Chapter 25 - GRANDMA KEEPS HER HOUSE
The court’s order was narrow.
Eleanor remained sole owner.
The Harbor Ridge contract did not bind her because Sancia lacked the written authorization expressly required by the power of attorney.
No title transfer occurred.
No buyer interest survived termination.
No lien.
No hidden ownership.
Then fiduciary finding.
Sancia breached her duties as agent by:
Signing a residence-sale contract without required approval.
Removing property records without informing Eleanor.
Submitting an incomplete POA in a way that concealed a material restriction during preliminary title review.
Preparing to terminate Radnor’s tenancy contrary to Eleanor’s expressed wishes.
Using agency authority to advance a personal preference about Eleanor’s residence and family arrangements.
The court did not find:
Completed theft of house proceeds.
Forgery of Eleanor’s signature.
Embezzlement of hundreds of thousands.
Fraudulent mortgage.
Good.
Precision.
Then costs.
Sancia ordered to reimburse $14,600 of Eleanor’s reasonably attributable legal, title and professional review costs.
Not all fees.
Eleanor bore some because broader family litigation went beyond the transaction.
Sancia’s documented care expenses had already been separately reimbursed.
No double punishment.
Then future authority.
POA revocation valid.
Professional fiduciary remains.
Sancia has no authority to sell, mortgage, lease, evict or manage property on Eleanor’s behalf.
Could Eleanor appoint her again someday?
Legally, perhaps.
But not now.
Then my tenancy.
Court did not award me ownership.
Did not guarantee residence.
My lease with Eleanor remained a private lawful agreement.
If Eleanor later terminated it properly:
I would leave.
Good.
Then estate.
Not addressed.
No inheritance ruling.
No one learned who gets house after Eleanor dies.
Sancia asked her lawyer afterward:
“Can Mom still leave it all to Radnor?”
Her lawyer said:
“Yes.”
That was the uncertainty she had tried to eliminate.
She would have to live with it.
So would I.
Then Sancia looked at me outside court.
“You got the house.”
“No.”
“What?”
“Mom has the house.”
She stared.
I realized that sentence was the entire case.
May you like
Neither of us had won it.
Because it had never been ours to win.
