The family feud over an inheritance ends in court, near Caen
Through Writing Caen
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In 1992, Michel *, very ill, returned to live with his parents, on the coast near Caen (Calvados). He suffers from the side effects of triple therapy due to HIV. He will therefore take care of his aging parents and after the death of his father which occurs in 2013, he takes care of his mother suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. She in turn died in 2018 at the age of 88.
The sister files a complaint against her brother
It was then that Janine *, Michel’s sister, discovered numerous anomalies in their mother’s bank accounts and decided to file a complaint against her brother. Thursday, December 9, Michel (65) appeared before the criminal court to answer for abuse of weakness, forgery and use of counterfeit checks.
140,000 euros spent in eight years
Janine discovers numerous checks cashed by her brother, as well as direct debits via the Internet, including abroad: the purchase of a car, of a magnetic pain-relieving device paid for 6,000 euros… Their parents’ savings account melted like snow in the sun. Of the 140,000 euros in 2009, only 68,000 euros remain in 2013 to reach 1,000 euros in 2017.
Michel does not deny having used his mother’s bank card to make withdrawals when he needed money, without having the impression that he was doing wrong. He made, with his mother’s consent, he assures us, risky stock market investments. “It was to grow, but everything was lost,” he laments.
He also bought clothes online, for his parents but also for himself. The car allows him to take his mother to her medical consultations, but he recognizes it as personal use. As for the magnetic device, it was his parents who had “offered it to relieve rheumatism, pain due to triple therapy”. He also had to finance work in the parental home. But of these works, “there is no proof”, notes the lawyer of the civil party for whom there is infringement of the rights of heiress of his client. He seeks the 49,980 euros owed to him as well as 3,000 euros in non-pecuniary damage.
Janine, present at the hearing, said: “I want him to be found guilty because he lied to me. He felt he was the only one who could handle it. Our mother was far too absent to understand the value of money ”. On the other hand, the elder brother testifies: “I have nothing to reproach Michel. Fortunately he was there to take care of our parents ”.
For the defense, the damage remains to be manifested
The prosecutor finds it difficult to understand this man, who had a power of attorney on his parents’ account since 2012 needed to imitate his mother’s signature. “Otherwise, the bank would have refused the checks,” replies Michel. “It looks more like a way of blurring the lines,” said the magistrate for whom the accused risked his mother’s heritage by making aberrant investments. It requires a suspended sentence of 12 to 18 months.
Maître Agnès, the defense lawyer, is stepping up to the plate. “In all of this, we forget the cost of the father’s retirement home, which amounts to 3,000 euros per month. 400 euros were missing per month and that lasted 3 years ”. He admits unfortunate operations, no doubt, but without enrichment and considers that it remains to prove the state of weakness of the mother and therefore the damage. “The succession is in progress,” he concludes. The house has been sold, the papers are at the notary, the victim will be paid for it ”.
The court delivered its deliberation on Thursday, January 20, 2022.
* Loan names.
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