sister sues parents over land

[littlesister]

In the fall of 2005, my middle-aged sister asked our elderly parents for a couple of acres of land so she could move her mobile home, which was beside their house. They said she should leave it where it was and save her money, but if she was determined to move it, she could have 2 acres. She said she was going to have it surveyed and they told her that, too, was an unnecessary expenditure; our dad offered to mark off a couple of acres for her, but she insisted on hiring a surveyor. They didn't offer any further objections but told her she was not to block access to their other 31 acres on that section of land.
Unbeknownst to them, that's exactly what she did, leaving a few feet on each side, and moving her mobile home to the site. Almost a year later, she asked for the deed to the property and they asked to see the survey. When they realized she had carved out the heart of the watermelon, so to speak, they told her she could have 2 acres running north-south instead of the east-west configuration she had chosen. Her house was on one of the acres either way you cut it.
She refused the land, berated them soundly, called our dad some vulgar names, and a few months later, she sued them. Her lawsuit demanded 2 acres or $22,000. Her lawyer has since notified our parents that she is now willing to accept the 2 acres they offered earlier, but they say the offer is no longer on the table. They are angry, hurt and sad, and don't feel like they owe her any land or money.
Between the time my sister refused the acres they offered (August 2006) and before she filed a lawsuit (January 2007), my parents added me to the deeds as half-owner of all their land (October 2006). As I understand it, under Arkansas law, no land deals are recognized if they are not in writing, so I would guess that means our parents can't be ordered to deed over any land, but could my sister reasonably expect to be awarded some money (it's set for a bench trial, if that makes any difference)? Wasn't it rather sloppy of her lawyer not to check the land deeds before filing the lawsuit in the first place? Do I now have a legal standing in this case or is my claim predated by the land promise? Should I hire my own lawyer?

 

[Michael Wechsler]

In the fall of 2005, my middle-aged sister asked our elderly parents for a couple of acres of land so she could move her mobile home, which was beside their house. They said she should leave it where it was and save her money, but if she was determined to move it, she could have 2 acres. She said she was going to have it surveyed and they told her that, too, was an unnecessary expenditure; our dad offered to mark off a couple of acres for her, but she insisted on hiring a surveyor. They didn't offer any further objections but told her she was not to block access to their other 31 acres on that section of land.
Unbeknownst to them, that's exactly what she did, leaving a few feet on each side, and moving her mobile home to the site. Almost a year later, she asked for the deed to the property and they asked to see the survey. When they realized she had carved out the heart of the watermelon, so to speak, they told her she could have 2 acres running north-south instead of the east-west configuration she had chosen. Her house was on one of the acres either way you cut it.
She refused the land, berated them soundly, called our dad some vulgar names, and a few months later, she sued them. Her lawsuit demanded 2 acres or $22,000. Her lawyer has since notified our parents that she is now willing to accept the 2 acres they offered earlier, but they say the offer is no longer on the table. They are angry, hurt and sad, and don't feel like they owe her any land or money.
Between the time my sister refused the acres they offered (August 2006) and before she filed a lawsuit (January 2007), my parents added me to the deeds as half-owner of all their land (October 2006). As I understand it, under Arkansas law, no land deals are recognized if they are not in writing, so I would guess that means our parents can't be ordered to deed over any land, but could my sister reasonably expect to be awarded some money (it's set for a bench trial, if that makes any difference)? Wasn't it rather sloppy of her lawyer not to check the land deeds before filing the lawsuit in the first place? Do I now have a legal standing in this case or is my claim predated by the land promise? Should I hire my own lawyer?

I don't understand. What right is your sister asserting to the land? The fact that your parents gave her permission to use it? Without a contract of sale there is no sale of land but it gets worse for your sister and I don't know what her lawyer is thinking.

(1) Apparently there was no offer and acceptance even under contract law if this didn't involve land. There was a mutual mistake of fact - your parents offered her a bread toaster but she wanted a toaster oven so there was no deal. A deal is if your parents offer a bread toaster for $22,000 and she accepts the bread toaster.

(2) By not accepting your parents offer, she made a counteroffer and thus ensured there was no contract. The fact that she wants to rescind her counteroffer and no accept your parents original offer is not valid.

(3) It sounds to me more like your sister is smacking the "gift" horse in the mouth. Your parents seem certainly under no obligation to sell her the land.

You have no standing in this case to get involved in court. You are best to tell your sister what an ungrateful person she is and that if she gets evicted from the land she should understand why the family isn't talking to her. Good luck and I'm sorry to hear about this problem. Sometimes there are people who think the world owes them everything and that the rest of us are too slow to figure out what they are doing...

 

[blackdoggie]

hehe what a fool how could she think something like that would ever work out in court?