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October 4, 2025 • 37 mins
Handel on the Law. Marginal Legal Advice.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listenings KFI AM six forty. The bill handles show
on demand on the iHeartRadio f This goes handle on
the law marginal legal advice, where I tell you have
absolutely no case. LA County is an interesting case. It's enormous.
It has ten million people and the square mileage makes

(00:26):
it one of the largest counties in all of the
United States, and it has had some real issues. One
of the problems for years has been the Department of
Children's Services. And this is there have been settlement after
settlement because a the La County Department of Children and

(00:47):
Family Services, well, let's just say there are there's an
issue or two regarding their oversight of these kids who
have been taken for their homes have been returned to homes.
One of the philosophies of the department, and one of
the philosophies of the law and our policy is whenever possible,

(01:09):
you return kids to parents. Even after kids have been
removed from parents because the kids were in danger, we
try to get them back into the family home. Okay,
So there is a lawsuit that has been filed by
a woman named Evangelina Hernandez, who is the great grandmother

(01:32):
of this Palmdale boy, Noah Quatro, who was tortured and
murdered by his parents in twenty nineteen. Now that is
pretty horrific. And so where is the Department of Children
and Family Services involved in all this? Well, the employees

(01:53):
of the La County Department of Children and Family Services
were told to remove the kid. There was a court
order to remove this young man, this child from his parents,
and they didn't do it. Therein lies a problem, and
we have case after case of this one, the pure

(02:14):
negligence of these workers, of which not one has been
held responsible, not one so far. Not only is no
criminal violation here, no criminal charges were filed, but they
still kept their jobs, and some of them were fired
and then went to court and were reinstated. And you've
got a four year old that was tortured and murdered

(02:39):
and the department in this case, we don't have the
name of the social worker assigned to this case. We're
probably never gonna know. Just didn't do it, just failed,
And it happens unfortunately more often than not. The attorneys
for the family, the Hernandez family, particularly on behalf or

(03:04):
the grandmother who filed on behalf of Noah's six year
old sister and two brothers. The attorneys for the family
said that the murder could have been prevented had they
followed the court order. Now, is the county going to
go to trial on this? Not a chance. Can you

(03:25):
imagine what a jury would look at and say, And
that's what the county is looking at. So they just
settled for twenty million dollars. Today, when it comes to
municipal governments and county governments, it almost doesn't matter how
much they set aside for settlements. They always blow right

(03:47):
past that because the amount of money that is paid
is well astronomical, and the number of cases filed become
bigger and they're filed more often. All right, let's go
ahead and make some phone calls. Dan, Hello, Dan, welcome, Yes,
hi Bill.

Speaker 2 (04:07):
I purchased a vehicle. It was involved in a collision
about two years ago, and the insurance decided not to
total it, and they sent it and fixed it and
it never ran good since. Well, about fifty thousand miles later,
the engine completely died on me. The engine bull up

(04:28):
bearings are bad. It needs a new engine. And I
went to the insurance and they're like, not our fault.
It's wear and tear, and it seems like it's related
to that original collision. And I believe my max.

Speaker 1 (04:42):
Did you okay, did you hear what you just said?
It seems like it was related. Okay, yes, all right,
so let's talk about how it is related and how
you can prove that it is related.

Speaker 2 (04:59):
Yes, sir, Yeah, Well my mechanic seems to think it's related.

Speaker 1 (05:03):
Yeah, well good, because there let me tell you, the
insurance company's going to bring a mechanic that says it's
not related, but it's It's still going to be tough
because you're going after an insurance company that is paid
to have the vehicle repaired, which they have the choice
of doing. And now fifty thousand miles later, you're arguing

(05:25):
that that repair that happened fifty thousand miles ago was
not good.

Speaker 2 (05:32):
Well, yes, yes, and I've also spent about ten grand
out of pocket to keep the engine running.

Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yeah, that's I don't think they care. I really don't.
The problem is is there a lawsuit there? Yeah? There
may be, but I don't know where you're going to
go with that. I really don't because if you look
at the law says or the policy says, if we
elect not to total your car, what we can do.
What we do is bring is repair the car to

(06:01):
where it was before the accident. Your argument is going
to be, Nope, I'm not expecting that I want more
than that that was at the beginning, because if on
a major repair, the car value drops instantly, but they
don't have to do anything, which is why I think
there's a form of gap insurance that you can kick

(06:21):
in there for the diminuation of value, but that happens
all the time. I don't think there's much there. I don't.
I think it's too far apart. I think it's fifty
thousand years, two thousand miles later, it's wear and tear.
I mean, there's just too much going there, So I
wouldn't Gustavo, Hi, Gustavo, welcome.

Speaker 3 (06:44):
Hi there.

Speaker 4 (06:45):
I called nine on one for medical assistance about a
month ago.

Speaker 3 (06:48):
I was suffering from COVID.

Speaker 4 (06:50):
I felt that my life was a danger. At the time,
I felt very sick. They set out an ambulance and
also the fire department. The fireman who came out refused
to administer medical care, chewed me out and said that
everybody's had COVID and that he wasn't a ride to
the hospital, and that it wasn't going to get me
in any faster. Fortunately, the ambulance driver checked me out
and saw that I was having a cardiac crisis and

(07:12):
immediately rushed me to the hospital, where I spent a
couple of weeks in the hospital and I almost died.
Do I have a case against the fire department for
refusing to administer your medical care?

Speaker 1 (07:22):
How long was it between they refused to administer medical
care and the ambulance folks discovered you were had a
cardiac event and took you to the hospital.

Speaker 4 (07:33):
What was that time park Just a couple of minute period.
But had I listened to the firefighter and let him
go on his way, I probably would have died.

Speaker 1 (07:41):
Yeah. And by the way, if my grandmother had the
right plumbing, she would have been my grandfather. But she didn't.
So you're sort of stuck in the same place because
had they discovered two minutes earlier, you would have gone
to the hospital and you would still be alive. Now
you could have died. How about this. The ambulance was

(08:03):
going so fast and could have hit someone, but and
I could have died in a car accident, but I.

Speaker 4 (08:10):
Didn't, gotcha, Bill.

Speaker 1 (08:13):
Yeah, that's where you're sitting. So the good news is
you're still alive because there's only a two minute difference.
The bad news is you don't have a case. If
I was a lawyer or family member, I'd much rather
have you died.

Speaker 5 (08:29):
Thanks.

Speaker 1 (08:29):
All right, This is handle on the law. This is
handle on the law marginal legal advice where I tell
you you have absolutely no case. Tony, Hi, Tony, welcome, Hi.

Speaker 6 (08:47):
Bill, trusting will question. My father died two years ago.
Five siblings were the main beneficiaries. One of the siblings
was a trustee. Everything was distributed, not really appropriately as
far as I'm concerned, But anyway, we signed off, we

(09:09):
signed the acceptance waiver in agreement, and he's holding twenty
five thousand dollars in reserves that should be distributed. The
attacks on it so long?

Speaker 1 (09:22):
How long as has he been holding it after the distribution?
Or let me put it this way. You've got the
trust door who died, and now you have the trust
everybody is signed off on the trust and he is
still withholding twenty five thousand dollars. How long has he
been withholding that?

Speaker 6 (09:40):
I believe we signed. We all signed the waiver around
August twenty four, so soon after that we all got
the distributions. But the issue is it also states that
we will not hold him accountable or sue him for
anything because we all waived.

Speaker 1 (09:59):
Okay, then right, okay, so I got it, So all right,
you can't sue him, all right? So he is Is
he giving you a reason for holding on to twenty
five thousand dollars?

Speaker 6 (10:09):
No, he won't answer my email.

Speaker 1 (10:12):
Okay, Well, then the rest of you, and this is
twenty five thousand dollars, it has to be distributed among
the rest of you, correct.

Speaker 6 (10:18):
Well, including him, So that's what.

Speaker 1 (10:20):
Don't worry about him. It's not him. What I'm saying
is if all the what I would do is all
the rest of you together hire a trust and a
state lawyer. And if it's six hund buction, how much?

Speaker 6 (10:35):
How many we don't talk?

Speaker 1 (10:37):
Oh that's a problem. Yeah, well yeah, you could probably sue.
How many of you are there?

Speaker 6 (10:46):
There's five. But if I take him to small claims
court like I've heard you mentioned before someone else who
called small claims is a lawsuit, A small claims lawsuit
place and we're we've agreed not to sue him.

Speaker 1 (11:02):
So wait, wait, wait, wait, do you mean you've agreed
who who's agreed not to sue him?

Speaker 6 (11:07):
We've agreed not to sue him since he distributed the.

Speaker 1 (11:12):
Okay, I thought you guys weren't talking, So how did
you make the.

Speaker 6 (11:15):
Agreement that was that was in the acceptance?

Speaker 1 (11:19):
Okay? And you so you agreed not to sue him,
But I don't think. Well, there's small courts, small claims.
Judge is not going to rule on this. Yeah, there
there is an issue. Now we go back to a
trust and a state lawyer, who is all you want
to do is write a letter, And even if you
agree not to sue him, he may still be in

(11:40):
breach of his fiduciary duty, which is why it's time
to at least talk to a trust and a state
lawyer to find out because even if the agreement not
to sue him, that means theoretically he could hold onto
the money for the rest of your life and you
can't and you can't sue him. So I don't think you.
I don't think yeah, well, is the tax audit done?

Speaker 6 (12:03):
His taxes were done, but I don't know about the
term tax audit.

Speaker 1 (12:09):
Yeah, I don't know what the tax on it is
unless you know if the taxes have been paid and
you talk about unless there is something lingering on. I
don't know what a tax ad it is until you've
been audited by the IRS. I know what that is.
The IRS contacts the trustee that says, hey, we're auditing
this trust or actually the distribution or whatever deduction that's taked.

(12:33):
You know, he can get pretty complicated. So I don't
know what that means. I would, yeah, I'd write a letter.
I'd have a lawyer write a letter and say, what
the hell are you doing. I don't think you can
wave fiduciary duty, but there's enough money there. Let me
ask you, if you contact your siblings and say this
is twenty five thousand dollars, are you guys not interested?

(12:55):
They wouldn't, they would they wouldn't answer.

Speaker 6 (13:00):
We just don't talk because we didn't agree on the
distribution of all of his belongings in the first place.
He was supposed to let the siblings.

Speaker 1 (13:09):
Okay, all right, so I know I understand, okay, I
get that part of it, but they would rather leave
twenty five thousand dollars on the table than get together
and go after the trustee.

Speaker 6 (13:21):
As far as I know, they would unless he distributed
it to them and not to me.

Speaker 1 (13:27):
You can't do that.

Speaker 7 (13:28):
Can't that.

Speaker 1 (13:29):
He can't do that, He's not allowed to do. So
I would, you know, I'd send an email or have
someone contact them and go, hey, guys, do I have
this right? You'd rather have him hold on the twenty
five thousand dollars than distribute it? Is that correct? And
they ignore you and the answer is clearly they'd rather
have him hold on to twenty five thousand dollars because

(13:51):
it's that important not to talk to you.

Speaker 6 (13:53):
All right, Then you've already done that, all right.

Speaker 1 (13:56):
Then you're on your own. Then you have to act
on your own and and see if they've distributed or not.
And then you have a trust in estate lawyer involved.
You have no choice on this one, Jesse, welcome to
handle on the law.

Speaker 6 (14:10):
Yes.

Speaker 7 (14:10):
So I was working for a roofing company. It wasn't
too legit or anything like that, and I wasn't really
on the books. But I set off the roof during
the rainstorm and actually I cut my leg open and
I had to get about thirty seven stitches on my
right leg. Now, when I was out of work, I

(14:32):
didn't get any compensation. I didn't receive paid you know
out right?

Speaker 1 (14:38):
Did you even did you even try to file for
workers comp?

Speaker 7 (14:44):
No, sir, I didn't.

Speaker 1 (14:45):
Why didn't you try?

Speaker 7 (14:48):
Well, at the time, I just I didn't. I didn't
really know anything in the business that he was running.
It wasn't, like I said, too legit.

Speaker 1 (14:57):
Yeah, okay, well, what do you mean too legit? It
was not legit at all. He was not licensed assurance,
he was not paying into workers comp and he was
paying you cash I'm assuming right.

Speaker 7 (15:10):
Yes, sir, he was giving me just checks that I
okay to the banks.

Speaker 1 (15:14):
Okay, all right, So you fell off the ladder and
fell off the roof thirty seven stations beyond that? Are
we talking any permanent damage?

Speaker 7 (15:25):
No, not necessarily, No, just min that got cut my
leg open?

Speaker 6 (15:28):
Really about it?

Speaker 8 (15:29):
All right?

Speaker 1 (15:29):
You're lucky. So what can I do for you, Jesse?

Speaker 5 (15:33):
Oh?

Speaker 7 (15:34):
I was just wondering, is there anything I could do
now after the back.

Speaker 1 (15:37):
Or you can try to sue him. You can try
how long ago was this?

Speaker 4 (15:43):
This was last year?

Speaker 1 (15:44):
Okay? Yeah, it doesn't hurt to sue him. But you know,
a guy who runs in cash is not licensed and
is you know, are you going to see any money
even if you get a judgment against him? And keep
in mind you were working illegally by taking cash because

(16:05):
you're not allowed to work and take money under the table.
You have to declare it. And assuming you didn't, did
you file with the IRS? Did you declare the income?

Speaker 7 (16:16):
No?

Speaker 1 (16:17):
Yeah, I would you know so everybody. I mean, you
could theoretically sue him, but the big issue is collecting
money from a guy like that. That's the problem. Yeah,
so yeah, I don't you know what. I don't know
where to go on that one. I mean, you can
contact a personal injury lawyer and he's out of the

(16:38):
work comp system, but you're still working for him. I
don't know how work comp law works in California. I
do when you're a legitimate business and you're paying into
the system, that's easy. I don't know how it works
when you have someone who is not licensed who works
for cash. Is there liability? Yeah? I don't know. I
don't know. That's why you want to talk to a

(16:58):
personal injury lawyer. But you know, the only good news here,
Jesse is. It's not a permanent injury. You just have
this hideous, ugly scar on your leg, and you're probably
so ugly that it doesn't matter. Okay, okay, yeah, there's
the way he laughed. You agreed with that. This is

(17:21):
Handle on the Law.

Speaker 8 (17:23):
You're listening to Bill Handle on demand from KFI AM
six forty.

Speaker 1 (17:30):
This is Handle on the Law, Marginal Legal Advice. Michael. Hello, Michael,
welcome to Handle on the Law. Well, hello Bill, Hi man,
I love your show. First of all, of course you do.

Speaker 9 (17:43):
I love you you or everything. Well, I had a
problem about ten years ago. I had idt them and
it's been a nightmare ever since. I mean, they took
money out of my account. They say the California Board
says that I owe them twenty thousand dollars.

Speaker 1 (17:59):
What board you're talking the Franchise tax board. Yes, okay,
I don't know what to do and I all right, Well,
first of all, you go in front of the First
of all, you ask for a hearing, in front of
the tax board, the franchise tax board. You ask for
a hearing, and you can get one. It's like automatic
because you're disputing the amount that's owed. If you can

(18:20):
prove to them that this is identity theft, that it's
not you. Then you're off the hook and you should
be able to unravel your identity theft. There are companies
that do this. Now, it takes a while, Michael. I mean,
it could take you six months a year to do it.
But you've got to do it. Someone has your identity
out there and is clearly still using it, so you're

(18:43):
gonna need some professional help. Now. The trick is finding
a good company that does it, and then you go
to work because they charge money and you will look
at Yelp and look at references and do whatever. And
then when you find a company, they go to work. Yeah,
I mean.

Speaker 9 (19:03):
What do I in order to find them?

Speaker 1 (19:05):
Okay, you go, what do you do? You go? Credit
repair services, identity theft, that's a big one. That's the
big one. Identity theft services. That's where I go. And
then take it from there. And you're going to have
to find one and just do a lot of research
because they're shlockers in this industry. It's one of those

(19:27):
that are pretty schlocky. That is a big problem. Hey, Brian,
welcome to handle on the law.

Speaker 8 (19:36):
Hi.

Speaker 3 (19:37):
I had a question about what I can expect the
company to pay me for money. I've spent fixing a
week in my house. Now, if you'll give me one second,
I'll elaborate over the years, since going back to twenty
oh five, on the times in southern California, when we

(19:57):
get really heavy rain, which is not every year, or
water would lead into the back bedroom that I use
as a home office. Okay, I've spent money over the years,
like putting new drainings in outside and burned trying to
build up some land around the house, or water runs
away from the house. This year we found out that

(20:20):
the water leaking was coming in through the water through
the line where my cable, my TV internet cable enters
my home. We didn't know that until now. The cable
company seems amenable to pay for new carpet, and I
had opened up I had to open up the wall.

(20:41):
So they're going to pay for my new uh, fixing
the wall and painting the wall. But I'm wondering if
one of the steps I took this year before I
knew what the problem was, I spent a couple of
thousand more on drainage and putting concrete outside my house
down by the foundation because I did that because I

(21:03):
did not know where the water was coming in. So
I'm wondering, is it realistic to hold try to hold
them account?

Speaker 1 (21:10):
Sure? Sure, absolutely, Brian. Now they may say no, and
they probably will, but obviously they believe that there's some
liability there. Then the issue becomes, why didn't you have
someone go out and check it? Did you have a
professional go out and check it to find out where
the water came from?

Speaker 3 (21:28):
I have two people come out, one who I think
was whatever the homeowner term is kind of a quack,
supposed to be a leak finder, and he gave me
some cock and bowl about oh it's just coming through.

Speaker 1 (21:41):
Okay, And that was that a professional? Or how did
you get hold of this guy?

Speaker 3 (21:46):
The company was on the internet?

Speaker 1 (21:48):
Okay? And if it is it a legitimate company? Do
you have any.

Speaker 3 (21:51):
Idea it's been like five years ago?

Speaker 1 (21:55):
Okay, Yeah, that's a problem. Five years ago is a
big problem. Okay, how about the other one?

Speaker 3 (22:01):
The other one was more of a friendship thing, So no,
not a professional.

Speaker 1 (22:05):
Okay, then that's off the table. Okay, So only I
have as a professional. Yeah, you can argue and go
after you can try to go after him for the
two thousand dollars. But see what the company does. But
here's what the company, cable company's gonna do. We'll pay
for what we are responsible for, and we're not gonna
pay for you figuring out beforehand. Everything is happening, and

(22:28):
you're gonna say that's why I did it. It's I
don't know which way of court's gonna go. But if
you take the money for the repairs, you're probably gonna
have to sign a waiver, Brian, You're probably gonna have
to sign a liability waiver. I'm done, We're finished. I
don't pay any more money.

Speaker 8 (22:41):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (22:41):
Then you have the chance of saying, okay, that's just
part of my damage. Now when was this? When did
you do this? How many years ago did you have
this done?

Speaker 3 (22:50):
The most significant money that I spent, which I'm not
expecting to get money back from years ago, but I
think it was twenty sixteen and I took out Carpett
the first Yeah, I.

Speaker 1 (23:01):
Don't think you know what that money is all spent
and gone. I'll tell you what I would do is
I would just suck it up. Money's already gone done.
They're repairing what they can you get a new carpet, now,
you get the wall business done, or you can try
to take them to court for the whole shebang. And
I have no idea what's going to happen, because they're
going to argue you went to a quack and you

(23:23):
should have known you gonna go. It's on the internet,
it's license. I mean, there's just it's a huge mess.
So do I think there's liability, Yeah, but it's not
clear cut. You know, it could go either way, and
now it just becomes not a legal issue. Now it
just becomes a do you take what they're offering and
just move on with your life? I mean, how old
are you? Brian sixty two? Got you sound a lot older? Okay,

(23:48):
if you were old, are you going to go you're
dying anyway. But you know, unfortunately I'm in that range too,
So you know I can't make fun of you anymore. Okay,
that's my advice, my friend, or maybe not my friend,
but just you know, I would suck it up, and
then that's me. It's just one of those things where
I do an awful lot not to hassle. Hello, Mike,

(24:12):
welcome to handle on the law.

Speaker 10 (24:14):
Hi will Yeah, I have a shop in San Fernando, California.
The city of San Fernando has a contract with a
waste disposal company. Like, if I want to waste in
I have to contract with them. That's not a problem.
We've been doing that for years. They sent me the
bill and we paid it on time, no problems. And
they went ahead and increased the rates effectively retroactively. They

(24:38):
added like forty nine dollars per month, which I guess
they can do, but can they go back in time
without warning, without anything?

Speaker 1 (24:45):
And added, what do you care it's one hundred dollars,
Well it's fifty dollars a month. Yeah, and you were
there and they did it for two months, right, they
went back two months? Yeah? I mean, okay, what do
you care? Why not go Yeah, but they didn't. Why
not go back five years? But they didn't. They only
back two They only went back two months. I mean,

(25:07):
but they didn't. So you could say, well, they are
going back ten years. I'm sorry, Yeah, I mean you
could have a customer. I know, I understand. No, I understand.
They were wrong. I get it. They were dead wrong
to retroactively charge you. They can't do it if you
have a contract you can't go back, Mike. It's one

(25:27):
hundred bucks.

Speaker 3 (25:29):
Oh, I know, I know, but well it's it's every customer.

Speaker 1 (25:32):
So I mean, so why you know, are you going
to file? Okay, why don't you file a class action
where every customer been screwed by one hundred dollars. Now,
if you file a class action, of course you're not
going to get the hundred dollars for every customer. They're
going to get the hundred dollars. And you must really
like all those customers for you to go through the
hassle of being involved in a class action. Mike. It's

(25:54):
what they did is wrong, of course it is. I
agree with you completely. They were Oh I'm telling you
it's one hundred dollars. You know what point I borrow
twenty dollars from you and I don't pay you back?
At what point do you say? You know what? Bill's
a jerk, he's an ass, But it's twenty bucks. What

(26:16):
am I going to do? I'll never talk to him again.
I'll tell you what. Let's start a legal action against
Bill for twenty dollars. Yeah, that's my point.

Speaker 10 (26:25):
I just want I just wanted to know the legal allies.

Speaker 1 (26:28):
Yeah, they is wrong. Yeah, it is wrong. They can't.
If there's a contract which exists, they can't retroal, retroactively
go back. That's that's correct. And if that was simply
the question, yes, what I got a feeling it was
more than that. This is handle on the law, and
I'll welcome back. And it's handle on the law. Marginal

(26:51):
legal advice, hygiene. What can I do for you?

Speaker 5 (26:56):
Hie? A quick question. I am the trustee of my
mom's trust of successor trust email that's passed on. So
now I'm the trustee and I had a question about
my mom had co signed for an auto loan the bank.
Only they contacted me maybe almost years ago. They want
to do a settlement offer. I guess that's trusty. I'm

(27:19):
they haven't written me since you know about the loan?
Do I am? I supposed to contact them and say, okay.

Speaker 1 (27:23):
I wouldn't. I wouldn't. No, I wouldn't. By the way,
do you unless you have the documents in your hand
that she is a that she took or she's a guaranty.
Do you have it in your hands?

Speaker 5 (27:36):
No? Don't.

Speaker 1 (27:37):
Okay, So how have you heard? Let me ask you,
how have you heard that that she even is a guaranteur.

Speaker 5 (27:47):
Well, well, to be honest with you, she co signed
for my daughter to get a car.

Speaker 1 (27:51):
Okay, so you do okay, so you do know? Okay?
All right? So you know how much is and your
and your daughter flaked out on the loan obviously.

Speaker 5 (27:58):
How much is well, you know they repossessed their car.
It was it was a band's twenty thousand, I think
it was. And they sent settlement letters and I haven't responded.

Speaker 1 (28:08):
How much is? How much is the settlement? How much
is the settlement letter? What do they want you to pay?

Speaker 5 (28:14):
I didn't respond but two years ago to send me
the last letter, and it was it was at twenty
twenty one thousand. At that time.

Speaker 1 (28:23):
They offered how much did they offer you?

Speaker 5 (28:25):
They offered to drop it down to ten, but I
didn't have the money. But now that she's gone, I'm
still there.

Speaker 1 (28:30):
Have you already did? Have you already distributed all of
the money?

Speaker 5 (28:34):
There was no money. It was just my mom's house.
Now I'm going to sell it and the pussy's from
the house.

Speaker 1 (28:39):
You know that's okay?

Speaker 7 (28:41):
Now?

Speaker 5 (28:41):
Gets it?

Speaker 1 (28:43):
Have they made a I guess you know, it depends
on whether they've made a claim. I mean, you have
a duty to pay off the debts of your mom
and okay, yeah, yeah, you have a duty to pay
I think. I think since you know when the documents
that you have two things. Number one, really start negotiating

(29:05):
with them and say, hey, there's no money. How about
taking instead of ten, take eight, Take five thousand dollars.
How much money is in the truck once you sell
the house. How much money is there in your trust?
It'll be about four hundred thousand. Okay, well, so you
have plenty of money. So you call them up and
you say, there's not much money there. I have very

(29:26):
little money. You just make that up and you then
tell them I'm closing. The trust is going to be
distributed within three months, within four months, please waive all interest.
Let's negotiate for back interest to get rid of and
just start negotiating with him and see what you can

(29:47):
get away. Four, because you do, the trust does owe
the money. But then you know they really do negotiate
under these circumstances.

Speaker 5 (29:57):
Yes, they do, because they've been offering to you know,
make it a lower settlement at the time.

Speaker 1 (30:01):
Yeah. No, just keep on going, Just keep on going.
And say, hey, listen, first of all, all interest stops.
You need a letter from them saying all interest stops,
because I'm I am now selling assets from the trust,
and I got one house and it's not selling and
the property, you know, the sales, the whole sales of

(30:22):
houses has collapsed. I don't care what you say, say that,
there's so many other debts to pay. I have just
I don't care what you say. Just get them down, negotiate,
negotiate and negotiate, and if you can get him down
to five eight thousand dollars, you write a letter saying
that's it. And if I pay you within X period

(30:42):
of time, you walk away from that. That's what you
want to do, okay, all right?

Speaker 5 (30:46):
In your estimation, Bill, Bill more more, in your estimation,
would I have to pay income tax on?

Speaker 8 (30:52):
Would it be a game for me?

Speaker 5 (30:54):
No?

Speaker 1 (30:54):
No, no, No. Inheritance is non tax. Well, depends on
how much your inherent And if you're saying four hundred
thousand dollars, not even close, it's in the millions of
dollars before you start paying inhritage tax. You're fine, all right,
thank you, all right, good for you. Four hundred thousand
dollars richer. What are you gonna do with the money.
I don't know, sex, drugs, rock and roll. Right? Do

(31:18):
you do you have family? Jeane? Do you have kids?

Speaker 5 (31:22):
Yes? I have four and actually are listed. They are
actually listed as the Caster trustees.

Speaker 1 (31:27):
Okay, well, and I'm assuming there are beneficiaries too. How
close are you your kids? Jeane?

Speaker 2 (31:33):
Very close.

Speaker 5 (31:33):
I'm gonna have the money.

Speaker 1 (31:35):
Okay, you're gonna get you. Let me tell you something.
You're gonna get a lot closer or they're gonna get
a lot closer to you. I guarantee that.

Speaker 8 (31:41):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (31:44):
Larry, Hi, Larry, welcome, Hi.

Speaker 8 (31:47):
Good morning Bill. I have a question for you about
my right to sell my dad's house. Okay, all right,
So my dad is ninety two years old and he
lives by himself in his house in the San Fernando Valley.
God bless him, but he is absolutely determined to die

(32:10):
in Testate, and he has filed a deed, a transfer
on death deed, which benefits my brother and I. The
problem is my brother lives in New York and historically,
when you ask him to do something, he just never

(32:32):
does it.

Speaker 1 (32:32):
Yeah, it doesn't matter.

Speaker 8 (32:34):
Yeah, he just doesn't care.

Speaker 1 (32:36):
Doesn't. Yeah, nothing forces him to do that. He can
he can just say I don't want to do anything,
but it's indeed and upon your I don't quite understand
the deed upon his death transfers. That's basically a will
that transfers the property. So that one's kind of bizarre.
And if he wants to die and testate, he has
every right to do that. I'm just not aware of

(32:56):
a deed that upon my death transfer is the property
transfers other than here is the beneficiary of my will?
Maybe I'm I'm missing something there, but okay, yeah, so
what's your question?

Speaker 8 (33:11):
But that so that's that is how the deed works.
Is you can file the deed and the property goes
to whoever is named on the deed upon the death
of the grand tour So my brother and I are
going to own the house.

Speaker 1 (33:27):
Yeah, unless is that a remain? Is that a life estate?
That's that they transfer the property and then he gets
to stay at it until he dies, because I certainly
exactly Okay, that's a life estate, is what it is.
It's it's okay, it's transferring the property and he has
a right to stay in the property until he dies
and then but it's okay, I got it. Okay, thank you,

(33:49):
And now now I understand. Okay, So your dad has
a life estate, okay, and the Bundy, and there's a
property already in your name and your brother's name.

Speaker 8 (33:58):
No, it's in his name until he dies.

Speaker 1 (34:02):
No, no, no, no, it doesn't work that way. If
it's in his name until he dies, it's his property.
A life estate is transferring the property and part of
the deed is he gets to stay in it until
he dies, but he doesn't own it. It's the beneficiaries
who own it. So if there's a life of state,

(34:23):
you and your brother get the house, but your dad
gets to stay in the house until he dies, right, okay,
So the property should already be in your name, but
it's not. Then that then there is no life Then
there is no life estate. Then it's just your dad
owns a house. And if there is a deed that
transfers upon death, you know, is that part of probate?

(34:47):
This is outside of probate. I have I have no idea,
but it doesn't seem to make any difference because the
two of you are going to get the house anyway.
So what's your question, Larry I don't understand where.

Speaker 8 (34:56):
You're the question. So the so the question is at
the point where my brother and I own the house. Yeah,
and he does nothing right, I want to we're gonna
want to sell it.

Speaker 1 (35:07):
Then you're selling a buyer. Then you sell it.

Speaker 8 (35:10):
But do I have the right to sell it by myself?
Now you've got to execution?

Speaker 1 (35:16):
No, no, what you have to do if it's in
both your names, the two of you have to agree,
and if you don't agree, you can force the sale
of the house. It is that well, it's called a
partition and you're probably gonna need a lawyer to do
it because I wouldn't know how to do it. And
what it is is you file with the court. It's

(35:36):
a document that the court orders the sale of the
house because the two of you can't agree. It's an automatic.
By the way, Larry, he can't fight it.

Speaker 8 (35:47):
Well that sounds good. And would that be filed through
a probate court?

Speaker 1 (35:51):
No, actually, I don't know. It's not even probate. It's
a straight lawsuit for partition. Okay, Now probate. The judge
can order the sale as part of probate. But I
think you have your choice. One way or the other.
Let me tell you about pain, and if you live
in chronic pain, you know what I'm talking about. I mean,
it's there all the time, and that's what's horrible about

(36:15):
chronic pain. So The Pain Game Podcast is a podcast
that deals with people who are in chronic pain or
know someone who is, treats people and what it does
is develop a community because a lot of people in
chronic pain feel alone and by the way, people have
lost people to chronic pain. This is one of those
things where people can hurt themselves because they just can't

(36:37):
take it anymore. And The Pain Game Podcast deals with
people that are hurting, that have had trauma, and every
episode ends with a message of hope. And you'll understand
that the show is about giving pain purpose. Puts a
different perspective on it because that's really all you can
do with today's technology in chronic pain is giving pain purpose.

(37:02):
Listen to the show wherever you listen to podcasts, The
Pain Game Podcast, the Pain Game Podcast on social at
The Pain Game Podcast Season three is now running around
the Pain Game Podcast. This is Handle on the Law.
You've been listening to the Bill Handle Show. Catch my

(37:22):
show Monday through Friday, six am to nine am, and
anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
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