Okay, I've had deadlines before just like everyone else. In fact, I've had "dead" lines before. Once with a retired district judge that knew his ticket had been called and we did a survey for him for a protrusion of a neighbors deck 3 days before he passed. However, this one is a new one on me.
So, about a month and a half ago, I was retained by a client who I've worked for before. He's elderly and the majority holder in a LARGE estate that is undivided by SEVERAL heirs. He has 2/3 of the estate from his mother and his aunt. The other 1/3 is divided about 30 ways.
So this land is scattered all over South Cherokee County. Some of the blocks are as small as an acre and some are as big as 500 acres. All totaled, it's probably 5,000 acres of land with the largest contiguous spot being 1,500 acres. I'm not working on that one. This one has three tracts that are about 300 acres total.
So two of the 30-something heirs have come into favor with him and he wants them out of the estate. So in this 300 acres, he wanted 50 acres cut off the South end for him (no access but he owns land that adjoins it) and divide the other two. This old retired Army Major is VERY specific in what he wants done. After the preliminary, he wanted to know, after his cut, what was left as it may change how much these folks get (i.e. he may want more of the land). So, he hounds by calling once a week for three weeks. It's hot, I'm busy, yadda yadda yadda, you know the score, right.
So, I told him a week ago that I would have him an answer by Friday of last week. We got the return to the field to search for corners done and on Friday, my only task was to resolve the boundary. Easy enough, the East line is a creek, the South line is by boundary line agreement, the Northwest line is a road, and since he is the adjoining owner on the Northeasterly lines, he told me to use occupation if no corners were found. The fences all fit but there are two locations (maybe) of the division line between two leagues, but that's internal and we are in two mexican grants with this survey.
So, Friday at about 11, I call him. His wife answers (not uncommon) and I explain that I need to speak with him and why. She informs me that he's had a brain anyurism (sp?) and he is in intensive care and unconscious at the moment. Prognosis isn't good at the moment.
I don't know what to say. The only thing I could think to say was "This survey isn't as important as your family. Take a week or two so you can see how things are going to go. Call me then and if it's not good, I'll invoice you for what we've done only and we can go from there." She was very appreciative of the fact that I didn't want any money or have her come in (she wouldn't have anyway) but that she would get with me when things smoothed out a bit.
Anyone else have a project that may be killed due to client illness?
I had a simple lot subdivision just stop from the mother dying of cancer and the daughter trying to get part of the parcel couldn't pay the review fees at the city. By the time she got her finances straight, the mother passed away and the other daughter was named executor of the estate. She didn't want her sister to get the land at all. My client wanted to see if there was any way for her to sue her sister for the land and I told her there wouldn't be much I could help her out with because her mom didn't sign anything and I had only one conversation with her about why I was working on the property and to get input from her on where the division line would be. The whole thing just stopped in it's tracks.
Jason
In the 1980's I signed a contract to do the survey work for an engineering company that was going to develope a small subdivision for an elderly couple on a Friday, intending to begin surveying on Monday. That weekend the couple was murdered by their adult son. The project expired with them and the son went to prison.
About this time last year I saw my sister's father-in-law at a birthday party. He inquired about having me survey 120 acres of wooded mountain land. He had plans to fence the property in the spring and wanted me to wait until mid January to start so that the lines would be freshly marked.
This guy was in his early 50's and was the absolute picture of health in July. By November he'd been diagnosed with a mild heart arrhythmia. December brought a massive stroke and a discovery of esophageal cancer. He was gone a few days before Christmas.
> Anyone else have a project that may be killed due to client illness?
Human clients, no.
However I was working at a firm in the fall of 2008 where about 15% of our projects where with one real estate development firm in D.C. whose equity partner on every single project was Lehman Brothers.
I had two clients from two unrelated farm surveys die unexpectedly within the same week.
One was a sibling in an estate division. The other siblings wanted to meet right after the funeral "since everyone's gonna be in town anyhow".
The Patriarch died in the other one but there were others involved so that one also went on as planned.
Yes, I had a good client who was an engineer for whom I did all his survey work. He died with about $3,000 still outstanding. I wrote a nice letter to his widow, sent it registered mail. That was 2 yrs ago and I do not expect to ever receive payment.
In the meantime, the project died before he died. I don't think they received payment either. I don't exactly know the financial health of his corportation (one man operation), but I'm pretty sure he was upside down on many things. He got real sick the last 6 months or so.
The lesson I learned is approach unhealthy clients with caution. That sounds crass, but business is business.
With a client's passing it is just as loosing a friend or loved on because of the personal connection. There is nothing that we can do to change these happenings.
With surveying, the need for our services can be much of a now or later opportunity. The way you react to the situation is what will be remembered of you. In most cases, when the family has had time to mourn and someone emerges to assume the responsibility to resume partition proceedings, someone will contact you to finish what was started.
The result may be different, however the need for a survey still exists.
Earlier this year, I had a similar situation.
A fellow from the next county over had 2 lots and his friend owned 3 lots beside of him. He made arrangements to have all 5 lots surveyed at the same time.
I completed the work within a couple of weeks and gave him a call. We arranged to meet the following weekend to go over what I had done. He was to call when he would be in town. I did not hear from him, so the next week I mailed all the paperwork to him with a note to call when he was in town. After a month, I sent a second billing notice and received a call from his widow. Apparently he had passed away before the weekend we were to meet.
He had made sure she knew about the survey and that the billing was to be split between him and his friend. She asked if I could contact his friend and get the bill split in order to keep things clear in the estate settlement.
I contacted his friend and sent him a bill for his portion and her a revised bill for only her portion of the survey cost and was paid promptly by both parties.
So, I never actually met the guy in person. Too bad because in our phone conversations, he seemed to be a pretty decent guy.
We were about 2/3rds of the way through a huge topographic survey of a Jewish Community Center (50 arces, ponds, wetland JD boundaries, dozens of buildings and school houses, a creek, parking, etc.) when the project was cancelled because the guy who was going to donate a fortune for expansion suddenly died. I had made the decision to do the roughest areas of site first, which was about 20 acres of thick overgrown brush/woods, the largest of the ponds, and cross sections of the creek. It was litteral the day we finished doing the creek cross-sections, and were looking forward to working in the well maintained areas, that it was cancelled. The company squared up for hourly time spent.
I also remember that job because one day when I was making my way the embankment of the creek, first thing in the morning, an Aligator (smaller one, about 6') jumped off the bank below me and into the creek and swam away. I never saw him laying there. That will get the heart pounding.
Earlier this year, I had a similar situation.
I do not know about Texas, but in Kentucky I would not mess with
any kind of estate with an UNDIVIDED interest. The entire property
needs to be probated before any property changes hands.
Happened to me some years ago -- I was doing a large rural subdivision for a seemingly healthy woman in her 40's who suddenly called and said to hold off due to some "health issues" and who abruptly passed away not long afterward.
Should the worst occur: first, of course, be considerate toward the client's family and friends. But before too long look into the legal requirements for collecting what's owed to you by the estate of the deceased. My late client's attorney called early on and said she wanted to be sure I got paid -- but I didn't, and I later learned that there are particular steps you have to take to collect from an estate. I had erroneously assumed this seemingly friendly attorney was taking them on my behalf. I did end up with maybe 60 cents on the dollar about a year later and I just don't remember the details.
The good news is that (at least here) the Estate's debts have to be settled before its assets can be distributed. But if you're not formally in line, and the Estate is settled, you'll likely get nothing. So be careful. The rules are different from those for most collections (and I suspect they likewise vary from state to state).
