Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: Do Not Trust Anyone - Not Even Family

This is probably not going to lend itself to a criminal prosecution, but should be reported to the police fraud division as a crime. It's a good place to start. Then the son will have to sue the Mother and Father's estate civily, or possibly the family trust. The police will see this as a family affair and not a criminal act. However, you will not know for sure until you report it.

So the place to go after reporting the problem to the police is a good civil attorney. Then the next place to go is to find an attorney you can afford. You'll have to do some shopping to find a civil attorney that will work with you on a fee agreement. It's an interesting case since I do a lot of trust and estate planning work, and completed something like 110 trusts last year. The case may belong in the probate department of your local superior court to require an accounting, review of the trust, and change of the (possibly succesor) Trustee. Who is apparently the Mother.

My guess is the Mother believes she is protecting her son from his indiscretions which includes his girl friends. The rightous Mother that is probably also a little greedy.

Lots of luck

Re: Do Not Trust Anyone - Not Even Family

Thanks for your posting, and apologies for the length of time it took for you to get a response.

It sounds like certain members of your boyfriend's family stole money -- embezzled if you like -- for other uses aside from what it was supposed to be used for -- him. This is a crime, and also sets up a lawsuit in civil court.

I hope this helps, and if you need legal representation, or have further questions, please feel free to call me anytime, toll free, at 1-877-568-2977, or email my office.

Re: Do Not Trust Anyone - Not Even Family

He needs an attorney experienced in civil litigation.

He needs to bring a lawsuit promptly to get to the bottom of this situation. It is possible that his rights have somehow been protected in a trust, but it seems very unlikely since he has been denied access.

If he acts right away, he has the best chance of finding out what really happened and protecting his rights. The longer he waits, the more likely the court will say that he lost his rights by waiting.

Also, if he waits, the properties could be sold or transferred, or loans taken out against them. Once a third party has bought the property, or made a loan on it, without any knowledge of any fraud on your boyfriend, your boyfriend will most likely lose any right to get the property back. His only right in that case would be to go after the proceeds of the loan or sale, and that money may no longer exist.

I'm just scratching the surface, because I don't want to overwhelm you with information. I would be glad to sit down with you at your convenience and discuss this complicated situation. If you are close to my Office, we can do it there. If not, I would be glad to talk to you over the telephone. My office number is (626) 744-7787. You can call any time, including evenings and weekends.