Legal assistance?

[vonrottes]

My dad is looking into a lawyer to deal with some stuff about my mothers untimely death, he is talking lawsuits and stuff... But the main thing my sister and I are worried about is keeping her truck which she just financed in August 2016.. The Finance company is not "allowing" us to work with them on keeping up the payments or even paying it off.. It's not really much but we don't want to lose it because mom was really proud of it and it's just kind of a sentimental thing we would like to keep.

 

 

So I don't really know shit of how any of this stuff works, is there a specific lawyer we need to look for or is this something we're probably SOL on?

Any help would be greatly appreciated as well as suggestions on who we should talk to.

[Furloaf]

Them being the lien holder, and if she was the single signer on the loan, likely means can't do anything about it. If your mother had the loan paid down more than the present value (ahead of depreciation) then might be able to claim the estate owned "equity" in the vehicle. You probably do need an estate/probate attorney.

[vonrottes]

Them being the lien holder, and if she was the single signer on the loan, likely means can't do anything about it. If your mother had the loan paid down more than the present value (ahead of depreciation) then might be able to claim the estate owned "equity" in the vehicle. You probably do need an estate/probate attorney.

Thankts I was kind of scared that might be the case on her truck

 

Will deffinitly look into a probate attorney since she had no will

[Geeto67]

its unusual for a finance company to want the car back if payments are not late. . Usually they just want the money and will actually ask the executor of the estate to continue making payments. Have you provided them with a death certificate or power of atty yet? They usually won't talk to anybody without those things.

 

If you stopped making payments then naturally they are going to ask you to voluntarily surrender the car. If the car is underwater with the loan amount they may ask the estate to pay the balance. The bummer about the financial industry is they can be insensitive douchebags when they ask about this stuff.

 

The have no obligation to work with you on a loan amount adjustment or anything. However, if someone has good enough credit you could possibly get a refinance from a different company and they would buy your old finance company out of their position and then you have a new loan in someone else's name. The problem is that if the car is underwater on the loan you may still have to pay the old finance company the difference.

[vonrottes]

its unusual for a finance company to want the car back if payments are not late. . Usually they just want the money and will actually ask the executor of the estate to continue making payments. Have you provided them with a death certificate or power of atty yet? They usually won't talk to anybody without those things.

 

If you stopped making payments then naturally they are going to ask you to voluntarily surrender the car. If the car is underwater with the loan amount they may ask the estate to pay the balance. The bummer about the financial industry is they can be insensitive douchebags when they ask about this stuff.

 

The have no obligation to work with you on a loan amount adjustment or anything. However, if someone has good enough credit you could possibly get a refinance from a different company and they would buy your old finance company out of their position and then you have a new loan in someone else's name. The problem is that if the car is underwater on the loan you may still have to pay the old finance company the difference.

 

My dad talked to the finance company and he was told they are not allowed to disclose anything unless their name is listed in the loan... all we need to know to keep up the payments is how much it is..

I am 100% sure all the paperwork on the truck and everything else is in her truck, but it's still in police custody.

 

We are still waiting on "valid" death certificates... which we were told could take months for the coroner or whoever to release the cause of death instead of having a "pending".

[Geeto67]

My dad talked to the finance company and he was told they are not allowed to disclose anything unless their name is listed in the loan...

 

Either the person your dad spoke to is full of shit, or he misinterpreted what they were telling him. Yes they can't disclose anything concerning a customer account without authorization. Since your mom can't give authorization anymore you need someone to grant you the authorization. In this case you would submit the estate to the local probate court for administration and they would declare someone (most likely your father) as the executor of the estate. One that happens you will get a letter of administration (which is a court appointed power of attorney) that you take to the loan company, at which point they will then talk to you all you want. You need the letter of administration to close the bank accounts and perform other various functions on behalf of the deceased.

 

 

all we need to know to keep up the payments is how much it is..

Couldn't you get that from a previous bank statement? If you have access to the bank account just search and see how much was paid and to whom.

 

I am 100% sure all the paperwork on the truck and everything else is in her truck, but it's still in police custody.

Why is her truck in police custody? If there is a police action tied to your mother's death, you can use that with some of the financial companies to gain a little access, sometimes. What kind of paperwork do you have?

 

You are going to need letters of administration to get the truck released to you and not the finance company once the police are done with it.

 

 

We are still waiting on "valid" death certificates... which we were told could take months for the coroner or whoever to release the cause of death instead of having a "pending".

 

Here is an FAQ from a probate lawyer's website. They are based in Worthington so might be worth it to contact them and see if they can help you:

http://www.elderlaw.us/probate-estate-administration-in-ohio-frequently-asked-questions/

 

I'm not saying you can't do this on your own, you can, but the atty will make things speed along a lot easier. They will tell you what documentation you have can stand in place of a death certificate to get the probate process started.

[vonrottes]

Either the person your dad spoke to is full of shit, or he misinterpreted what they were telling him. Yes they can't disclose anything concerning a customer account without authorization. Since your mom can't give authorization anymore you need someone to grant you the authorization. In this case you would submit the estate to the local probate court for administration and they would declare someone (most likely your father) as the executor of the estate. One that happens you will get a letter of administration (which is a court appointed power of attorney) that you take to the loan company, at which point they will then talk to you all you want. You need the letter of administration to close the bank accounts and perform other various functions on behalf of the deceased.

 

 

 

Couldn't you get that from a previous bank statement? If you have access to the bank account just search and see how much was paid and to whom.

 

 

Why is her truck in police custody? If there is a police action tied to your mother's death, you can use that with some of the financial companies to gain a little access, sometimes. What kind of paperwork do you have?

 

You are going to need letters of administration to get the truck released to you and not the finance company once the police are done with it.

 

 

 

 

Here is an FAQ from a probate lawyer's website. They are based in Worthington so might be worth it to contact them and see if they can help you:

http://www.elderlaw.us/probate-estate-administration-in-ohio-frequently-asked-questions/

 

I'm not saying you can't do this on your own, you can, but the atty will make things speed along a lot easier. They will tell you what documentation you have can stand in place of a death certificate to get the probate process started.

 

I'm beginning to think they were just full of shit. I've passed all this information along to my dad and I trust he is looking into what needs to be done from here on..

 

Her truck from my understanding is locked up as evidence until after trial, my mother was the woman involved in the UPS shooting in february...

For paperwork we have nothing right now.. As I said I think all the finance papers and legal documents are in her truck.

 

 

Thank you so much for all your help, We're all more or less just lost on what legal actions needed to be taken to do anything..

[Geeto67]

I'm beginning to think they were just full of shit. I've passed all this information along to my dad and I trust he is looking into what needs to be done from here on..

Hope it works out.

 

 

Her truck from my understanding is locked up as evidence until after trial, my mother was the woman involved in the UPS shooting in february...

well you don't have to worry about repossession by the bank until it is released post trial. FYI That could be a couple of months to a couple of years depending on how fast the prosecution can secure a conviction. Vehicles as Evidence aren't really treated very well. They will preserve the interior crime scene but they aren't going to start it or drive it and it may not be operational when you get it back. Usually they store this stuff in a big indoor warehouse. Also there is the matter of biological material which is often considered a bio-hazard and requires specialized cleanup. here is a link to the FAQ of Aftermath which explains who pays for this stuff and why it has to be done. If you read through it, you'll notice them mention cost which means if filed through insurance the ins company may total the vehicle if the cost of the cleanup gets within 75% of the value. http://www.aftermath.com/crime-cleanup-services/vehicle-blood-bio-cleaning-car/

 

Point is, you may not want the truck back when it comes time to collect it. And if you still end up with it - it may cost you a chunk of change.

 

This also brings up another point in which the finance company might be talking to her insurance company about totaling the vehicle. If that is the case, you might not be able to stop them from taking the insurance payout and the insurance company destroying the vehicle.

 

For paperwork we have nothing right now.. As I said I think all the finance papers and legal documents are in her truck.

As a family member you should at the very least be able to get a police report detailing the incident and identifying your mom as the victim. Combined with the news reports that may get you some traction (maybe not) on some things until a certificate of death occurs. At the very least you can send notice to places like her insurance company, bank, etc...notifying of the situation so that they don't start sending nasty collections letters while you figure out probate.

 

Thank you so much for all your help, We're all more or less just lost on what legal actions needed to be taken to do anything..

 

You need to get a Probate and Estate Administration attorney. Most work off a fee schedule set by the court so that keeps the costs pretty low. Ig you google it about a dozen lawyers come up in Cbus, I haven't practiced in this area in this state so I can't recommend anybody but maybe someone knows someone.

 

I just read about your mom. I'm very sorry for your loss, it's absolutely tragic.

[AngryBMW]

I'm beginning to think they were just full of shit. I've passed all this information along to my dad and I trust he is looking into what needs to be done from here on..

 

Her truck from my understanding is locked up as evidence until after trial, my mother was the woman involved in the UPS shooting in february...

For paperwork we have nothing right now.. As I said I think all the finance papers and legal documents are in her truck.

 

 

Thank you so much for all your help, We're all more or less just lost on what legal actions needed to be taken to do anything..

 

I'm very sorry for your loss.

 

I would suggest reaching out to Colin Beach with Walker Novak Legal Group. His cell is 937-524-9355...mention Marc Stock sent you. If he or one of his partners cannot help, he will be able to connect you with someone that can.

 

Good luck.

-Marc