longstoryshort

"lawyers can steal more money with
a briefcase than a hundred men with guns."
mario puzo

In 1997 Mea Culpaws (aka furballis originallis) arrives at her second forever home. Does not bond with new owner. Still stressed after being left with adoption agency. She is two years old. She tries to run away everytime she is put outside.

Mea Culpaws.



David arrives home from vacation. Mea bonds within minutes and never tries to run away again. They become inseparable.

In 1999 David's sister takes her mother who is 89 to have her will rewritten. Mother not sure why but daughter has power of attorney so she agrees.

Mother as a young woman.



Lawyers tell Mother a non-existant law they invent requires she apoint them as co-executors on her will. Mother is confused but goes along. After all, her daughter would never mislead her. Would she?

Mother worries constantly. About her will. David says he'll take her to a notary where she can have it rewritten. Mother says she can't because the lawyers said it was the law and that's that. A true child of the Depression she believes lawyers ARE the law.

February 22,2001. Mother collapses in her living room. David calls 911. She is taken to hospital. Her aorta has burst. David stays until one in the morning. He returns next morning with Mea in tow. Immediate family arrives. Mother tries to heal old rifts between some members of family but heart gives out at 11.12 and monitor flatlines. She is ninety-one. David is inconsolable.

David and his sister arrange funeral. Sister collects papers, assets and documents from Mother's bank and delivers same to lawyers. This was arranged by email between her and Huff, Puff and Bluff. David is not informed.

February 25th Mother is buried. No service.

February 27th the will is read at the offices of Huff, Puff and Bluff.

David learns he is co-executor along with John Huff. His sister is not on the will as co-executor. Huff waxes eloquent about what he can do for David but David is distrustful. He's been down this road before with lawyers and senses some things don't add up. The will states that David and his sister will split the inheritance 50/50

It turns out Mother had almost $300.000.00 in the bank and about $20.000.00 in her checking account. Her house is worth another $250.000.00. David is stunned to learn this.

The next day David asks his sister for help with paying household bills other than funeral expenses as all assets are now in the hands of Huff, Puff and Bluff. She refuses and walks away. The next day she offers $500.00 to help pay some bills in exchange for household items she claims are hers. David agrees as he has no money of his own and offers to help carry said items to her house which is only two hundred feet away.
Two days later she tells him on the street that he should get a lawyer as her lawyer has told her not to speak to him. Her lawyers are not the same firm that wrote Mother's will. David says why all the lawyers over a simple boilerplate three page will. She refuses to answer any questions and walks away. They will never speak to each other again except through lawyers. David tells his doctor who treats him for bi-polar depression that he feels like a trailer park in a hurricane. David is a man in his fifties,very emotional by nature and incompetent at business. His doctor is very concerned the added stress of family infighting will lead to a breakdown. She increases his various medications.

David contacts Mother's bank. He is told there is about $7500.00 left after funeral expenses in her checking account. He is told he can write cheques to pay bills. The next day the bank calls to say a clerk from Huff, Puff and Bluff came to the branch and closed the account leaving David with no money to pay overdue household accounts.

David calls the lawyers. They tell him there is no money for household accounts. He is responsible for paying all bills now. David is furious. Has row with John Huff. He hangs up. They never speak again. Documents later show the $7500.00 was available but they chose to lie to increase pressure on David for future planned actions.

Within days a bailiff arrives with a brown envelope. His sister and the lawyers are suing to have him removed as co-executor. It is the first of many visits by said bailiff over the next ten months. It is vexatious litigation but David is still too stressed and filled with grief to begin fighting what he knows will be a long battle.

Sister is exchanging emails with Huff, Puff and Bluff and arranging for a truck to remove household items even though she has her own lawyers. David has no idea this is happening. Note. Power of attoney has expired. She has no business conducting her late mother's affairs.

A few weeks later a van appears at 8 am. David is sound asleep. The bailiff is pounding on the door. David opens the door to the bailiff. His sister comes charging through the door. Mea tumbles down a flight of stairs to the basement. It's later learned her leg is broken. David shoves his sister out the door. The bailiff escorts her back to her house. He does not enter the house until later contrary to an affadavit he later files with the court. Photographs taken on the day disprove at least three of his claims proving them to be outright lies.

David calls the cops, grabs a camera and a tape recorder. Sister and her son, a wannabe cop, are standing on the street taking everything in. Bailiff says no such thing happened but photos disprove.

Yes, that is a cop car in the background. They interviewed sister and son but the police report of that day subsequently went missing. Surprise.



On guard for thee but too small to fight.



Broken leg



David allows removal of items. Van drives 200 feet to his sister's. They could have thrown the items that far. This was nothing less than an orchestrated home invasion. Unnecessary and designed to terrorize.

It takes ten months of relentless harrassment and legal action before the lawyers eventually force David to capitulate as he is destitute. He is removed from the will. How much the lawyers collected in fees and commisions from him and his sister is still undetermined. David suffers a breakdown. His doctor fears suicide.

Oct 2002.

David finds a home for Mea with Kathy Wright through a series of events that can only be described as miraculous.

Fast forward. Oct 2008.

Kathy and her close friend Sam open the box left behind by David seven years after Mea's arrival. They find documents, a roll of film and a journal. There is also a request to lay a wreath on Mother's grave whenever they visit the city. They do so a few weeks later......



but are confused to find there is no plaque to mark Mother's passing.



They dig through David's documents on their return home for an explanation. They discover the following agreement in a judgement to pay Huff, Puff and Bluff $1200.00 to put a plaque on Mother's gravesite. It wasn't done. They kept the money. THEY LEFT THEIR CLIENT in an unmarked grave. Note the page number of 84. Imagine a final agreement in a judgement that totalled this many pages over a three page boiler plate will and you get some idea of the malfeasance and greed of these lawyers.

to be cont'd