It’s not all “good occasions” for John Amos’s property as a bitter household feud erupts between his two kids. In a just lately filed lawsuit, Shannon Amos accused her brother, Kelly Christopher (Okay.C.) Amos, of elder abuse, fraud and their father’s wrongful loss of life.
Battle Origins
Whereas the courtroom case concerning their father is comparatively latest, dangerous blood between the siblings dates again years. Tensions reportedly brewed over disagreements concerning the care of their late mom, who died in 2016. Shannon claimed that Okay.C. offered insufficient care for his or her mom, refusing to rent in a single day attendants regardless of frequently leaving the house within the evenings. She additionally alleged that Okay.C. misappropriated their mom’s funds to finance low-budget movies and property renovations.
Quick ahead to the present allegations and lawsuit, by which Shannon claims that Okay.C. manipulated their father into signing varied authorized paperwork giving Okay.C. close to full management over the property whereas additionally ignoring John’s medical wants, isolating and exploiting their father for monetary acquire, in the end resulting in his loss of life. The grievance additionally names John’s former caretaker and obvious publicist, Belinda Foster, shut affiliate Eugene Brummett and his manufacturing firm, Step and One Half Productions, as defendants. Shannon is looking for a courtroom order to freeze the property’s property.
The allegations concerning the care of their father and his funds stem again so far as 2019, when, based on The Hollywood Reporter, Okay.C. “began to maintain his father from household and buddies by shuffling him round varied places whereas monitoring his communications, at occasions impersonating him in textual content messages and emails.” It’s additionally been reported that the submitting states that in August 2024, John was experiencing extreme stomach ache, however Belinda, who instructed docs she was his daughter, didn’t take him to a hospital till it was too late.
Shannon has additionally beforehand claimed that she didn’t discover out about her father’s loss of life till 45 days later by way of social media, stirring up concern that foul play was concerned. Belinda fired again, claiming that John’s remaining want was to delay the announcement of his passing as a result of he was afraid his daughter would “flip his loss of life and interment right into a circus,” amongst different causes.
Proving Her Claims
Though John’s psychological capability was the topic of debate in his previous couple of years, he reportedly refuted Shannon’s allegations of elder abuse and monetary exploitation whereas nonetheless alive. Does this imply Shannon will face an uphill battle to show her case?
“In some methods, it turns into simpler to convey an elder abuse case as soon as the elder has handed away, because the record of people that have standing to file an elder abuse motion grows after the elder’s loss of life. Nonetheless, it clearly turns into harder to show abuse that’s not happening, because of the elder’s loss of life,” mentioned Andrew G. Smith, shareholder/director at Weinstock Manion in Los Angeles. “Mr. Amos’s daughter can nonetheless use medical data, documentary proof (together with any stories made to Grownup Protecting Companies), monetary data, and witness testimony to show the alleged abuse.”
Patrick D. Owens, shareholder within the Chicago workplace of Buchalter, provides that, “Sadly, in lots of circumstances, apart from bringing a possible declare for elder abuse or looking for a conservatorship within the courtroom system, there is no such thing as a proper to say undue affect or to contest an property whereas an individual resides.”
So far as the burden of proof in these types of circumstances, Owens mentioned that, typically, it’s on the get together making the declare, on this case, the daughter; nevertheless, the burden of proof can shift in circumstances of a confidential or fiduciary relationship involving undue affect. “If the brother acted because the agent underneath an influence of lawyer for property or as a trustee or co-trustee along with his father, this might shift the burden of proof to the brother,” he posits.