Folks Of Interest Plumber's death left behind 69 cars

Sorry if this has been posted already. I tried the Search function and couldn't find anything.
"The upcoming estate sale of Gerald Willits, a Buena Park man who died in August 2014 and left 69 cars in his yard"

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/willits-677914-cars-estate.html

 

There are a hand full of cars that would appeal to hambers,especially this roadster pickup. HRP

 

Another collection to go on the market. This is likely to be the big news for the next decade. Old guys dying off and leaving stuff that was hardly known about. Wow!

 

Looks like these may have been moved to a p-lot of the CHP or some law enforcement agency. Appear to have fairly current tags.

 

That is one of the most bizarre stories I have read. Just when you think you have heard it all.

 

theres a lot of parallels with my father there...sad story.

 

Mr Willits disinherited his kids so, at moment challenges ongoing. Auction handled by Ken Porter Auctions, of Carson, on Sept 1 - there will be 110 lots up to bid on - includes 3 houses at different locations. sure hope that someone can add more details.

 

I like this one

 

A person has to be of sound mind to create a valid will. The disinherited daughter's attorney will likely point to the 96 will where he left his estate to his already deceased parents as proof that he was deranged, along with what would appear to be an ongoing string of bizarre behaviors. All they have to do is get the will invalidated and she would automatically inherit everything.

FWIW, its not unusual at all for people with mental problems to disinherit their children due to some perceived "wrong" that they obsess over, regardless of how minor it may be.

 

And this story made the local big news which will bring out the lookie loos and their wallets and stupidity.

 

It's also not unusual for children to abandon their parents but hang around like vultures waiting for them to die so they can claim their property.

 

Looks like there are some great projects there! I'll be interested to see what new hotrod projects pop up on the hamb during the first week of September.

Sad, but so often true. I've witnessed it first hand with some aunts and uncles and my grandmother.

 

And sometimes we do not get the real story as the survivors spin it to their benefit. My girlfriends great aunt is in an assisted living facility, the doctors insisted she could not stay on her own when she fell and
was bleeding when the GF's parents found her, and called 911. GF's dad has power of attorney for her
and put her in a very nice facility near his home. The daughter made no attempt to contact her till she
had been in the facility for a year. No one knows what caused their problems but she refuses to allow
any contact with her daughter, and the daughter made only the one attempt to see her. Very sad to see
as the daughter is the only surviving child. The Great Aunt is 97 now and will probably outlive all of us.

 

I hope this turns out OK, but I too have seen how people become vultures in these situations.
The plumber sounds like a likeable fella, just because he kept to his self doesn't make him a nut case.
Guess we can all learn from this, I plan to go out with nothing, I'll give it away beforehand, if I can.

 

pointing the finger at the kids without knowing the background is just as bogus as pointing the finger at the parents without knowing the background.
When my dad wound up damn near dead after a stroke and the dt's a few years back, he had "dis-owned" my brother and I. Why? He didn't appreciate us "interfering" with his boozing...Irony was, that's what damn near killed him. Funny how he had a "change of heart" after that...
Wound up living in my basement suite after after we got him out of the hospital, one condition, no booze in my house (my wife and I don't drink either). Funny thing is, when we moved him in, the Dr. told me he needed to be in a care facility, and not to expect him to live more than 3 months...He lived at my house for more than 3 years before he died of a second stroke... I know, I know, no booze, what a bastard I am.

 

“Our position is that the 1996 will was revoked as a matter of law ... and that the estate should go intestate and that our client, the daughter, the child, will take it all,” said Willits Sanchez’s attorney, Richard J. Pinto of Laguna Niguel. “It’s got to be litigated before it’s determined. ... The court is going to decide. NO, the daughter is NOT going to "take it all", if there are attorneys involved.

 

Boozing is a choice as is no boozing. We have choices. You did good!

 

I don't understand what the government is doing selling off things that it's not yet certain that it's their's to sell. Ownership is being challenged. Don't they have to wait until it's settled? What are they going to do if it turns out the daughter owns everything - buy it back? Give her the value of it? What if she could have taken more time to find buyers, such as listing it on Ebay instead of holding a local auction? What if they sell the car she learned to drive in or the house she grew up in? How can they replace that? Why are they forcing a sale before the heirs are certain? The heirs should decide wether or not they want to keep the items or sell it for the cash. What am I missing?

 

FalconGeorge, there's always more than one side to the story, and it sounds like you gave your Dad a good ending to his life.
The important thing here, was the old plumber was a car guy, and some will become new caretakers of his collection.
When people save/collect these old cars, future generations benefit from it.

 

WSDad has a valid point, but I have a counter-point. It's because they can, and they believe they have the authority to do so. Besides, the state wants the money!

Roger

 

We did. I had already sort of reconciled myself to things, but the real beneficiary was my brother, he REALLY had a lot of un-reconciled issues with my dad, and they finally got a chance to sort that out. Prior to that, I could see that it was so bad, my brother was having health issues that I believed were related to baggage with my dad, afterwards, a lot of my brothers health issues actually cleared up.

 

this is what happens when you die without a valid will. And the Government keeps a very big chunk, much larger than they would otherwise.

 

Me Too!

 

Sad story for sure, but it won't effect the value of the cars. Is there a site that has photos of all the vehicles? Bob

 

Sounds like he had a lawyer at time of death for the "code violations". Surprised he doesn't have a will on file.

The county should just take their 4% and let the daughter handle the sale of the assets.

Interested in the cars, if anyone is going to this sale, please update with pics and anything you bring home.

 

Here is the auction site.
https://www.kenporterauctions.com/vehicle_listing_temp.asp?auctionid=367

 

They've miss by quite a few years on some of the vehicles.

 

I met Mr. Willits about a little over a year ago. I worked for The City of Buena Park and being in Construction Inspection had seen his cars in my travels. Code Enforcement had a case against his property, according to their reports the house was like a hoarders house with no working facilities. I had stood on the roof of my truck to look over his rear fence, they were several late 50's and 60's truck with pipe racks, an old Fire Truck that looked like a roadster from the 20's or 30's and several cars, equipment and some non descrip vehicles (K-cars, VW rabbit etc.)

There was a dumpster in front of his house and the City permit was falling off, I stopped to retape it on, he was sitting in a Ford Escort in the front yard by his Models A's, looked like he was living in it. I introduced myself and of course being from the City he was very suspicious of me at first. I told him that I had a Model A and he told me a few story's about driving his in the City Parades. he siad the A's in the front yard still ran, there was a coupe, 2 tudors and a truck.

 

According to the slide show, they don't even know what a lot of the cars are. Lots of mistakes on identification on there.

 

They're lucky the cars are being auctioned. Around here, the County will sell them for scrap iron.