when, still trying to discern all the facts here). Amount of lien is ~$10,000.
When my father co-signed, he was in poor health and no way competent -- although he had never been legally declared incompetent. My mother had not let him near anything financial in years.
Mother did not co-sign, and had absolutely no knowledge of the loan.
Bank turned the loan over to collections in July 2003, but now (2004) has place a lien against the estate. (Bank officer is giving us some double-speak; says there is nothing he can do as the loan was turned over to collections, but yet the bank has placed the lien.)
My brother has since gotten himself declared disabled by SS & VA (the guy is a total scammer; he can absolutely work, but he is too f*'ing lazy). I know he is receiving SS disability checks already. His VA ones have not started; as they have declared him incompetent and want to appoint a financial guardian for him before sending him any money. He is going to fight the incompetency label, as he doesn't want anyone else handling his money (but he sure doesn't mind scamming it out of others). He is anticipating receiving back payments for ~2 years once the incompetency determination is made one way or the other. (If anyone knows how I can contact the VA to influence that, let me know.)
My questions:
What are the laws in MN regarding elder financial abuse? (From a different thread by kristianne, the CA-style laws seem to have some teeth where my brother could be pursued.)
Can my dad's estate sue him for payment? Likely a long and expensive process, I would guess.
Can the bank go to SS or VA directly and start attaching funds from his payments? Or do they need to sue, get a judgment, etc. to do this?
What can my family do? My mother is 74 and, while competent, has her own health issues to deal with. She lives month-to-month financially and doesn't need this stress. There is land in the estate; but my brother farms it for his livelihood, so liquidating that would send him seeking a new career at 42.
-----------------------------------------------------
A sidebar: Even when they were younger, my parents co-signed on tens of thousands of dollars for this f*'er, which he never ever paid. The bank never cared, they always knew the farm was good for it. My mom was smart enough to finally give up and say "No more". But my dad was always a softie, and my brother preyed on this right until the end. Other siblings co-signed on mortgages, etc.; at least they were left with an asset when he skipped. But no less headaches -- who wants to own a house you have no interest in living in and a mortgage that is not putting a roof over your own head.
This guy has been running around virtually bragging about how he is getting SS money and will be getting VA disability money. (Believe me, the military did not disable him. He was multiple AWOL, showed up for duty drunk, hit an officer, etc. They kindly gave him an early medical discharge [back injury] instead of a dishonorable one so as not to impact his future livelihood.) It is time for him to get his come-uppance and be responsible for his debts, instead of leaving his family members holding the bag.