My partner has been named as a defendant in an Ohio estate lawsuit being brought by two of his aunts against one of their sisters, the deceased's caretaker. Partner is being pressured by the plaintiffs to sign paperwork to join their side. It is becoming a stressful situation for him and we could use some guidance about ramifications of any actions taken (or not taken).
Plaintiff Aunts brought a case against Defendant Aunt suing for inheritance of the property of their recently deceased stepdad (Partner's step-granddad), who died in 2020 at the age of 100. From what we can tell, DefendAunt moved in with 93-year-old stepdad to care for him when his wife died in 2013, and she was designated the sole beneficiary of the property in a Transfer on Death Designation Affidavit the same year. Plaintiff Aunts allege that the property was transferred as a result of undue influence and/or duress and claim that Defendant Aunt intimidated stepdad and threatened violence.
Plaintiff Aunts are demanding judgment for a constructive trust in which plaintiffs and defendants are equal beneficiaries (alternatively invalidation of death designation affidavit), control over cremains, and attorney/court fees. Plaintiffs' lawyer sent Motion for Joinder of Claims and Remedies for Partner to switch sides from defendant to plaintiff. Instruction sheet from lawyer includes the following: "The reason you are named as a defendant is that we would have had to place you on the retainer and made you partially responsible for the attorney's fees, which we did not want to do. Once you have signed the document and return it to the Court you will automatically become a plaintiff and all interest will be protected."
Defendant Aunt filed motion to dismiss, Plaintiff Aunts countered, and the court ruled that there are sufficient facts presented for the case to proceed. Defendant Aunt filed for estate to be relieved from administration because assets do not exceed statutory limits (<$35K). Current property value estimate according to various real estate websites is ~$290K, but we have no idea what debts step-grandad may have had. The hearing on this application was supposed to have taken place last week but there's no information about a ruling available on the probate court website.
Today Partner received a Notice of Lawsuit and Request for Waiver of Service for Summons describing itself as "a request that, to avoid expenses, you waive the formal service of a summons". The waiver itself says Partner, if he signs, agrees to save expense of serving a summons, waives objection to absence of summons, and notes that failure to sign could result in default judgment entered against him. Partner could use inheritance money and cannot afford court fees, but is leery of trusting Plaintiff Aunts' lawyers. He is not close enough with any of the other potential inheritors (all still listed as defendants according to the probate court website) to ask for or trust their opinions.
In addition to receiving mountains of paperwork from Plaintiff Aunts' lawyers for the past six months, Partner is also getting pressure from Plaintiff Aunts themselves saying that they're trying to look out for him financially and that it's what his (recently deceased) mother, their sister, would have wanted. He is not convinced that is the case and is understandably uncomfortable signing paperwork when he knows nothing about any of these people or the situation itself.
We have many questions, but what we really need help with is figuring out what choices he has and the possible ramifications of each. It seems his choices are: do nothing and remain a defendant, sign paperwork to join the plaintiffs, or (maybe?) sign paperwork to relinquish his interest in the estate. If he does nothing, could he be held financially responsible for lawyer and court fees if Plaintiff Aunts win their case, or is that a scare tactic? Should he join Plaintiff Aunts in hopes of receiving some much-needed cash -- and if he did, would it be worth the headache of dealing with them and their lawyers? What would you do? Also accepting hypotheses regarding why Plaintiff Aunts' lawyers are being so pushy about this.
Thanks for reading. Partner is getting really worried and upset about this situation, and we appreciate any insight or advice. |
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