KATU Investigates: Woman says mother’s will was forged and the estate was drained.

An Ohio woman said her story serves as a cautionary tale – as she pushes law enforcement to investigate and prosecute whoever is behind an invalid will filed after her mom’s death.

A Klamath County judge initially accepted the will in April 2023. A KATU investigation found it took almost 5 months for a judge to throw out the invalid will after it went into effect.

“My mom is not here to defend herself. She’s not here to have a voice, so I’m it, and I’m not stopping,” Kristy Gerlett said.

Kristy will never forget February 9, 2023. Her mom – Cathy Gerlett – died suddenly in Kristy’s Ohio apartment.

“I have some very vivid memories that will never go away, and then there’s parts of time that have completely lost,” Kristy said.

The pain of her loss took a dark turn in April 2023. She said she got an email from her attorney; a will appearing to be written and signed by her mother was attached to the email.

The words on page two of that document still haunt her; it expressly disinherited Kristy.

A friend of her mother’s filed the will in Klamath County court on April 25, 2023.

“I immediately got an attorney and was like, ‘I don’t have any proof right now, but I can tell you my mother would have never, never disinherited us,’” Kristy said.

However, Kristy and her attorney needed evidence to fight it. Eventually, she tracked down a witness and the notary on the will in question. Both told her and her attorney they didn’t sign the will.

“I cried not because I knew I was right, but I cried because it’s just so awful; it’s so awful,” Kristy said.

Kristy’s attorney filed to contest the will in June 2023. The witness and notary filed declarations with the court in July – saying under oath that they didn’t sign the will in question.

A handwriting expert filed a separate declaration with the court the same day. He testified that Cathy’s signature was also forged. He determined it was pulled from her real will, created in 2018. That will left 25% of her estate to Kristy.

A judge set a court date for early September.

“I had to wait until we could go to court and have my time in front of the judge, and all that waiting time, more damage was being done, and more damage was being done, and I was literally watching it, helpless.”

Kristy said the damage included thousands of dollars charged on her mom’s credit card account at hotels, grocery stores, and even a casino after her mom died. Court records show someone advertised and held an estate sale in August. Kristy said she lost generations of family heirlooms.

“To this day, I have no idea where this stuff is, and I don’t know the proper accounting of it,” Kristy said.

A judge froze the estate in late August and then threw out the 2022 will and removed the executor in early September – almost five months after the invalid will was filed with the court.

https://katu.com/newsletter-daily/woman-says-invalid-will-drained-her-moms-estate-and-exposed-holes-in-or-probate-process

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Author: KATU News
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News post in at: October 16, 2024, 3:03 am.

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