FL FL - Jack "Don" Lewis, 59, Tampa, 18 Aug 1997 ("Tiger King" missing husband) Joe Exotic guilty

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Registering a Will? Part 2
My above post is (generally) validated by info below from a CR law firm website. Explains why someone would "register a will in a foreign country" (<--- somewhat oversimplified stmt, because there would also be a CR judicial proceeding re CR land, as well as the FL probate ct). If anyone has clarification/correction, I'd welcome a post explaining it. I could be wrong.
"Probate of a foreign will in Costa Rica
Is your foreign will valid in Costa Rica ?
It is increasingly common to find a situation where a citizen of one country has a will drafted in their home country but they have also acquired real estate and other assets in Costa Rica. What happens if you die in the foreign country leaving assets in Costa Rica ?
"According to Article 905 of the Costa Rican Code of Civil Procedure if a Costa Rican or foreign citizen that is domiciled outside of Costa Rica leaves assets located in Costa Rica there is a process to recognize a foreign proceeding. If the probate case was filed in the foreign domicile then all the findings and judgments of the foreign court will be recognized in Costa Rica. To assert the validity of those foreign judgments the applicant will have to publish notice in the judicial bulletin for thirty days and then start a foreign judgment recognition action known as an Exequatur." bbm

^ https://costaricalaw.com/costa-rica-legal-topics/wills-and-estates/probate-foreign-will-costa-rica/ a CR law firm website.
 
Thanks @al66pine. I understand the legal side of registering a will in a foreign country. It's the timing of the events that sounds suspicious.

November 21st, 1996- JDL allegedly signed a POA and a will in Tampa
May 9th, 1997- JDL allegedly registered a will in Costa Rica
June 12th, 1997- JDL filed for a restraining order in Tampa
August 7th, 1997- JDL allegedly bought or sold a property in Costa Rica (i go for the latter)
August 18th, 1997- JDL goes "missing" in Tampa
August 23rd, 1997- JDL allegedly registered a sworn statement in Costa Rica

(There's a big chance that all JDL's sigs were forged, except the RO one.)

Both the will and POA were notarized by the same public notary and, IIRC, the notary said she never saw JDL sign any documents. The notary statement can be searched online.

The documents in Costa Rica were also notarized by the same CR public notary. I know this probably means nothing but, when this same notary was once suspended for forging a document, perhaps it means something... This is also public info.

JMO MOO
 
PatLaurel said:
Thanks @al66pine. I understand the legal side of registering a will in a foreign country. It's the timing of the events that sounds suspicious...
Both the will and POA were notarized by the same public notary and, IIRC, the notary said she never saw JDL sign any documents. The notary statement can be searched online.
The documents in Costa Rica were also notarized by the same CR public notary... this same notary was once suspended for forging a document,...
Click to expand...
@pat Laurel sbm Thx for explanation. Now I see what you mean.
Appears JDL signed will in Nov 1996, in FL, then "registered will" in CR in May 1997, six months later, but before his Aug 1997 disappearance. This made me think about jurisdictions in which a will can be filed/registered pre-death/pre-probate w a public office/court. In my ^ posts, had overlooked that possibility.
@PatLaurel Re JDL's purported '"registering a will" in CR, were you thinking about the procedure below, used in some probate courts of some states?

"Filing a Will During the Testator's Lifetime
There is no requirement to file your will with a court during your lifetime. In fact, many people simply keep the document in a safe place and do not file it while they are still alive. However, if you choose to file the paperwork prior to your death, the probate court stores it for safekeeping. It remains a private document until you die, and then it becomes a matter of public record. Courts that allow you to file your will before you die may ask you to leave a list of people permitted to pick up the document from the court after your death. If no one picks it up, the court may initiate the probate process on its own after it receives notification of your death.
"One of the benefits of filing your will before you die is that it could speed up the initiation of the probate process. When the testator files this document with the court, they receive a docket number in advance. The executor can then simply notify the court of the testator's death to begin the probate process." bbm
^ Do Wills Need to Be Filed with a Court?
 
al66pine said:
@pat Laurel sbm Thx for explanation. Now I see what you mean.

@PatLaurel Re JDL's purported '"registering a will" in CR, were you thinking about the procedure below, used in some probate courts of some states?

"Filing a Will During the Testator's Lifetime
"One of the benefits of filing your will before you die is that it could speed up the initiation of the probate process. When the testator files this document with the court, they receive a docket number in advance. The executor can then simply notify the court of the testator's death to begin the probate process." bbm
^ Do Wills Need to Be Filed with a Court?
Click to expand...

SBM & BBM

This is what i'm thinking. But, in this case, not done by the testator but the person who would later benefit of the will.

The continuous bashing of JDL by CB, the Alzheimer claims, JDL's erratic behavior only seen by CB, the POA and will (November 1996), the mysterious events in Costa Rica (1997), prior and posterior to JDL's disappearance, all these events, and some more, along with CB's desperate wish to "find a way out", remind me of a book i once read called "Malice Aforethought".

I do believe JDL's "disappearance" was premeditated.
Of course this is only speculation on my end.

JMO, MOO, SOME
 
Low Priced Properties, or ?
itsreenw said:
I don't know if this has already been discussed but in March 1998, Carole "sold" John Farr 3 properties in Pasco County for $10 each. How kind and generous of her.
Click to expand...
@itsreenw $10. each? Hmmm.... Source of this info, pls if you can locate it.
If it came from face of the deeds themselves, not necesarily meaningful. as it is common for a deed to state ~ By this deed, John Styles, Grantor, grants, bargains, sells,and conveys to Andrew Baker Grantee his entire interest in fee simple absolute, the property located at [legal description], for ten dollars and other valuable consideration ....etc.
Or may say ~ "For valuable consideration paid, receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, by this deed, John Styles Grantee grants, bargains, sells..." etc.

In either ^ hypothetical deed phrasing, common that grantee is paying a substantial amt of money for property, which may or may not be the fair market price. Such a ^ recital in a deed does not mean that $10 was the entire amt of money paid for the property. jmo
@itsreenw again, an image or pdf or link to source of ^ info in your post might be helpful in determining more about the true nature of the transactions.
 
al66pine said:
Low Priced Properties, or ?
@itsreenw $10. each? Hmmm.... Source of this info, pls if you can locate it.
If it came from face of the deeds themselves, not necesarily meaningful. as it is common for a deed to state ~ By this deed, John Styles, Grantor, grants, bargains, sells,and conveys to Andrew Baker Grantee his entire interest in fee simple absolute, the property located at [legal description], for ten dollars and other valuable consideration ....etc.
Or may say ~ "For valuable consideration paid, receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, by this deed, John Styles Grantee grants, bargains, sells..." etc.

In either ^ hypothetical deed phrasing, common that grantee is paying a substantial amt of money for property, which may or may not be the fair market price. Such a ^ recital in a deed does not mean that $10 was the entire amt of money paid for the property. jmo
@itsreenw again, an image or pdf or link to source of ^ info in your post might be helpful in determining more about the true nature of the transactions.
Click to expand...
I misunderstood about the price then but there were three properties transfered to him in March 1998. It's on the Pasco County records website.
www.pascoclerk.com
 
A Questioned Property Transfer to Farr?
itsreenw said:
30 days after Don went missing Carole gave Kenny 3 properties. Four days later she gave him 3 more. ....
Click to expand...
@itsreenw sbm Thx for ref to Pasco County records.
First deed (a quit claim deed) I found from Carol, as co-conservator, & Stalley as co-cons, transferred land to John Farr (is he same as Kenny Farr?) as trustee of Belleview Land Trust agreement dated Feb 1, 1998. That deed was also dated Feb 1, 1998, and recorded in county office Feb 19, 1998. jmo. IIRC, JDL went missing in Aug 1997, so > 30 days after disappearance.

Also, FWIW, deed states "This instrument was prepared by Carol Lewis."

It might be helpful to copy the various deeds & doc's and paste them here in the thread - to save time for posters (like slowpoke :( me ) reviewing them. After displaying the doc's, Pasco website times out quickly. Poof, the doc is gone, gotta search again.

Anyway, ppl in this case seem as o_O numerous and confusing as a Russian novel o_O. My head is spnning. If this ^ is one of the transfers in question, I'm not looking further into it ATM.
 
Carol Preparing Deeds & Other Legal Docs?
PatLaurel said:
Sorry for my ignorance, is that a "normal" thing or "suspicious"? I ask because JDL's POA states "This instrument was prepared by: Mrs. Jack Donald Lewis".
MOO
Click to expand...
@PatLaurel :) Earlier I looked at one deed (transferring prop from Carol & other Co-Cons. to Farr) avail on Pasco County website.
My post was not meant to focus on how she referenced herself in the deed, as Carol or Mrs JDL. Seems a bit unusual to me that she (apparently) prepared it, instead of an atty preparing it. That's what caught my attn. Same when she talked on the TK series about her decision/justification to use "disappearing" phrase in the PoA she (apparently) prepped for DJL.

When non-attorneys prepare deeds in which they are the sellers/grantees/conveyers, they sometimes use pre-printed forms at office supply stores, or complete forms avail online thru LegalZoom, nolo.com, etc.
Seems more common for non-atty's who are party to a property buy/sale to have atty's draft the deeds & doc's relted to the transaction.
Over the years in buying and/or selling real est in three different states and in 25+ transactions, drafting the deeds has always been done by attys. Sometimes private practice atty I engaged to draft for my sale(s) or by w some purchases by title company atty.
^ That's just been my experience. Some ppl hestitate to write doc's/deeds/contracts, etc for themselves in legal matters and depend on attys to do so; other ppl are DIY'ers, like Carol.
 
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al66pine said:
It might be helpful to copy the various deeds & doc's and paste them here in the thread - to save time for posters (like slowpoke :( me ) reviewing them. After displaying the doc's, Pasco website times out quickly. Poof, the doc is gone, gotta search again.
Click to expand...

Your idea is good, but is it legal to do it?

al66pine said:
Seems a bit unusual to me that she (apparently) prepared it, instead of an atty preparing it. That's what caught my attn.
Click to expand...

SBM
This is exactly what i meant!
Isn't it odd that Mrs. JDL prepared her husband's POA, when JDL was of sound mind?

Most of the documents, if not all, were prepared by CB/CL, and meant to be returned to her. And if i'm not mistaken, even the ones she was not directly "involved in" were prepared by or returned to CB/CL. And at least one was supposed to be returned to someone else but under the name had BCR's address handwritten by CB/CL. AFAIK, that person never lived at BCR and had her own office.
CB and her mother, at some point, were also the notaries of documents involving family members/businesses.
Red flags?


JMO MOO
 
al66pine said:
A Questioned Property Transfer to Farr?
@itsreenw sbm Thx for ref to Pasco County records.
First deed (a quit claim deed) I found from Carol, as co-conservator, & Stalley as co-cons, transferred land to John Farr (is he same as Kenny Farr?) as trustee of Belleview Land Trust agreement dated Feb 1, 1998. That deed was also dated Feb 1, 1998, and recorded in county office Feb 19, 1998. jmo. IIRC, JDL went missing in Aug 1997, so > 30 days after disappearance.

Also, FWIW, deed states "This instrument was prepared by Carol Lewis."

It might be helpful to copy the various deeds & doc's and paste them here in the thread - to save time for posters (like slowpoke :( me ) reviewing them. After displaying the doc's, Pasco website times out quickly. Poof, the doc is gone, gotta search again.

Anyway, ppl in this case seem as o_O numerous and confusing as a Russian novel o_O. My head is spnning. If this ^ is one of the transfers in question, I'm not looking further into it ATM.
Click to expand...
John Farr is Kenny's father. The properties may have been "sold" to Kenny but put in his father's name so it didn't draw attention.

I started to post everything thing here since the docs are public records but tbh, after reading through all that stuff and watching Carole's vidoes most of the morning, I just figured if anyone wanted to see, they would google it.
This is the first case that has given me a headache. Listening to her fantastical, made up life story with waaay too much intimate information to try to make it believable.
SMH
 
Copy & Paste Deeds, PoA's, etc to This Thread, or ?
PatLaurel said:
Your idea is good, but is it legal to do it?
SBM This is exactly what i meant! Isn't it odd that Mrs. JDL prepared her husband's POA, when JDL was of sound mind? .....JMO MOO
Click to expand...
@PatLaurel :) sbm bbm
It's legal to scan/copy & paste the deeds/doc's, etc., as we are not using for commercial purposes, and imo there's no question of copyright violations.
As you noted the chronology of various doc's w JDL's purported signatures is relevant to whether he 'disappeared' voluntarily or whether he may have come to harm at the hands of others.
So imo whether we can copy/paste these publicly recorded documents is a Websleuths' Terms of Service question for a Mod. Maybe PM a mod to ask???

ETA: If they can be used, maybe there is a central place to put them - like "scribd.com" or "imgur.com" or ?
 
Prepping a Power of Atty Doc & "Sound Mind"
PatLaurel said:
....Isn't it odd that Mrs. JDL prepared her husband's POA, when JDL was of sound mind?....
Click to expand...
@PatLaurel sbm No, not at all unusual. If aware that a person/potential client is not of sound mind/ not competent* to make decisions and to sign such a doc, an atty should not prepare a PoA doc (or a will) for that person.
But other ppl - non-atty - preparing a PoA doc for someone not of sound mind/not competent???? Well that's at the heart of many, many, many lawsuits related to purported gifts, wills, probate estates, etc. "Sound mind" is subjective, at least to some extent. *
That said, I do not recall the timing re JDL's appt w physician for memory/cognitive/confusion/AD issues (<---however CB phrased it) and when he purportedly signed the PoA doc or other relevant doc's.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
* "What is a “durable power of attorney”?
A power of attorney terminates if the principal becomes incapacitated, unless it is a special kind of power of attorney known as a “durable power of attorney.” A durable power of attorney remains effective even if a person becomes incapacitated. However, there are certain exceptions specified in Florida law when a durable power of attorney may not be used for an incapacitated principal. A durable power of attorney must contain special wording that provides the power survives the incapacity of the principal. Most powers of attorney granted today are durable."

"Must a person be competent to sign a power of attorney?
Yes. The principal must understand what he or she is signing at the time the document is signed. The principal must understand the effect of a power of attorney, to whom the power of attorney is being given and what property may be affected by the power of attorney."
Consumer Pamphlet: Florida Power of Attorney – The Florida Bar
 
Notarizing Signatures in FL?
PatLaurel said:
... CB and her mother, at some point, were also the notaries of documents involving family members/businesses. Red flags? JMO MOO
Click to expand...
@PatLaurel:)sbm
More than 'red flags' some of those may be 'prohibited acts' for a notary to perform, per FL law.*
--- notarizing signatures on a doc signed by notary's spouse, mother father, etc.
--- notarizing a doc in which notary has financial interest in the underlying transaction.
--- notarizing a doc in which notary is a party to underlying transction.

-----------------------------------------------------
* Fla. Stat. § 117.107 Prohibited acts
(11) A notary public may not notarize a signature on a document if the person whose signature is to be notarized is the spouse, son, daughter, mother, or father of the notary public.
(12) A notary public may not notarize a signature on a document if the notary public has a financial interest in or is a party to the underlying transaction...."
Chapter 117 Section 107 - 2011 Florida Statutes - The Florida Senate
https://www.flgov.com/wp-content/uploads/Notary_Reference_Manual_12.13.16.pdf <--- see page 21^
^ This is current statute but I believe any previous statutes in effect in 1990's (when various relevant doc's were signed by JDL or other fam.) contained same or similar phrasing re prohibited acts. jmo
 
Witnesses to Principal's Sig on Doc's in FL?
PatLaurel said:
@al66pine thank you for the very informative posts!
What about minors witnessing legal documents? CB's underaged daughter witnessed some. MOO
Click to expand...
bbm sbm @PatLaurel :) Thanks for the TY.:D
W a quickie search, re witnessing a princpal's (JDL's) sig on PoA doc in FL, or other 'legal docs,' I did not find any FL statute specifying minimum age for witnesses. Different provisions relate to different types of doc's, per below.
Despite absence of a minimum age in statutes, seems imo having a very young person sign as witness to JDL's signing a 'legal doc' of any kind seems imprudent.
Imagine a question re doc's validity is raised in court, possibly years or decades later. W doc in hand, atty puts a tween on the stand and asks, "On this doc, do you recognize this signature in aqua crayon :eek::oops::rolleyes:o_O as your own at age six and dated as having been signed seven yrs ago ? Did you actually see [name] sign his name on the doc?"

Briefly no minimum age specified for these types of doc's, below.
---FL PoA doc's* "two subscribing witnesses."
-- FL "Instruments concerning real property" ** (e.g., deeds, possibly powers of atty, or trust doc, if the agent or trustee conveys property): "a subscribing witness." [& notary]
-- FL Wills*** "two attesting witnesses."
---Witness in FL Court.**** Up to judge to determine competency of potential witness.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not so briefly. Keep in mind, the statutes below are those currently in effect and may vary from the laws in effect at time (1990's?) the questioned doc's were signed.
* FL Stat. 709.2105 "...execution of power of attorney.—
" (2) A power of attorney must be signed by the principal and by two subscribing witnesses and be acknowledged by the principal before a notary public or as otherwise provided in s. 695.03." bbm
^ Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes : Online Sunshine

** FL Requiremt: Deeds/ Doc's Concerning Real Property to be Recorded (e.g. county recorder's office)
" 695.03 Acknowledgment and proof; validation of certain acknowledgments. —To entitle any instrument concerning real property to be recorded, the execution must be acknowledged by the party executing it, proved by a subscribing witness to it, or legalized or authenticated by a civil-law notary or notary public who affixes her or his official seal, before the officers...." bbm
^ Chapter 695 Section 03 - 2011 Florida Statutes - The Florida Senate

*** FL 732.502 Execution of wills.—
" Every will must be in writing and executed as follows:
(b) Testator's signature ...must be in the presence of at least two attesting witnesses.
(1)(c) Witnesses’ signatures.—The attesting witnesses must sign the will in the presence of the testator and in the presence of each other."
Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes : Online Sunshine

**** Witness in FL Court
"90.601 General rule of competency.—Every person is competent to be a witness, except as otherwise provided by statute.
90.603 Disqualification of witness.—A person is disqualified to testify as a witness when the court determines that the person is:
(1) Incapable of expressing himself or herself concerning the matter in such a manner as to be understood, either directly or through interpretation by one who can understand him or her.
(2) Incapable of understanding the duty of a witness to tell the truth." bbm
^ Chapter 90 - 2012 Florida Statutes - The Florida Senate
 
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Guardian Angel Land Trust Agreement & Affidavit?
PatLaurel said:
@al66pine Thank you again! And you are welcome! :) Here are three examples of what we've been discussing:
12yo Carole's daughter witness
Affidavit DON FORGED SIG- ORI - Record Date 12_30_1992 12_00_00 AM Name_ LEWIS CAROLE - GUARDIAN ANGEL TRUST, Inst. #_ 92293289 Case # - Recpt # - .pdf ...
Click to expand...
@PatLaurel bbm
JMO from info below, my interp: JVM (of whatever age) did not sign as witness, but signed as beneficiary of tr.

A different point: Was the GAL Trust dtd June 6, 1992, then later amended Sept 22, 1992? Briefly:
Affidavit says GAL tr agreemt was dated June 6, 1992 and not amended since.
Last page of GAL Tr agreemt, w subscribing witnesses signed June 6, 1992, and amended Sept 22, 1992.
Then tr agreement was stamped at Dec 30, 1992. Received at recorders ofc? or in court case filing? IDK.

Confusing to me. Which is it? Amended or not? See below & link.
From what I've seen of tr doc's and amendments, there would be several/lots of pages, w last page containing
sig's of tr'ees & benef's, w date, then the jurat block, then notary sig & seal.
If a trust is later amended, one or more page sets forth amendments/provisions, and the last new page has sig block for beneficiaries and trustees, followed by the jurat block and notary sig & seal w amendmt date. Then the two doc's w different dates, taken together, clearly showing both the original provisions and new provisions. The GAL Tr doc does not. Seems unusual imo.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Apologizing for tedious detail here.
Not so briefly: Link relates to GAL Trust, agreement dated June 6, 1992
Page 1 is affidavit, "Prepared by" RA [of GRF, law firm name] Tampa FL.
Dec. 28, 1992, Carole signed as trustee of GAL Tr, stating -
--- she is Tr'ee of GAL Tr dtd June 6, 1992.
--- attached pages are true & complete copy of GAL Tr dtd June 6, 1992.
--- there has been no modification or amendment to tr. since then.
(Carole's) signature is acknowledged by Carole, who showed FL driver lic., per (J.M.?) notary sig & seal.
See below re stamp # 6840-176 at top of page.
Also shows stamp applied vertically, "1992 Dec 30" + time "numbers "92293289"
which may (or may not) be stamp to ID a court case #.
page 1 also shows stamp "Richard Ake, Clerk of Circuit Court of Hillsborough County."

Pages 2-7 are the GAL Tr agreement, dtd June 6, 1992.
Does not identify who preparer was. Did Carole prepare/draft it? IDK.
At top of ea page, stamped sequential numbers (6840-177 et seq) may (or may not) have been made by county recorder's office (or equiv), as often used to show location of book & page #'s when deed or trust is recorded.
Carole signed as Tr'ee. ------------ SKW signed on witness line to Carole's sig-as-Tr'ee.
JVM signed as Beneficiary ----- JDL signed on witness line for JVM sig-as-beneficiary.
Carole signed as Beneficiary---- _blank_
^ Note: "names signed as subscribing witnesses, this 6th day of June, 1992, and amended Sept 22, 1992"
Below that is text of jurat block, dtd Sept 22, 1992, stating that person appearing & signing is known to the notary to be Carole. Followed by SKW notary sig w. seal.
 
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