The Messy affair of Death

Troll Warning! This is a serious topic & if anyone of you smart asses even dare post anything stupid on here I won't hesitate to report you to the admins!I just found out that our next door neighbor has passed away.... nothing special you might say, but there's more....The deceased has a 12 year old illiterate mentally handicapped daughter who's now left to fend for herself.Ten months ago the child's father died due to an illness & now her mother passed away due to a heart attack last night.Now I posted this here because there are a lot of things I could rant about about this but I will do my best to not go into a rage seeing the matter is a complicated & sad affair.To start things off, let me focus on the child's handicap. In most other productive countries there are programs both by Government bodies & Private bodies that aim to give aid/assistance to the families of handicapped (both for physical &/or mental handicaps) so they can function as a part of society albeit them needing understanding & acceptance from everyone around them.Unfortunately our country is severely lacking in such programs & the few that are available cost money, which is why some even consider having Autism (as an example) is a "rich man's sickness". People who can't afford to send their children to special education schools are often left with a very harsh choice..... not even giving basic education to their handicapped kids. Worse, a whole lot of people here still consider having a handicapped child/ren as a disgrace & in extreme cases they just keep their child/ren hidden from the public for fear of disgrace. Yes I know that mindset is so fucked up but there are still those who go even further as chaining their child/ren & locking them in cages so as to avoid the child/ren from harming others.Our neighbor is one of those low to no income families who are depending on Government aid to have a meal on their table each day and now that the child is orphaned we fear for her well being.Sadder still is the fact that the child has no close to kin who will take care of her & add to that what I mentioned earlier about how a few people here consider the handicapped & well you see the picture.Freaky thing though is that the kid seems to be alright, that is she's not fazed that her mother just died, maybe because she sees the world differently so to speak.The discovery of the mother's death came to everyone's surprise too. The family lives in a compound, a group of three small houses in one lot of land that the deceased didn't actually own. Say what!? You might say now & I tell you guys this is a bit difficult for me to explain as well. Basically the family of the deceased (now only consisting of the kid) is kind of Squatting on said piece of land, but they squatted to protect the lot's true owners. See the lot was owned by one of the kid's father's relatives & they were allowed to build a house on the lot to keep their other relatives to lay claim to the lot.Another confusing bit of detail coming up....In the subdivision we live in most land owners do not actually have houses & are not living in the lots they own. They keep the deeds as frozen assets. And those who have an inkling of inheritance & financial affairs do know the up coming problems the kid might face in the not so distant future....Back to my story about the family & the lot... they (the family of the kid) were asked by the father's relative to build a house on the lot & were given the deed to the lot so that the father's other greedy relatives can not lay claim to the lot. This arrangement was going well until 2005 when someone came here claiming that they bought the lot from one of the father's relatives & the family was about to be thrown out. There was a brief legal proceeding & the family of the kid won. To "strengthen" their claim of the lot the mother allowed two of her distant relatives to build small houses of their own on the lot.My Godmother told me that the body was discovered by one of their compound mates when said compound mate was calling for the kid's mother so their laundry can be brought into the house. The compound mate was calling for the mother & was answered by the kid. The kid told the mate that her mother was fast asleep & she can't seem to wake her. The mate then went to the bedroom were both mom & daughter sleep & when the mate tried to shake the mom to awaken her the mate noticed the mom did not budge & was stiff & already cold to touch. The kid then entered the room & told the mate to not disturb her mom as she's sleeping.This whole matter is so dis-heartening & I fear for the child's fate.

I dont think many people can add to this...

Would any of these charities be able to help her? Are there literally no charities at all that will take care of her? What about religious charities?

isn't it usual to have a will to state what should happen to your children/property/assets when you die?

Low income families wouldnt usually create a will would they? the lawyer would cost money and most wouldnt have much to will away so they'd never bother. If anything someone may have made a verbal contract to care for the child a while back.

Cahos Rahne Veloza · #1they (the family of the kid) were asked by the father's relative to build a house on the lot & were given the deed to the lot

So you mean, technically, the kid's father is now the owner of the lot?

Sorry for the late reply guys, anyway...

damanali · #6So you mean, technically, the kid's father is now the owner of the lot?

Technically the deed of the lot is owned by the father's relative but the father was tasked to hold onto it.

Loonylion · #4isn't it usual to have a will to state what should happen to your children/property/assets when you die?

Nitemare_ Plague · #5Low income families wouldnt usually create a will would they? the lawyer would cost money and most wouldnt have much to will away so they'd never bother. If anything someone may have made a verbal contract to care for the child a while back.

Sad to say loony Mitternacht is right, lawyers cost money & the kid's parents simply could not afford one. And to be honest, only the very affluent can afford lawyers here as public attorneys who charge little to no fees are scarce. Because of this I'm about to rant about another matter...Unfortunately in this country, those who do pursue the most important professions do so for the money... err, let me rephrase that. People who pursue a career in medicine (doctors & nurses) & Education (teachers) often do so to get a job abroad where the big bucks are leaving our country's hospitals & schools &severely lacking man power. Who could blame them? The pay here isn't good enough? And with public school & hospital facilities in a dismal state, who'd really want to? Those Doctors & teachers who can not go abroad then choose to work for affluent & renowned Private Hospitals &/or schools.OK, so now you might ask, "Aren't all Private Schools &/or hospitals preppy & renowned?". Well in this country, no. Yes there are very expensive & renowned Private schools & hospitals here whose services are top notched but again, only the affluent or at least upper, upper class men can afford it. This is probably the first time you'll hear this but here we have middle class Private firms (schools &/or hospitals) & lower class Private firms whose state is almost similar to public firms but cost a little bit extra.As an example, the Pre-school *slash* Elementary school *slash* High School I went to is an example of a middle class Private school. To be honest, the quality of Education that defunct school offered is just a wee bit above what a Public school has to offer. For example during our time, that is the era I was in grade school to High school, that school was one of the very first who offered a computer literacy subject. Nowadays even Public schools offer computer literacy as part of their curriculum but back then it was considered a minor privilege.With hospitals, it's also the same the better the services they offer, the higher the price tag.And since a majority of the populace is middle to no income families, all of them cram into public schools &/or hospitals as they're cheaper.It's really a dismal state when the majority of the populace all want to work abroad for higher income living the country severely in need of man power.

markswan · #3Would any of these charities be able to help her? Are there literally no charities at all that will take care of her? What about religious charities?

So OK, being the nosy Mary that she is my Godmom convinced the compoundmate who discovered the mom's body to serve as the kid's legal guardian, it's either that or the kid might get sent to an orphanage for special kids. Sounds fine unless you put the matter of the claim for the land/lot into the picture. Now before I go on let me clear up a few more things.The compound mate as I said is one of the mom's distant relatives, how distant you might ask? She's the niece of the mom's cousin making her not close of kin for the child. Close of kin here is defined as relatives of the first degree that is your parents, brothers, sisters, cousins, nephews & nieces. A cousin of your cousin therefor is of second degree & a niece/nephew of said cousin is of third degree.By the way, the concept of Godparents is also revered here in that in most cases if a child's parents die the Godparents will be given the right to be the child's legal guardian if no other relative of close kin is available to take care of the orphaned child.As I said, the lot is owned by the father's relative though I'm uncertain of what degree relations they are, & that said relative made the father hold onto the deed for the lot. Now that both parents are dead the deed to the lot could stir a major family argument & with the sole inheritor still a minor with a handicap she might lose any right to the lot displacing her & the others who are living on it.Another complication to the matter is the say in the matter of the father's relative who owns the lot. We are uncertain of the relative's whereabouts & if at all he's still living. If he's already dead as well, what of his wishes for the ownership of the lot? One thing we are certain of as of now is that the father's other relatives are itching to grab the land.As for the kid's welfare, she is the mom's primary beneficiary for her Social Security death insurance incentives but other than that....Anyway, I'll tell my Godmom about this list you gave my Mark & we'll see if any of them can help out.

the way things work here is in the absence of a will the property and possesions go into probate, which means they become owned by the state while someone (I believe appointed by the state) works out what to do with them. in the event of living children the property gets divided up between the children.

Replying to #9

I think that's how things work in the U.S. as well.Here however it doesn't, which is why you'd often see a lot of old houses that become dilapidated over time due to neglect as the successors to the houses/lots are never traced.But there are cases though where the inheritors never get traced & a new outside owner surfaces. In these cases I'm guessing the land/lot is reclaimed by the Government or banks & is redistributed to prospective buyers. I just wish someone can confirm this as I'm not really well versed in these matters.

Replying to #10

In theory thats how it works in the US. In practice, not necessarily.

Cahos Rahne Veloza · #8Technically the deed of the lot is owned by the father's relative but the father was tasked to hold onto it.

so it was not properly transferred. we had the same issue with my grandmother gave a ancestral home to my mom so that my grandma's "husband" can't sell it when the time comes that she dies.Then she tried to get it back, but the problem is, she forgot that she legally given it by way of donation and registered it to the city land registry and well, my grandma has no legal claims to it anymore.If the kid's dad, got the land thru donation and it was registered legally, then now, the kid gets the land. But if she is a minor, the government will find the nearest relative to be her guardian until she is legally capable to administer her property. But since she is mentally incapable, her guardian will be the one to help her administer her property.Here is my theory on what will happen to the kid.-The Government will try find her closest relatives to become her guardians. If none, she will be sent to DSWD to be put for adoption. If no one will adopt her, then she will stay in DSWD until she is 18. After that, she is released, If she is mentally incapable to live on her own, she will be sent to an institution to help her or a non-profit org will try and take care of her.In the meantime, she will be under the care of the barangay officials. Its there duty. After that, she will be sent to DSWD.

Replying to #12

And this scenario is what we are fearing for her actually. I mean we do know what really happens to patients admitted to mental institutions here right? In other countries people admitted to a mental institution is cared for & properly treated, here on the other hand....