Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #12

[Knox]

Their former property in Indiana is still in their name. They must be financing it for the couple who purchased it in May 2019. The taxes were due on it recently May 11 to be exact and last I checked were overdue and UNPAID.

I noted that too last week. So, if the Morphews are acting as the bank, I would think they would be responsible for paying the property taxes.

 

[oviedo]

If a civil matter is related to real property, and the real property is located in Indiana, then an Indiana court alone has any jurisdiction over matters of real property in Indiana. However, with regard to guardianship, you are right, I think - that would depend on where the person is domiciled, and it seems that that would be in CO. I'm not a probate lawyer though, just a regular ol' commercial and insurance lawyer so I am by no means an expert on this stuff! We will see what the IN court does with this!

according to our probate lawyers who also handle real estate and write title for residential/commercial closings - the thing to do would be to get the Letters of Guardianship issued which gives him the right to sign her "name" to the deed to convey title. Unless IN has some weird property laws - in any case, she is a missing person who cannot be examined to determine incapacity so I'd like to see how this works out myself.
JMO

 

[Auntie Cipation]

No. The deed is held by the seller until the terms of the contact are fulfilled. Until that time, the seller is responsible for the payment of property taxes.

MOO, IANAL

I have two experiences to the contrary in California.

When I bought my home ten years ago, the seller carried the loan for me for a few years until I paid it off. I, as the buyer, received the property tax bills right from the start.

Then a few years ago, I sold a different piece of property to a friend for whom I am carrying the loan. The buyer gets the property tax bills.

I'm confident that if the buyer were to not pay the taxes, the county would then turn to the note-carrier/seller to request payment, and I assume the note-carrier would have some legal obligation to pay, but that only happens if the buyer defaults. IMO IANALE (E = either)

 

[momsof3]

I had a very sad thought reading through all these posts. It had to be either SM's poor daughter or her elderly dad that was asked to consent to this guardianship. What a difficult position to be put in for either of them.

BTW - oviedo - your expertise has been invaluable here.

The docket shows at least one interested person consented - my guess ? The adult child or the dad /siblings ? We serve via certified mail return receipt it’s what is recognized in my state and we serve any and all interested parties - siblings, parents, adult children etc - better to serve all than miss one and have the proceeding stalled
IMO

regarding the Petition to sell property - have we found any real estate listings because this would help determine if there really is a pending sale to finish up so he isn’t in default of an already executed contract / I haven’t found any for sale yet
IMO

So that would be her 87 year old Dad or the girls?

 

[oviedo]

The lease-to-own is only a possible scenario posited by someone here—not confirmed. Could be that. Could be a private sale. As far as whether the buyer can back out, it depends on what the contract says.

Whatever the case, this family owns a house reportedly free and clear in CO. If BM needed to raise cash, I suspect it would be much easier to get a loan on that house than to go through a guardianship process in another state. Heck, he could probably borrow from the friend who’s putting up the $100K reward. Just seems to me this is about fulfilling the terms of a real estate sale contract.

that house is owned by both of them - he will need her signature or Letters of Guardianship to get a loan on it
IMO (and from my own experience - when you own property jointly, it takes two to get a loan unless there is some shady bank dealings going on)
IMO - this is a move that I do not believe they thought it would be public and discovered. Generally probate proceedings are assumed to be private but IN (bless their heart) has a public record access for the docket. big surprise but must be worth the gamble
JMO

 

[RickshawFan]

She has been missing for less than a month. The investigation is ongoing. How is the Judge going to declare her incapacitated?

Respectfully snipped to be on point.
Looking at this from the opposite end of the telescope...
The "incapacity" designation may have been the goal all along. It could explain his behavior post- SM's disappearance. Maybe the kidnapping story was deliberately framed to enable BM to declare her incapacitated? And he's deliberately trying to keep the "kidnapping theme" in the news? That story works better for his goal?
His Plan B is the "bike accident" or "mountain lion". These may be more stories of desperation and back up in case the kidnapping thing (which was his Plan A story) didn't work out for some reason. Which of course it hasn't: the guardianship role doesn't fit this Plan B, because she would no longer be alive.
The suggestions in this post are hypothesis only.

 

[DetectiveFoyleWannabe]

according to our probate lawyers who also handle real estate and write title for residential/commercial closings - the thing to do would be to get the Letters of Guardianship issued which gives him the right to sign her "name" to the deed to convey title. Unless IN has some weird property laws - in any case, she is a missing person who cannot be examined to determine incapacity so I'd like to see how this works out myself.
JMO

Yeah I literally have never heard of a guardianship of a missing person. Must be an actual principal (ward) for a guardian to represent. Is there a hearing on this today?

 

[Knox]

Oh my.

All I know is "its too soon" for this, as BM himself recently said.

I'm still hoping she can somehow be found alive still.

The need must be very urgent, which IMO points to pre-existing financial problems. But then what about the $100k reward he offered up within days of Suzanne going missing?

Then we have the virtual silence from LE. Is the FBI still in the area? Wish a reporter would ask this question.

 

[oviedo]

I had a very sad thought reading through all these posts. It had to be either SM's poor daughter or her elderly dad that was asked to consent to this guardianship. What a difficult position to be put in for either of them.

BTW - oviedo - your expertise has been invaluable here.

yes that is my guess as well...sigh...last night the actual probate statute for notice was posted by an astute sleuther - I'm hunting for it so I can copy it to her media thread. This may all be a moot point - but it sure is interesting to see how this will play out '(sad, but interesting) it's just been 3 weeks.
JMO (and thanks it's 10 going on 11 years experience working with lawyers who are very, very good)

 

[DetectiveFoyleWannabe]

The need must be very urgent, which IMO points to pre-existing financial problems. But then what about the $100k reward he offered up within days of Suzanne going missing?

Then we have the virtual silence from LE. Is the FBI still in the area? Wish a reporter would ask this question.

He even upped the ante to a $200k reward, but that is for information leading to her being found (alive?). So if he knows she isn;t going to be found alive, then might as well offer $1 Million. MOO.

 

[oviedo]

Yeah I literally have never heard of a guardianship of a missing person. Must be an actual principal (ward) for a guardian to represent. Is there a hearing on this today?

No hearing on the docket - but he filed a motion to waive hearing and notice IIRC. so the Judge could just issue the Letters and Order on his petition if no interested party objects - so I guess we watch the docket.
IMO

The need must be very urgent, which IMO points to pre-existing financial problems. But then what about the $100k reward he offered up within days of Suzanne going missing?

Then we have the virtual silence from LE. Is the FBI still in the area? Wish a reporter would ask this question.

I expect they are asking questions and we should be hearing something unless those answers are part of the criminal investigation - many reporters know about this now. Twitter is quick.
JMO

 

[Knox]

Yeah I literally have never heard of a guardianship of a missing person. Must be an actual principal (ward) for a guardian to represent. Is there a hearing on this today?

Indiana Supreme Court public access case search - MyCase
Record says the motion was filed, no hearing date is listed. Maybe you can take a peek, link above.

 

[Shiloh28]

I took this from the Cornell Law School Legal Legal Information Institute website:

"A court must have personal jurisdiction over a prospective ward to appoint a guardian of the person, but only needs in rem jurisdiction over the guardian's in-state real property to appoint a guardian of the estate whose authority is limited to that property. This can result in a single ward having multiple guardians of the estate spread out over several states."

I don't know if this is what is happening here, of course, since we don't have enough information.

 

[happyday]

Wow, all this new information points in a direction many on here have thought from the start. Financial motive.

Money just KEEPS surfacing in different ways in this case. May today be the day Suzanne is found!

 

[Hoosierfan72]

Yeah I literally have never heard of a guardianship of a missing person. Must be an actual principal (ward) for a guardian to represent. Is there a hearing on this today?

I'm no expert, either. Last I knew, however, was that SM wasn't actually listed on any of the "official" missing person databases? Does anyone know, is that still true? We've wondered why that was from early on, and I have no idea if/how that might have an impact here (assuming she's still not listed)?

 

[Tate123]

yes that is my guess as well...sigh...last night the actual probate statute for notice was posted by an astute sleuther - I'm hunting for it so I can copy it to her media thread. This may all be a moot point - but it sure is interesting to see how this will play out '(sad, but interesting) it's just been 3 weeks.
JMO (and thanks it's 10 going on 11 years experience working with lawyers who are very, very good)

Indiana Code Title 29. Probate § 29-3-5-1 | FindLaw

 

[MrsWatson]

Thank you to those who have explained the legalese of this.

Now that I understand (mostly) what this means, wow. I am having a hard time coming up with a reason to do this now, other than financial urgency. Am I missing something?

MOO

 

[MrsWatson]

I did find her on NAMUS

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[trujac]

Thank you to those who have explained the legalese of this.

Now that I understand (mostly) what this means, wow. I am having a hard time coming up with a reason to do this now, other than financial urgency. Am I missing something?

MOO

wouldn't it be bizarre if SM was actually found somewhere--incapacitated and/or disabled??? Nothing would surprise me more...

 

[RickshawFan]

The need must be very urgent, which IMO points to pre-existing financial problems. But then what about the $100k reward he offered up within days of Suzanne going missing?

Then we have the virtual silence from LE. Is the FBI still in the area? Wish a reporter would ask this question.

BM had money for a $100k reward, but no money for property taxes on pretty much that same day? Hmmm....