Legal Aid assists lonesome widow…
A sample of cases handled by Legal Aid of North Carolina
[NOTE: This is an actual case submitted by an attorney from the Legal Aid of North Carolina office in Sylva, NC.]
"Mrs. T" had recently lost her husband of many years. She relocated
to rural Swain County and purchased a modest home with her savings. She was lonesome and easy prey for the shifty alcoholic, who was eager
to get her money and property. When she was at the brink of losing her
home, Mrs. T was referred to Legal Aid for assistance.
The swindler had told Mrs. T that his wife had been killed in a car
wreck. He had then swooned and courted Mrs. T until she agreed to marry
him.
After the marriage ceremony, he excessively used her credit cards on
partying and intoxicants and physically abused her. He forced her to
sign a deed to her house to him and her as husband and wife. Then he
left her.
Because he had many bad debts and court judgments against him, his creditors
were looking to find his assets upon which to execute. Unable to find
the man, the creditors approached Mrs. T regarding the debts. Mrs. T
had only her house.
Mrs. T discovered that the man was, in fact, still married to his prior
wife, who had not really been killed in a car wreck. Therefore, his
marriage to Mrs. T was void. Unfortunately, the deed made them tenants
in common, entitling his creditors to sell his one-half, undivided interest
in her home.
Since Mrs. T was legally blind, her Department of Social Services (DSS)
social worker, who provides services for the blind, contacted Legal
Aid to help her.
A Legal Aid attorney reviewed her case and filed a lawsuit to obtain
a judgment to declare that the marriage and the deed were void and to
declare that his creditors had no right to execute on her home.
Following a trial before the District Court, the Court granted the requested
relief.
"Mrs. T is now free from any entanglements with the swindler, and her
home is safe from execution on the man’s debts," noted the Legal Aid
attorney. "Fortunately, her social worker knew to refer her to Legal
Services for help with her legal crisis."
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Mission Statement
Legal Aid of North Carolina is a statewide, nonprofit law firm that
provides free legal services in civil matters to low-income people in
order to ensure equal access to justice and to remove legal barriers
to economic opportunity.