Funeral home signed receipt but claims now no payment....
stacey1225
signed a receipt stating he received the money. At the funeral they
approached us and said she never mailed in her check to the trust
company - but he signed the contract stating he was in receipt of the
$4000+ funds, not stsatin how it was receive and he was to mail it in.
We went to court as they were suing the estate and myself for todays'
burial prices and they won based on "services rendered". They judge
did not even take into account the receipt or the fact that she
withdrew $22,000 in cash only days before. Iam cgoing to appeal but
want to know if anyone has had this problem or can help with advice.
How much more proof of payment is there then a receipt? She is
deceased so we can't find out anything more. Bank has changed names 3
tiumes and claims they have no records which the judge disagreed on -
don't they have to have proof that it was not received?!
Thanks!
Stacey
McGyver
news:1158863611.3...@e3g2000cwe.googlegroups.com...
The receipt is good evidence of payment. The receipt should have outweighed
the testimony of plaintiff's witness that the payment was not received. If
this was a small claims case concerning $4,000, and if your state's laws are
like mine, your appeal will be a new trial and your chances of winning are
better than in a non-small-claims appeal. If your state allows attorneys in
small claims appeals, hire one to present your defense and you should win.
If this is not a small claims case because the dispute is $22,000, and you
defended the matter without an attorney, there could be several reasons for
the loss. And for the same reasons, your chances on appeal are not great.
Pro se defendants usually lose against an attorney opponent. Sometimes the
reason is that the pro se litigant doesn't learn the laws of evidence. It's
not enough to have a receipt. It is necessary to get the receipt admitted
into evidence. That requires authentication. If you don't know how to
prove that the document is authentic, or how to go about offering the
receipt into evidence through a witness, it might not be admitted into
evidence unless the other side's attorney is asleep.
If you had an attorney representing you at trial, that person should be able
to tell you exactly what went wrong and will tell you what the chances are
on appeal. There isn't much we can offer from here unless you give us some
details about what exactly happend at trial concerning the receipt.
This answer must not be relied on as legal advice for the reasons posted
here: http://mcgyverdisclaimer.blogspot.com
McGyver