Dad's Girlfriend Stealing from Estate

[Houlie24x]

My dad passed away unexpectedly about a year ago. He owned a business and had a girlfriend that lived with him in a house he owned himself. I figured I would post this story to get any help I can because I'm not getting it much elsewhere. My lawyers don't seem to be moving quickly enough and the police won't do anything about it.

 

A week ago I caught my dad's girlfriend and her pastor moving my dads personal possessions into a storage unit. The unit was completely full of his personal property. There were many items missing from the unit and they weren't in his house when I went back to check. I am assuming there is another storage unit or two somewhere. She has taken a few guns and cash as well that haven't been located. She has also stolen from his old business and a separate garage on the property she lives at.

 

I am in the process of evicting her and finding a lawyer to handle this, but what else can I do? Would it be illegal for me to completely move everything out of the house?

[BrewersSuperCollector]

Who cares if its illegal. Move it out and force the judge to make you put it back.

[Houlie24x]

That is clearly her thought process, but she doesn't own anything and has nothing to lose by doing this. It's apparently not illegal and the worst thing that can happen is that she is told to give it back. However, since I don't live in the house, I am not sure if taking anything besides my dad's personal property would be something I could get arrested for. There isn't much left of my dads. The rest of it is some furniture. If it is even possibly to get this stuff back from a judge, I think it would look far better that I didn't play this game too. If I knew that it would be a very small chance that I get this stuff back then I would clear the house out.

[QuevedosTongue]

If you are currently her landlord, it's illegal for you to enter the place without 12 hour notice. Additionally, it would definitely be illegal to take anything that isn't your dad's personal property. Absent a will, that stuff is yours even if you have to go through probate.

[Houlie24x]

She doesn't pay rent so she is not a tenant. I am the personal rep of the estate so I do know that I am allowed to enter the house at any time and remove any of my dads property. There was not a will so I do know that stuff is mine, but the difficult part will be proving I own something that is no longer there and at an unknown location.

[paul253]

If the house belonged to your dad and is now yours, and she does not pay rent, does she even have a right to be there? Change the locks next time she leaves?

[Houlie24x]

She has to be evicted if I can't get her to agree to leave. I don't know if that means I have to make the house livable for her though.

[Invader3K]

Did you ever have a resolution to this problem?

[Bikeage77]

Has she moved out yet? A brick through the window of her new place is one way to send a message. I say this half seriously.

[Houlie24x]

I have evicted her but she will be there until June 9th. The pastor has become even more nasty to me since finding out about the eviction. My legal options for getting the property back appear to be very limited at the moment.

 

I believe about 4 guns were stolen. I don't know anything about guns, but I would imagine there would be some type of transaction history if they were sold legally. Is there a way the police could find out if someone sold a gun?

[AZBrewCrew]

Report the guns stolen. Those are some felony charges right there. Bet she changes her tune real quick

 

 

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[datrain711]

If you are certain there are guns missing than you should absolutely report that. She'll be forced to explain herself to somebody pretty quickly.

[Houlie24x]

I plan on reporting the guns stolen after she is completely out of the house and I can see what I can get back. She has agreed to bring some things back. I figure I'll wait and see if she does give me anything back and then start reporting things stolen. I am 100% certain that there are at least 5 guns missing but I think at this point it looks like it is 7 or 8 guns missing.

 

The only two problems I have with reporting the guns stolen is that if they weren't registered, then I have nothing unless I can dig up some paperwork. Some of these were antiques so I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't registered. The other problem is that I have mentioned that guns were stolen to the police when I called in to report that a pastor was actively robbing my house, and they didn't do anything about it. They actually told me they could clean the house out and the only thing I could do is sue them.

[TURBO]

a "pastor" was robbing your house?

[Houlie24x]

Yes. I never thought in a million years that would happen and I couldn't stop it. The entire story gets even more bizarre.

[Bikeage77]

Any updates on this situation?

[Harry Doyles JD]

What exactly have your attorneys said to you about these issues?

 

Have you gone public with this? Reading all the way through, I'd put this pastor on blast, tell the story in detail everywhere you can...If they've stolen and sold any of his items, especially the guns, you may have people that bought these things come forward (maybe). How big of a community is this in?