Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in Virginia

Property

We have a cousin who contacted us

to come pick up some stuff because

he was being evicted. He did not

want the landlord to get it and he

was angry at his family because they

would not liquidate a lot of land left

to him, his mother and sister.

Unfortunately, the day he was to be

evicted he committed suicide. Now

the sister says the landlord is

threatening to sue the estate. She is

also asking for the stuff he gave us

the week before he took his life. Do

we surrender this property? We have

some letters he sent us by email

stating to come get this stuff. Also it

should be noted he was planning on

moving west to Vegas or Colorado.

He had not made up his mind yet.

The morning he committed suicide

him and the landlord had an verbal

confrontation that was ugly. It is this

landlord that is threatening to sue

the estate. What we have was picked

up the week before all this happened.

Please get back to me as soon as

possible. We also have witness who

saw him giving us this stuff as well as

saying he didn't want it back he just

wanted to start over. We had

planned on going through stuff after

his death and giving it to the sister

but not stuff he made a point of

giving us.


Asked on 1/24/08, 2:15 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Re: Property

If the cousin gave some of his personal property to you as a gift, then the gift is yours to keep unconditionally, and you can tell the sister to take a hike.

As for the supposed threat emanating from the landlord to sue the estate,

this resonates as pure fabrication on the part of the sister, as such a suit would make little sense under these particular circumstances. (After all, how many assets could possibly be in this estate and on what legal theory would such a suit be premised?)

Read more
Answered on 1/24/08, 11:44 pm


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