- Report: #218407
Complaint Review: Robert Townes - Gardendale Alabama
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Robert Townes
717 Kerr Drive Gardendale, 35071 Alabama, U.S.A.
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205-631-4019
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Robert Townes, Corrupt, Dishonest, Ignorant Attorney had conflict of interest in opposing my father's wiil, slandered with false allegations to my attorneys to prevent me from carrying out father's power of attorney and Will Gardendale Alabama
CONSUMERS BEWARE OF ATTORNEYS AND PROBATE COURT IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA. YOUR P0WER OF ATTORNEY, WILL, AND OTHER LEGAL DOCUMENTS ARE USELESS!!!!!
My father was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2000. He appointed me as durable power of attorney with total authority over his assets and health care. I was not able, however, to carry out any of his wishes in his power of attorney or Advance Directive concerning his health care with his hospice or doctor due to false allegations made by my Robert Townes of Gardendale AL, and the other heirs children and their mother, who do not know me nor would the above children and mom associate with my me, my children, my dad, mother, nor my brother, their dad, our entire lives until they found out my father was dying and had MONEY. Mr. Townes was also my father's attorney and mine in the past and had a conflict of interest. My father fired him years before his death. My father suffered unnecessarily as a result of this and none of his wishes were honored.
After my father's death, I was not "allowed" to carry out any of the wishes in his will by all the attorneys involved or by probate court.
His will states that I "shall not be required to furnish any bond, nor file any inventory of property, or make any report or final settlement to any court of any proceedings hereunder.
His will also states that I "have full power and authority to sell, transfer and convey any property, real or personal, which I may own or have control over at my death, without first obtaining permission from any court, at such time and price and upon such terms and conditions, including credit as I may determine and to do every other act and thing necessary or appropriate for the complete administration of my Estate."
I was "NOT ALLOWED" to carry out ANY of these duties by the attorneys involved and was not allowed to be on the appraisals on the property, determine the price, or sell the property so that I could settle the estate. I had to file an inventory, reports, a final settlement, and many other documents my father's will said I did not have to.
My father's estate was then turned over to a "master" by the judge (Mark Gaines at Jefferson County courthouse)against my father's will and state law. My brother and I, who were the only heirs, were NOT alllowed in the courtroom at this time.
None of the attorneys involved would honor my father's will nor assist me in carrying out his wishes. Several attorneys did not file documents as ordered by the judge but told me that they had.
I was not informed of court dates concerning my father's estate by my attorneys nor was I served any documents so that I could attend court and inform the judge what was going on.
I have not been able to obtain some documents filed on my father's estate from probate court, although I was executrix.
There were also illegal distributions concerning property belonging to my father's estate by Robert Townes of Gardendale, AL.
None of my attorneys would honor my father's Will because of the false allegations made by my brother's family, my x-husband and his wife. None of the attorneys advised me of these allegations so that I could prove they were not true. The ?master? (Dean Stein)assigned to my father's estate, illegally, proved that I had not tried to rip-off my brother or the estate although he allowed Robert Townes, the other attorneys, and my brother's ?family? to rip my children and I out of around $100,000.00, ILLEGALLY, and against my father's Will and State law. They all caused my dad to suffer because of their greed and not honoring his power of attorney.
Robert Townes is a complete liar and a crook. He did all the above knowing my father told him, before he fired him, that he did not want any attorneys or the court involved in his estate and his will done by a friend of his should have prevented it. Robert Townes, my brother's sons, x-wife and my x-family took advantage of my brother's and my father's sickness and used them in order to steal most of my father's estate. He and the above destroyed mine and my children's life with their false allegations of me for GREED! NONE of them were heirs in the will.
The above also teamed up with my x husband and wife in taking me to court for out of state visitation of my children. None of the evidence I had was presented for my case because of the above peoples lies and connections in efforts to prove me unfit to handle my father's estate. THEY ALL PUT MY CHILDREN THRU HELL AND I COULD NOT PROTECT THEM OR GET BENEFITS DUE TO THEM BECAUSE OF MY FAMILIES'S AND THE ATTORNEYS GREED!
I have contacted NUMEROUS attorneys, the STATE BAR, the Attorney General, comsumer protection agencies, etc., about these unethical and illegal actions of all these attorneys and probate court but cannot find anyone to assist me in exposing this corruption and recover the money these attorneys stoled from my father's estate against his will and state law or expose what my brother's and my x-families did because of greed. None of these people were heirs of my father's will.
I am in hopes there is someone out there that has enough honesty and integrity to help me and warn others so that what happened to my father, my brother, and I will not happen to someone else.
I have NUMEROUS documents and recordings to support my case and feel extremely confident I can prove all of the above statements and many more unethical, if not illegal, actions by these attorneys and probate court.
SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!!!! IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOUR FAMILY!!!
Laney
Gardendale, Alabama
U.S.A.
Laney,
Unfortunatley, the courts appear to be like the Birmingham Water Works.... they answer to no one but the media. Contact 33/40's Fighting for you, www.abc3340.com or Fox's 6 On Your Side www.myfoxal.com and let them know your story. Hopefully they can help if enough media attention is given to your story.
David - BIRMINGHAM, Alabama
U.S.A.
I think I have a pretty good idea as to what the other side of this story is, but maybe you could answer a couple of questions for me before I jump to any conclusions.
First, what was the nature of the challenge raised by your "extended family members" regarding the validity of the will?
Second, what reason did the numerous lawyers that you spoke to give you for not wanting to take on your case?
Tim - Valparaiso, Indiana
U.S.A.
In answer to Indiana......I am not aware of ANY challenge to the validity of the will. The will was drawn by a personal attorney friend of my father's whom I did not know nor had never met until my father called me to meet him at his friend's office to redo his will. It was also signed by several witnesses. My father's previous will was drawn up by my father's previous attorney in 1995 who also represented the other heir. (There were only two heirs.) I was executrix and had power of attorney on the will my father drew up with this previous attorney also.
In answer to your second question......I was told by the other numerous attorneys that they would not handle legal malpractice cases against another attorney and did not know of anyone that would.
I am curious how anyone could "jump to any conclusions" about the other side of the story unless they were involved in this case.
Deborah - Gardendale, Alabama
U.S.A
Deborah,
I may have came off as dismissive of your claims in my first rebuttal. That was not intentional.
From the information you've given, it sounds like there has been some kind of challenge to your capacity to administer the estate, either mentally or ethically. But that's just the conclusion I draw from the information you've given. Without seeing the court file, I really have no idea what happened in your case.
As for a legal malpractice case, you will likely have a problem with standing. You can't sue a lawyer for malpractice if he wasn't YOUR lawyer. The attorney who drafted the will was your father's lawyer, not yours, at least as regards the estate. As the executrix of the estate you would be able to prosecute claims on behalf of your father. But there seems to be a problem with your status as executrix, so you will likely have a hard time.
It can also be difficult to find an attorney in one locale who will take a case against another attorney in the area. Lawyers depend on the relationships they have with one another and, in most cases, this benefits clients. But when you're pressing a malpractice claim, it can be a big stumbling block. I would advise you to seek counsel outside of your local area, but not so far away that it's impractical.
Best of luck!
Tim - Valparaiso, Indiana
U.S.A.
Update Submitted by the original author
Submitted: 10/13/2006 10:59:15 AM Modified: 10/13/2006 10:59:15 AM
answer to Indiana
You are correct. There was a challenge to my capacity, however, all the claims by my "family" were proven to be totally false. It was proven that there were no unethical or illegal actions performs by me as executrix but were performed by most attorneys involved. I was not removed as executrix as the "familys" claims and slander had no validity and therefore could not be proven. I have no problem with the attorney who drafted my father's will.
It is all the attorneys I had and the other heir's attorney who performed all the illegal and unethical actions and DID NOT honor my father's will or the laws. This allowed them to take a large portion of my father's estate from both myself and the other heir. And you are right, they all protect each other and there is nothing anyone can do to protect themselves from the attorneys. My father's will and power of attorney meant NOTHING!
Never underestimate what "family" members will do to dishonor your will and power of attorney for MONEY. Even though these "family" members were not heirs in the will! If you want your assets to go to your children, or whoever, give it to them BEFORE you die or all the greedy members of your family will give it to the attorneys and the court, even if they were not mentioned in the will!
NEVER underestimate what family members will do for MONEY! Wanted everyone to know so this will hopefully not happen to anyone else.
Deborah
Gardendale, Alabama
U.S.A.
My father was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2000. He appointed me as durable power of attorney with total authority over his assets and health care. I was not able, however, to carry out any of his wishes in his power of attorney or Advance Directive concerning his health care with his hospice or doctor due to false allegations made by my Robert Townes of Gardendale AL, and the other heirs children and their mother, who do not know me nor would the above children and mom associate with my me, my children, my dad, mother, nor my brother, their dad, our entire lives until they found out my father was dying and had MONEY. Mr. Townes was also my father's attorney and mine in the past and had a conflict of interest. My father fired him years before his death. My father suffered unnecessarily as a result of this and none of his wishes were honored.
After my father's death, I was not "allowed" to carry out any of the wishes in his will by all the attorneys involved or by probate court.
His will states that I "shall not be required to furnish any bond, nor file any inventory of property, or make any report or final settlement to any court of any proceedings hereunder.
His will also states that I "have full power and authority to sell, transfer and convey any property, real or personal, which I may own or have control over at my death, without first obtaining permission from any court, at such time and price and upon such terms and conditions, including credit as I may determine and to do every other act and thing necessary or appropriate for the complete administration of my Estate."
I was "NOT ALLOWED" to carry out ANY of these duties by the attorneys involved and was not allowed to be on the appraisals on the property, determine the price, or sell the property so that I could settle the estate. I had to file an inventory, reports, a final settlement, and many other documents my father's will said I did not have to.
My father's estate was then turned over to a "master" by the judge (Mark Gaines at Jefferson County courthouse)against my father's will and state law. My brother and I, who were the only heirs, were NOT alllowed in the courtroom at this time.
None of the attorneys involved would honor my father's will nor assist me in carrying out his wishes. Several attorneys did not file documents as ordered by the judge but told me that they had.
I was not informed of court dates concerning my father's estate by my attorneys nor was I served any documents so that I could attend court and inform the judge what was going on.
I have not been able to obtain some documents filed on my father's estate from probate court, although I was executrix.
There were also illegal distributions concerning property belonging to my father's estate by Robert Townes of Gardendale, AL.
None of my attorneys would honor my father's Will because of the false allegations made by my brother's family, my x-husband and his wife. None of the attorneys advised me of these allegations so that I could prove they were not true. The ?master? (Dean Stein)assigned to my father's estate, illegally, proved that I had not tried to rip-off my brother or the estate although he allowed Robert Townes, the other attorneys, and my brother's ?family? to rip my children and I out of around $100,000.00, ILLEGALLY, and against my father's Will and State law. They all caused my dad to suffer because of their greed and not honoring his power of attorney.
Robert Townes is a complete liar and a crook. He did all the above knowing my father told him, before he fired him, that he did not want any attorneys or the court involved in his estate and his will done by a friend of his should have prevented it. Robert Townes, my brother's sons, x-wife and my x-family took advantage of my brother's and my father's sickness and used them in order to steal most of my father's estate. He and the above destroyed mine and my children's life with their false allegations of me for GREED! NONE of them were heirs in the will.
The above also teamed up with my x husband and wife in taking me to court for out of state visitation of my children. None of the evidence I had was presented for my case because of the above peoples lies and connections in efforts to prove me unfit to handle my father's estate. THEY ALL PUT MY CHILDREN THRU HELL AND I COULD NOT PROTECT THEM OR GET BENEFITS DUE TO THEM BECAUSE OF MY FAMILIES'S AND THE ATTORNEYS GREED!
I have contacted NUMEROUS attorneys, the STATE BAR, the Attorney General, comsumer protection agencies, etc., about these unethical and illegal actions of all these attorneys and probate court but cannot find anyone to assist me in exposing this corruption and recover the money these attorneys stoled from my father's estate against his will and state law or expose what my brother's and my x-families did because of greed. None of these people were heirs of my father's will.
I am in hopes there is someone out there that has enough honesty and integrity to help me and warn others so that what happened to my father, my brother, and I will not happen to someone else.
I have NUMEROUS documents and recordings to support my case and feel extremely confident I can prove all of the above statements and many more unethical, if not illegal, actions by these attorneys and probate court.
SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!!!! IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOUR FAMILY!!!
Laney
Gardendale, Alabama
U.S.A.
Laney,
Unfortunatley, the courts appear to be like the Birmingham Water Works.... they answer to no one but the media. Contact 33/40's Fighting for you, www.abc3340.com or Fox's 6 On Your Side www.myfoxal.com and let them know your story. Hopefully they can help if enough media attention is given to your story.
David - BIRMINGHAM, Alabama
U.S.A.
I think I have a pretty good idea as to what the other side of this story is, but maybe you could answer a couple of questions for me before I jump to any conclusions.
First, what was the nature of the challenge raised by your "extended family members" regarding the validity of the will?
Second, what reason did the numerous lawyers that you spoke to give you for not wanting to take on your case?
Tim - Valparaiso, Indiana
U.S.A.
In answer to Indiana......I am not aware of ANY challenge to the validity of the will. The will was drawn by a personal attorney friend of my father's whom I did not know nor had never met until my father called me to meet him at his friend's office to redo his will. It was also signed by several witnesses. My father's previous will was drawn up by my father's previous attorney in 1995 who also represented the other heir. (There were only two heirs.) I was executrix and had power of attorney on the will my father drew up with this previous attorney also.
In answer to your second question......I was told by the other numerous attorneys that they would not handle legal malpractice cases against another attorney and did not know of anyone that would.
I am curious how anyone could "jump to any conclusions" about the other side of the story unless they were involved in this case.
Deborah - Gardendale, Alabama
U.S.A
Deborah,
I may have came off as dismissive of your claims in my first rebuttal. That was not intentional.
From the information you've given, it sounds like there has been some kind of challenge to your capacity to administer the estate, either mentally or ethically. But that's just the conclusion I draw from the information you've given. Without seeing the court file, I really have no idea what happened in your case.
As for a legal malpractice case, you will likely have a problem with standing. You can't sue a lawyer for malpractice if he wasn't YOUR lawyer. The attorney who drafted the will was your father's lawyer, not yours, at least as regards the estate. As the executrix of the estate you would be able to prosecute claims on behalf of your father. But there seems to be a problem with your status as executrix, so you will likely have a hard time.
It can also be difficult to find an attorney in one locale who will take a case against another attorney in the area. Lawyers depend on the relationships they have with one another and, in most cases, this benefits clients. But when you're pressing a malpractice claim, it can be a big stumbling block. I would advise you to seek counsel outside of your local area, but not so far away that it's impractical.
Best of luck!
Tim - Valparaiso, Indiana
U.S.A.
Update Submitted by the original author
Submitted: 10/13/2006 10:59:15 AM Modified: 10/13/2006 10:59:15 AM
answer to Indiana
You are correct. There was a challenge to my capacity, however, all the claims by my "family" were proven to be totally false. It was proven that there were no unethical or illegal actions performs by me as executrix but were performed by most attorneys involved. I was not removed as executrix as the "familys" claims and slander had no validity and therefore could not be proven. I have no problem with the attorney who drafted my father's will.
It is all the attorneys I had and the other heir's attorney who performed all the illegal and unethical actions and DID NOT honor my father's will or the laws. This allowed them to take a large portion of my father's estate from both myself and the other heir. And you are right, they all protect each other and there is nothing anyone can do to protect themselves from the attorneys. My father's will and power of attorney meant NOTHING!
Never underestimate what "family" members will do to dishonor your will and power of attorney for MONEY. Even though these "family" members were not heirs in the will! If you want your assets to go to your children, or whoever, give it to them BEFORE you die or all the greedy members of your family will give it to the attorneys and the court, even if they were not mentioned in the will!
NEVER underestimate what family members will do for MONEY! Wanted everyone to know so this will hopefully not happen to anyone else.
Deborah
Gardendale, Alabama
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Very Unhappy
Private,Georgia,
U.S.A.
Web Site
#2Consumer Comment
Tue, August 26, 2008
I am sorry to hear of your situation with these people. I have found Robert Towne's web site and thought I would post it here. http://www.pandtpc.com/default.htm.
Deborah
Gardendale,Alabama,
U.S.A.
Attorney Robert Townes
#3Author of original report
Sun, July 27, 2008
Robert Townes also handled the purchase of my home in 1994 in which my mother i(who is now deceased) put in her name as advised by my divorce attorney in order to prevent my x-husband 's attempts at trying to take 1/2 of my home in our divorce. My Townes was advised that I was purchasing the home, making the mortgage payments, and our plans of transferring the home to my name after my divorce. Unfortunately, my mother passed away in 1995. My father (who is now deceased) and I then transferred my home into his name as I was still going through divorce proceeding. After my divorce was finalized, my father and I went to Robert Townes to transfer my home into my name and discovered that the title to my home was never transferred from my mother's name into my father's name! My father and I paid Mr. Townes to transfer the title, the deed, and the mortgage into my name only in 1997. I do have all documents to prove the above statements. I made the mortgage payments on this home for around 15 years which was extremely difficult for me due to my low income and being a single parent of two children. Due to Robert Townes and others involved in my father's estate actions, false allegations, conflict of interests, false statements to the Alabama State Bar,to my attorneys, the probate judge, and others, I believe my home was included in my father's forced estate settlement by his friend, Dean Stein, who was unethically/illegally assigned to settle my father's estate against my father's will and state law. Robert Townes also tried to remove me as executrix of my father's estate stating that my brother had not received his 1/2 of his inheritance although all the documents he forced me to file(against my father's Will and State law) proved that I had arranged for my brother to receive his 1/2 of any funds due him within a couple of months of my father's death. The documents filed with the court also proved that the others involved prevented me from protecting my father as his power of attorney, my brother owed me a large amount of money from the estate, owed all attorney fees he and Robert Townes caused the estate against my father's will, that I was not "allowed" on the appraisals of my father's property, that he, my brother, and other family and x-family members acquired and sold property that belonged to my father's estate illegally, that my attorneys did not prove the above, and that I was not advised of court hearings concerning this property or of hearings concerning my father's estate! Nor have I ever signed documents concerning this property as an heir and the legal executrix of this property! I was forced to sign to settle my father's estate even though my attorney resigned from representing me before court when I told him I wanted to the judge to know what was going on, present my documents as proof, or I wanted to release him. The "master", Dean Stein, who was illegally assigned to my father's estate told me that if I did not agree to their settlement, he would take more property and funds from me! I have sent the Alabama State Bar all documents to prove all the above claims but due to Robert Townes false allegations and lies in his reply, (which my documents prove are false and lies) the State bar will do nothing.
