webshells.com/nwuco Forum
webshells.com/nwuco Forum
| Author | Jeff Tucker |
| Date | 15/10/03/12:32 |
| Hit Count | 2379 |
| www.chieftain.com
Bishops earn victory in dispute ‘Castle Church for the Redemption of the Office Bishop’ not a legal trust BY JEFF TUCKER THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN Jim Bishop and his family scored a victory recently in their efforts to reclaim and secure their family legacy. A district judge in El Paso County ruled in favor of the Bishops in their civil suit, filed to reassert possession of the famous castle Bishop spent his life building, stone-by-stone, in Custer County. District Court Judge Marla Prudek ruled Friday that David Merrill had failed to respond to claims the Bishops made in their case and that Merrill’s counterclaim against the Bishops also failed to do so. Jim and Phoebe Bishop filed a suit in June against Merrill, claiming that he falsified documents and fooled the Bishops into thinking they were conveying the castle into a trust to take advantage of favorable tax conditions. Instead, the trust never existed and the Bishops were coerced into deeding the property to Merrill personally, as a trustee to the nonexistent :Castle Church for the Redemption of the Office Bishop." The suit claimed that Merrill drew up fake documents suggesting a trust had been formed when he did nothing of the sort. The suit claims Merrill then furthered his fraud by convincing the Bishops, who were suffering from the effects of Jim Bishop's cancer treatment, to sign the warrantee deeds. Based on Merrill's refusal to actually respond to the Bishops' claims, Prudek ordered that the allegations are true and invalidated the warranty deeds. Furthermore, the ruling prevents Merrill from acting as a trustee for the castle or even setting foot on the grounds. He isn't allowed to assert any authority over the castle, access any of its files or change the name of the property with the San Isabel Electric Corp. The order also awards the Bishops coast and attorney's fees and the Bishop's daughter Donita Bishop said Thursday that they reach into the $20,000 range. The problem is that the Bishops must pay those bills first before restitution is awarded, she said. So a meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. today at Pikes Peak Harley-Davidson in Colorado Springs to come up with potential fundraising options to pay off the bills. In the meantime, the family is working on crafting the legal framework to keep Bishop's Castle in the family. Donita said the Castle will eventually be put into her brother Daniel's name so that the Bishop legacy is protected. |