March 13, 2008...11:13 am
McMillon v. Lost Cherokee of Arkansas and Missouri, Inc. — Probate Case
Strange little case involving the Lost Cherokee of Arkansas and Missouri, Inc. — here is the opinion, which will be published in the Southwest Reporter. From the majority opinion:
This appeal arises from a petition to clarify a will filed by First State Bank in which it asked the court to clarify several issues, including whether the references in the will of Opal Gefon to “savings and checking account” and “remainder of my savings and checking” included the cash located in the decedent’s safety deposit box. Appellants, heirs of the decedent Opal Gefon, assert only one point of error on appeal: The trial court was clearly erroneous in finding that appellee Lost Cherokee of Arkansas and Missouri, Inc. was entitled to the $226,000 in cash located in the decedent’s safety deposit box at the time of her death. We find no error and affirm.
The dissent seems to have a point:
The majority affirms the trial court’s decision that the phrases “checking and savings account” and “remainder of my savings and checking” in a holographic will included $226,000 in cash that was stored in the testator’s safe-deposit box. I would reverse because those phrases can only be reasonably interpreted to dispose of the contents of the testator’s banking accounts and because the trial court’s interpretation of the provisions of the will runs contrary to Arkansas law defining “safe-deposit box” and “account .”
This non-recognized tribe has at least petitioned for federal recognition, see 64 Fed. Reg. 67585. They’ll need the quarter million.
4 Comments
April 24, 2008 at 1:24 am
actually - I think that you have confused two different groups –
1) the Lost Cherokee of Arkansas and Missouri, Inc.
2) the Lost Cherokee Tribe of Arkansas and Missouri
I believe that it is the ‘tribe’ that is in the process of applying for recognition —
and that there is some sort of legal struggle between the two entities
just a heads up if you want to pursue this further — the ‘tribe’ has a web page which list some legal correspondence regarding the conflict
May 4, 2008 at 4:10 pm
I personally believe that the court proceedings and findings in the Opal Gefon case were deeply flawed from the start. Mrs. Gefon’s relatives had expressed that she had a long empathy for American Indians and they way they had been treated. The Lost Cherokee did not enter into the equation until the attorney who drew up the will for her placed them in the documents. Prior to this, Mrs. Gefon had never heard of the group. A decent forensic psychological study would have shown Mrs. Gefon’s true intent. There is a strong possibility that the attorney involved was a member of the Lost Cherokee or had family members who belonged to the organization. There is no doubt that the attorney exercised undue influence in getting the Lost Cherokee included in the will. There is a also the same possibility that exists for the judge that heard the original case. Hundreds of families in the area had been signed up for the Lost Cherokee during that organization’s fraudulent OIE Title VII scam with local school districts. Unfortunately, this leaves subsequent hearings such as the Appeal Court decision in the realm of being flawed also. A great injustice has been done.
May 4, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Re: Carol’s 24 April comments:
The two groups of the Lost Cherokee did not split until after the exposure to the OIE Title VII scam and the Lost Cherokee came under federal investigation. At the time of Mrs. Gefon’s will being formed, they were still together. This split caused third faction to be formed, the “Lost Cherokee Oversight Committee”, headed by Doyle Turner of Palo Cedro, California. Both Bishop’s faction in Conway and Maxwell’s faction out of Dover have fought over which group should receive the Gefon windfall.
A fourth group, calling itself the “Arkansas Cherokee Nation, aka the Chickamauga Cherokee of Arkansas“, has recently split off within the past few months and is actively soliciting other LCN members to join it. This group is also headquartered in Conway, AR, the location of Bishop’s faction.
May 27, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Lets not confuse the Arkansas Cherokee Nation with
Bishop. This group was started because Bishop Conned folks out of their money so he and his cronies could live high on the hog and spend money how they want. The Arkansas Cherokee Chiefs have met with the IRS, FBI and Submitted information to the Arkansas Attorney General about the illegal activities of Bishop. Watch for future turn of events on these criminals. The Arkansas Cherokee Nation is a legitimate group trying to help the Cherokee people of Arkansas and is no way connected with Bishop or his cronies.
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