Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Alabama
What is the statue of limitations law?
My parents have been deceased for 10 yrs,well my mom 10yrs and my dad 9yrs.A relative claimed he had power of attorney over both parents,signed their land of 23 acres to another relative who then signed the deed back to him this was done 10 yrs ago,I called the probate court in our county and no poa papers where recorded at the time all of this was done,and by the clerk poa papers have to be recorded when changing of deeds,but the poa wasn't recorded,but the probate court probated them anyways the attorney who stamped the deeds and had them notarized in his office has destroyed his paper work from 10 yrs ago,i did confront the relative and asked who made him poa and he told me my sister gave him poa and there's no recording of her having poa either,but she passed away awhile back,my parents will was stolen from our house while i was at work and it's to late to be probated and the relative wouldn't have gotten 23 acres of land maybe 2 or 3 at the most,my parents home sits on 4 acres and i have lived here since 1975 since the house was built with my parents,but now my relative owns everything and I recently found out that he has a laon against the 5 acres and house of 100k.....Is there a statue of limitations on this?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: What is the statue of limitations law?
Powers of Attorney do not have to be recorded to be valid. You have what sounds like a decent cause of action to contest your relative's claim that he owns the land though. If he did transfer it to himself under a POA, that is a violation of his fiduciary responsibility. Check with a lawyer in the county where the land is located and pay him for an hour of his/her time to discuss this. Make sure that the lawyer handles this sort of thing first. If you need a name or two, contact me.
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