Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Hello. My 81 year old father was a joint owner of several properties, with his then separated wife. In Feb 2015 he signed over two of the most expensive properties--one to his separated wife, and the other to his daughter. This was done at a notary. The said two properties are valued at just under $2 million--the other 6 houses are only worth about $115k each. They settled the divorce very shortly after that. He (my father) now owns those other 6 houses which are not worth much. They had been separated since 1987. He was manipulated and coerced into signing those two valuable properties over. He wants to get back the house he signed to my sister, as that seems fair-- that he has one $2 million property, and they have the other. I say "they" because his daughter (my sister) lives with my mother (my father's ex wife) in one of those $2 million properties--the one that is now in my mother's name. Does my father have a case, and if so which type of attorney should we use? Most elder law attorneys I've looked at deal mostly with estate planning, wills, power of attorney, etc. Our case is predicated largely on coercion.

Thank you


Asked on 3/23/18, 4:54 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Terry A. Nelson Nelson & Lawless

He signed in front of a notary, which means the notary certifies that at that time he was apparently of sound mind and not coerced. He then 'settled' a divorce, which means he signed under penalty of perjury, or a judge ruled, that this was a 'fair' split of the property. His opportunity to effectively claim coercion was back then. To have a 'case' now would require strong, credible, legally admissible evidence and proof of coercion or of his legal incompetence and mental impairment at the time, and his word now is not such proof. In addition,even if he had such proof, he has now waited three years to change his mind about the wisdom and 'fairness' of the agreements, and the statute of limitations on bringing a fraud claim is generally three years. The time limit for bringing an appeal of the divorce ruling is much shorter. With the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, he should have hired an experienced divorce attorney at the time to protect whatever rights he had to a 'fair' property split. If you can find one now willing to promptly file a valid case, it will likely cost far more than hiring one at the time of the divorce. If he can find someone willing to file suit for him, keep in mind that in CA lawsuits, generally the loser pays the winners fees and costs, after paying his own attorney's fees and costs. That will be an important discussion with that attorney.

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Answered on 3/24/18, 9:44 am


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