Woman, grandchildren in legal dispute over property

GALVESTON - A Santa Fe woman and her grandchildren are embroiled in a legal dispute over local real property.

June R. Curry claims Joshua and Maranda Curry fraudulently obtained the deed to 4917 Ave. H in Santa Fe, a lawsuit filed Nov. 17 in Galveston County District Court says.

According to the original petition, the defendants expressed their desire of becoming homeowners to the plaintiff, suggesting she should give them the title to her homestead in exchange for around the clock care and comfort for the rest of her life.

The couple, who reportedly lacked an education and a well-paying job, lived with the complainant for a year, all the while continuously asking her to turn the home over to them.

"Their insistence and her need for care brought on by a mild stroke and her temporary loss of her son's care created a stressful and emotional need to have someone to help her," the suit says.

Court papers further explain the respondents acted upon their grandmother's wish to go on a sentimental journey to New Orleans in October 2010.

They say "more emotional pressure was applied," and after the trip, June R. Curry was successfully talked into signing the deed over to her grandson and granddaughter-in-law.

The plaintiff alleges the grandchildren refused to allow her son to live in the home as well as informed her that she would have to pay for her own food and expenses, which apparently was contradictory to the respondents' promises.

"After heated discussions, they announced that they were leaving and she would have to pay her bills anyway she could," the suit says.

It adds the complainant received financial help from her other children and other grandchildren and insists Joshua Curry is asking for $5,000 to have him and his wife live with her again.

Attorney Thomas C. Knickerbocker of Nassau Bay is representing June R. Curry.

Galveston County 122nd District Court Judge John Ellisor is presiding over the case.

Case No. 11-cv-1826