Containment What will happen when Barb dies?

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timtommy said:
Right. What I was trying to say is that to force a sale, Cole has to use the court system. And that is costly. Chris has the ability to make things a real pain in the ass for Cole, and really cut into Cole's inheritance.
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It would be worth it, though, and possibly not cost much if Chris isn't a complete moron, which would consist of something like hiring Rob Bell again. Of course, he has a history of turning routine court events into vastly expensive wastes of money, so that's really his nuclear option.

If both parties proceed reasonably (assuming Cole even has any legal ownership of the property which I at least have no idea about), the most expensive mess to clean up won't be a legal mess, but Barb's festering hoard.
 
timtommy said:
Right. What I was trying to say is that to force a sale, Cole has to use the court system. And that is costly. Chris has the ability to make things a real pain in the ass for Cole, and really cut into Cole's inheritance.

Of course, he would be costing himself at the same time.
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Would Chris be smart or motivated enough to make things really difficult, though? He is astonishingly lazy, and no matter what the reward is at the end, you can't make him do anything he doesn't really want to do unless the effort is absolutely minimal. And I doubt he'd even bother to look up what his rights are.
 
Tragi-Chan said:
Would Chris be smart or motivated enough to make things really difficult, though? He is astonishingly lazy, and no matter what the reward is at the end, you can't make him do anything he doesn't really want to do unless the effort is absolutely minimal. And I doubt he'd even bother to look up what his rights are.
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He really hates being pushed out of his safe space and that house is what he has, so I can see him really kicking up a fight over it, especially if the only option is selling the house and not living there any more. Even though he'd probably be better off in a smaller location less full of unsanitary garbage.
 
Tragi-Chan said:
Would Chris be smart or motivated enough to make things really difficult, though? He is astonishingly lazy, and no matter what the reward is at the end, you can't make him do anything he doesn't really want to do unless the effort is absolutely minimal. And I doubt he'd even bother to look up what his rights are.
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I think the problem is that the passive and lazy option would just be to say no to various solutions Cole proposed. Those solutions would either be for Chris to clean up the place and put it up for sale, or for Chris to take out a mortgage to buy Cole out.

The first option is a lot of work and involves Chris moving out of 14 BLC. The problem with a second option is that Cole and Chris would have to agree on a price. Chris has a poor grasp of compromise and negotiation, and a poor grasp of the value of things. Finally, Chris is pretty good at ignoring consequences, so he could operate oblivious to the threat of Cole forcing the issue if they couldn't agree. I would be skeptical that negotiation would bear fruit. I could see Chris feeling morally entitled to the house (with good reason, to be fair) and refusing to comprehend that his moral entitlement did not extend to a legal entitlement.

AnOminous said:
He really hates being pushed out of his safe space and that house is what he has, so I can see him really kicking up a fight over it, especially if the only option is selling the house and not living there any more. Even though he'd probably be better off in a smaller location less full of unsanitary garbage.
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I guess what you are suggesting is that if Barb really doesn't have a will, Chris would hire counsel to try to claim that Cole is not entitled to much? I clearly see where the moral/logical argument in that goes. Chris and Barb have been very close for his whole life, while Cole has been in various stages of estrangement for decades. Also, a lot of Barb's assets came from Bob, who had no personal or genetic relationship with Cole, but was also close to Chris. Anyone would assume that if Barb has a recent-ish will, Chris gets the vast majority of the estate. I don't know enough about the law to know whether that argument flies legally in the absence of a will.

Or are you suggesting that Chris would just be a pain in the ass, even if he had no legal leg to stand on?
 
timtommy said:
Or are you suggesting that Chris would just be a pain in the ass, even if he had no legal leg to stand on?
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Both. By the rules of intestate succession it seems Cole Smithey is just as close a relative of Barb's as Chris is, and so they'd be entitled to half-shares, barring weirdness and assuming Barb inherited the entire property upon Bob's death, which is what would usually happen since married couples generally both own the entire property, which devolves on the surviving spouse.

I'm assuming Bob didn't do something odd like leave Barb a life estate to allow her to live in the property the rest of her life while somehow leaving the remainder ownership to Chris (I don't think that would have been legal anyway without her permission or somehow having excluded the house from the marital estate).

So I could easily see Barb having left the entire property to Chris in a will, as she would be entitled to. Clearly, he's the one who actually needs it. And Chris, whatever his flaws, has always been there for her.

I think the situation is probably pretty clear cut, though. Either Barb has clearly left the property to Chris, or to Chris and Cole either on purpose or by failing to get a will. In either case, one of them has no leg to stand on and it should be obvious which.

However, even with no leg to stand on, Chris has the advantage of actually occupying the house, so it would take something to get him out of there. The question is how much money he'd waste forestalling the inevitable in that case.
 
Do they hold any other assets? And did they REALLY burn through $50k on the Snyder ordeal? That seems pretty extreme.

I see post-Barb Chris trying to cash in on the spoils of the hoard. Didn't he try to liquidate the Superbowl TV for like $500? He tried selling the BMW and the Caddy for almost MSRP at point of purchase so I can see him trying to sell the dolls or clothes or end tables or whatever junk Barbie picked up at the Goodwill for the same price you would see at the store, or for more because they're "precious antiques".
 
Alec Benson Leary said:
Agreed. I'm pretty sure that actual occupation would weigh pretty heavy in Chris's favor if there were some kind of court battle.
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It would if what Cole was seeking was to occupy the house. But that seems inconceivable. Assuming what Cole is seeking is to liquidate his equity from the house, the court is going to have to support that. If Cole somehow inherits half the house because of no will or an unexpected will, no court is just going to say "too bad, someone else is living in your property, I guess you don't own it anymore"

They could push a compromise solution where Chris stays in the house and compensates Cole. But as has been suggested, Chris is not a big man for compromise. At some point, the court is going to have very little choice but to order him out, order a sale, and award him half the proceeds of the sale.
 
theobservdr said:
Well it depends, if no wills were made, wouldn't the government seize the property ?
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No. Virginia's probate laws state that people without a will have all their property pass to their surviving spouse. If no surviving spouse, it passes to the deceased's children.

So if Chris and Barb died at the same time, Cole would inherit the Hoard and lots of unsold Sonichu medallions.
 
JFKdestroyer said:
No. Virginia's probate laws state that people without a will have all their property pass to their surviving spouse. If no surviving spouse, it passes to the deceased's children.

So if Chris and Barb died at the same time, Cole would inherit the Hoard and lots of unsold Sonichu medallions.
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It would only pass by escheat to the state if there were no heirs by the rules of intestate succession.

So winner takes all for Cole.
 
Cole could care less. I assure you. Barb has, I think, essentially disowned him and he certainly has disowned her. He could care less. He has a gig as a shitty movie reviewer, a wealthy wife and a bassist for a band you've never heard of. He's happy not dealing with Barb the Hutt and Salacious Crumbs.

Chris gets the newhoard (tm) and any other surprises Barb is planning on leaving for him. And he will be totally ill-equipped to deal with it.

Here's Chris and Cole's conversation upon Barb's death:

Chris: Hi big brother! Mom died and I need help

Cole: 'Click'
 
A $100k (or more, because Barb does have a pension and some pensions will distribute a fixed some if a certain ceiling of distributions have not been reached and we do not know of any other assets or life insurance policies they may hold, as Barb worked for the government and some government jobs will give life insurance policies) distribution is attractive. I think it would be hard for the world' greatest film critic to pass up his share of $100,000 or more.
 
drmccoy said:
Cole could care less. I assure you. Barb has, I think, essentially disowned him and he certainly has disowned her.
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If he knows that for a fact, I can see that. He's not going to fight over something where he has no legal leg to stand on.

Nobody in their right mind would leave half of $182,000 or whatever 14 BC is worth now on the floor just out of arrogance. That would be retarded. Even more retarded than Cole and Chris combined.
 
Sir Walter Raleigh said:
What if Chris and Barb died... at the same time!?
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Like they got in an agreement to kill each other when something terrible happens? Or Barb kills Chris in his sleep and then proceeds to kill herself while Cole observes the whole thing, smoking a cigarette and doing nothing to then say something along the lines of "I'm glad I didn't have to do it myself"?
:( That's dark...
 
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