Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 21, 1992 TAG: 9203210242
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: David M. Poole Staff Writer
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Short
Included was a $120,000 note on a house Mayne had sold to Flora.
"At my demise, unless I have a wife, the property becomes yours," Mayne wrote to Flora.
An attorney for Flora says the handwritten instructions are evidence that Mayne intended that Flora would not have to repay the debt if Mayne died.
But two of Mayne's children disagree. Martha Anne Mayne of Mesa, Ariz., and John Laurence Mayne of Pinckney, Mich., filed suit last month, seeking to force Flora to repay the debt to a trust fund set up by their father.
Flora's attorney, Eric Ferguson of Rocky Mount, recently filed a motion in Franklin County Circuit Court asking for the dismissal of the lawsuit filed by Mayne's children.
At issue is a provision in the 1988 mortgage that said Flora would not have to repay the $120,000 debt if Mayne was married at the time of his death.
Paul M. Black of Roanoke, the attorney for Mayne's children, said the forgiveness provision did not apply because Mayne was widowed at the time of his death in December 1991. Circuit Judge B.A. Davis will be asked to decide whether Mayne's handwritten letter has any bearing on Flora's obligation to repay the note.
Complicating the matter is the fact that Flora is both debtor and trustee to Mayne's trust fund. The two men were friends.
Davis has not set a trial date.
by CNB