[WSBAPT] Money found by new owners of home bought from Trust

Mon Jun 3 19:58:07 PDT 2019

That Oregon case would apply IF that clause was checked, but it wasn't. A court in Arizona ruled just the opposite on a "money found in the wall" case based on Arizona's "mislaid" vs "lost" vs "abandoned" statutory language. But I could not find an RCW that differentiates personal property that way in Washington. To complicate matters the couple may have been divorced in the 1980s. In addition, the homeowners don't trust the attorney handling the Trust, but don't know how to reach the heirs ...

Typos courtesy of my little phone

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From: wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> on behalf of Dalynne Singleton <dalynne at glgmail.com>
Sent: Monday, June 3, 2019 7:22:31 PM
To: WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv
Subject: Re: [WSBAPT] Money found by new owners of home bought from Trust

Reminds me of a law school examination question…
I found this interesting awhile back and it seems to fit your scenario…
See:  https://www.elderlawanswers.com/who-gets-cash-hidden-in-house-by-deceased-former-owner-7176
Who Gets Cash Hidden in House By Deceased Former Owner?
Imagine you bought a house and, a year and a half later, you discovered bundles of cash that had been hidden away by the deceased former owner. Who would be entitled to the money -- you or the former owner's estate? Confronted with just such an unusual case, an Oregon appeals court has overruled a lower court and determined that the new owner may keep the windfall.
William and Helene Valoff owned a house in Milwaukie, Oregon. After Mr. Valoff's unexpected death, all assets of his estate were transferred to Mrs. Valoff. Following Mrs. Valoff's death, her estate sold the house to Helen Sollars. The sale agreement required the estate to leave certain specific personal property (such as a stove and a refrigerator) but to otherwise "remove all personal property (including trash and debris)" before the closing of the sale.
About a year and a half after the closing, an electrician working on the house found bundles of money hidden above the ceiling of the basement. The bundles were bound with rubber bands and adding machine tapes bearing Mr. Valoff's handwriting. Because of uncertainty about who owned the money, the police seized and counted it and found that it totaled about $122,000.
Ms. Sollars argued that she should receive the money because she was the rightful owner of anything left in the house after the closing. The Valoff estate countered that it remained the owner because it did not intend to transfer any right to the money when it sold the house to Ms. Sollars. A trial court agreed with the estate, reasoning that the sale agreement was for the transfer of a house, not of money that neither party had known about. Ms. Sollars appealed.
On September 24, 2008, the Oregon Court of Appeals reversed the trial court and ruled that Ms. Sollars is the owner of the money. The court concluded that the sales agreement's reference to "all personal property" unambiguously included the money found in the house. The fact that the money's existence was not known at the time of the sale makes no difference, the court held.
To read the full text of the case, Sollars v. City of Milwaukie (Or. Ct. App., No. CV06020213; A132996, Sept. 24, 2008), click here<http://www.publications.ojd.state.or.us/Publications/A132996.htm>.

Dalynne Singleton

Gourley Law Group
Snohomish Escrow
The Exchange Connection
1002 10th Street / PO Box 1091
Snohomish, WA 98291

360.568.5065
360.329.4079
360.568.8092  fax
dalynne at glgmail.com<mailto:dalynne at glgmail.com>

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From: wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> On Behalf Of Jennifer Mackley
Sent: Monday, June 3, 2019 3:01 PM
To: WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>
Subject: Re: [WSBAPT] Money found by new owners of home bought from Trust

PC was repairing electrical wires in garage and found a panel concealing envelopes of cash and husband’s audio tapes of extra-marital interactions with a number of women. The husband died a while ago, the wife died in 2017, and the home was purchased from the wife’s Trust. The box next to the clause regarding Items Left by Seller was NOT checked in the real estate contract. It states “Any personal property, fixtures, or other items remaining on the Property when possession is transferred to Buyer shall thereupon become property of the Buyer, and may be retained or disposed of as Buyer determines.” So who do the discovered items (that were presumably stashed by the husband) belong to? The owners? The husband’s estate? The wife’s estate? The heirs of the Trust? Who do the current home owners contact to determine ownership?
Jennifer Mackley | Mackley & Mackley, PLLC | (206) 938-4969<mailto:(206) 938-4969>
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Thanks for your insight.
Jennifer
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