New motion to remove estate guardian emerges
Above: Attorney Bryan C. Thompson
By Cash Michaels
For The Chronicle
The Chronicle has reviewed yet another court motion to have Winston-Salem attorney Bryan C. Thompson “immediately” removed and “prohibited from acting … ” as estate guardian by the family of another ward whose financial assets he was allegedly appointed to manage by the Forsyth Clerk of Court’s Office.
The family charges that Thompson does not have the legal authority to do so.
The motion, filed Nov. 24, 2015 in Forsyth County Superior Court, similar to the one reported on last week in the matter of the estate of Steven Epperson, is on behalf of Betsy Love Taylor and William H. Love in the matter of their sibling, Archie W. Love. Jr.
And again, attorney Reginald Alston of Winston-Salem is representing.
According to a copy of the motion obtained by The Chronicle, Archie W. Love Jr. was adjudicated to be incompetent in 1982 by the District of Columbia, even though he “was residing in North Carolina … ” at the time of the D.C. action.
Some time after, attorney Bryan Thompson filed a Petition for Adjudication of Incompetence “against” Mr. Love in North Carolina through the Forsyth Clerk’s Office, even though, according to the motion, Thompson was “ … not related to or in any way connected … ” to Archie Love.
However, according to the motion, “there is not a properly file stamped Order of Incompetence … ” for Archie Love, nor an “Order appointing Bryan Thompson guardian of the estate, nor Order Authorizing Issuance to Letters … ” to Attorney Thompson. Thompson’s “ … Application for Letters of Guardianship of the Estate is not properly file stamped” as well, the court motion alleges.
In effect, as reported repeatedly in almost every story The Chronicle has reported regarding allegations of “pattern and practice” between Attorney Thompson and the Forsyth Clerk’s Office, if orders generated by the Clerk’s Office are not properly file stamped and initialed, as prescribed by state statutes and established N.C. Rules of Civil Procedure, then they are considered “legally invalid.”
In addition, the motion alleges Thompson was appointed guardian by the Clerk’s Office “ … prior to the filing of an Order of Incompetence.”
“Bryan Thompson never had legal authority to act as guardian of the estate,” the Love siblings’ motion contends, “ … and in doing so violated a fiduciary duty in managing the estate to generate commissions for himself and not in the best interest … ” of Archie Love.
Based on this alleged sequence of events, the Love siblings’ Nov. 24 motion petitioned the court for an “Emergency Removal … ” of Attorney Thompson, pursuant to state law, as estate guardian to “ … prevent further injury to the ward’s estate.”
“ … All siblings of Archie W. Love Jr. agree that Betty Taylor Love should be appointed as his General Guardian,” the motion continues.
Betty Love Taylor and William Love are petitioning Forsyth Superior Court not only to remove Thompson and officially appoint Ms. Taylor as the estate guardian, but also to provide “For such other and further award as the Court deems justified,” if appropriate.
At press time Tuesday, The Chronicle was in the process of obtaining a copy of Attorney Thompson’s response to the Love siblings’ motion, and no hearing date had been set.
Meanwhile, a hearing on the Steven Epperson motion to also have Thompson removed as estate guardian because of allegations the attorney illegally obtaining over $44,000 on behalf of Epperson, was scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 16. The Chronicle will report on those proceedings, and Thompson’s response to those allegations, in subsequent reports.
