EDWARDSVILLE - A Gulf Shores woman is suing her sister for allegedly selling their mother's property and failing to provide an equal share on the proceeds.
Melinda Emery filed the complaint in the Madison County Circuit Court against Brenda Estes.
In the lawsuit, Emery claims her sister, Estes, transferred a property located at 417 Cedar Street in Mount Carmel into her and her husband's name in 2015. Estes was acting under power of attorney for the parties' mother, Melba Bray. Estes, also acting as her mother's power of attorney, allegedly sold seven acres of land in Tennessee owned by her mother and "retained the proceeds for herself," the suit alleges.
The suit states that Bray later died in 2017. Emery claims she discovered that the property had been transferred when it was not listed on the probate inventory list after her mother died, the suit says.
Emery alleges her sister was not authorized to transfer her mother's property and "unduly influenced" Bray to transfer the property. Emery claims she is entitled to "an equal share" of the property.
The plaintiff seeks damages in excess of $50,000, plus attorney fees. She is represented by Jeffrey Wagener of Sivia Law in Edwardsville.
Madison County Circuit Court case number 2022LA000452