02x20 - Family Woes

[bunniefuu]

-This is your mother?
-Yes, ma'am.

She took care of you since you got
out of jail, and for you to cut her off.

Look at your mother.
You're only going to have one mother.

[Narrator] This is Judy Justice.

Nancy Castleman is suing her son,
Danny Horath, and his fiancée,

Trinity Wilson, for living expenses,
stolen property, and vet bills.

-[Bailiff] Court come to order. All rise.
-Have a seat, please.

Hello, Judge. Case number 2049.
Castleman versus Jorge Watson.

-Thank you.
-You're welcome.

Mr. Horath, this is your mother?

-Yes, ma'am.
-And this is your girlfriend?

-My fiancee, yes, ma'am.
-Is she divorced?

-She's widowed.
-Since when?

-June 6.
-Of what year?

-2022.
-Well, let me understand this.

Prior to you being a widow,
you were involved with Mr. Horath.

-Were you divorced?
-I was going through a divorce.

-Okay. And then he passed away?
-Yes.

Mr. Horath, in 2013,
you were incarcerated. How long?

-Five years.
-And you have two little girls?

Yes, ma'am.

When you were incarcerated...
were the children

living with you
prior to being incarcerated?

-Yes.
-They were living with you?

-Yes.
-When you went to prison,

was there any reason the children

-didn't go with their mother?
-She left them with my mother.

So your mother obtained
custody of your children nine years ago?

-Yes.
-And raised them?

-Yes.
-You got out of prison when?

September 2017.

And when you got out of prison,
your mother invited you

-to come and live in her house.
-Yes.

-Yes, ma'am.
-Who else lives in her house?

-My grandmother.
-Who I understand from these papers

-is suffering from...
-Alzheimer's.

Alzheimer's. So your mother was taking
care of her mother and your two daughters?

-Yes.
-So your fiancée now,

who looks as if she's expecting a child,

was your mother's next door neighbor?

-Yes.
-And you became involved with her when?

End of October 2020...
er, 2019. I'm sorry.

And when you became involved with her,
you have two children?

-Yes.
-You invited her,

with your mother's permission,

to move into your
mother's house with her two children?

-Yes, ma'am.
-We did agree that

she could move in
and stay in the... in our guest...

Had you been living in the house
by yourself with the two girls?

-Yes, I had.
-How large, your house, is it?

It's pretty good.
Decent size.

It's, uh... it was 1980 sq. ft.,

now expanded out another 800.
So, quite... five bedroom, three baths.

-How do you support yourself?
-I own my own business. I'm a nurse.

Due to the fact of taking care
of my granddaughters and my

and my parents at the time,
I had to resign from Fort Irwin,

working there because of the...
couldn't commit to the hours.

So, because of that, I went ahead and got
my own business of doing home infusions.

And that started right
before the pandemic, and so...

I work a lot.

Anybody help you
take care before they moved in?

Anybody help you
take care of the girls and your mother?

-No, it was me.
-Now, what kind of work do you do?

-I'm a truck driver.
-And you?

-Nursing student and mother.
-So, you don't work?

-No.
-How do you support yourself?

Um, I was going to school, and...

Well, supporting yourself
doesn't go to school unless you were

getting money for going to school.

Were you getting money
for going to school?

-Yes
-From whom?

-From financial aid.
-How much?

Um, maybe like $800, $900 a month.

And this was before I was
living with Danny and Nancy.

And after you moved in
with Danny and Nancy?

I was helping her
take care of her mother, and she was...

her VA was paying me to take care of her.

She was getting the veterans' aid,
and then I gave her

that extra money to help out
with my mom and those expenses.

And then currently, I'm taking care
of our young son we have together.

So, you have a child together
and expecting another one?

-Yes.
-So, then you'll have four children.

You... correct?

And you will have four children.

I will have four children, yeah.

Sounds as if your mother
did some very nice things for you.

Yes, ma'am.

Sounds as if Ms. Castleman
did some very nice things for you.

-Yes.
-Why do you think she's suing you?

Out of anger.

Mr. Horath, why would she
be angry at either one of you?

Because we decided that we were going
to go ahead off and do our own thing,

and she was no longer
included in being part of that.

-Like what?
-Well, being part of a family or unit.

Once my grandmother's health declined and
she went to a facility, there was no more

communication about anything that
was going on around the house anymore.

[Judge Judy]
I don't know what you mean by that.

Your fiancée's arrangement was
that she was being paid by the VA

-to take care of your grandmother.
-Yes.

And then your grandmother,
according to you,

-had to go into a facility.
-Yes.

Which means your fiance isn't
getting any more payment from the VA.

-Correct.
-Now, you're working.

-You drive a truck.
-Yes.

Were you contributing
towards the running of the household?

Oh, of course. Yes.

-How much?
-Whatever needed to be paid.

-No, tell me what you paid.
-I paid the Edison. Half the Edison?

-Well, that's not a set amount.
-I paid $300 a month.

Well, that's an amount. So, you
paid $300 a month towards Con Edison.

-Yes, ma'am.
-What else did you pay?

-We paid for the trash.
-How much was the trash?

$50 a month.

-What else?
-I paid for the food.

-For who?
-For our family.

Well, for all of you or just for you,
your fiancée, and the four children?

And my grandmother, yes.
And my grandmother. And Nancy, too.

-Not for me.
-[Judge Judy] Shh. Don't speak.

She would come over and have
dinner with us quite often,

and I would make
her meals and send them to her.

What you're saying is, because I read when
you said she would come over for dinner,

there came a time when there were an
awful lot of people living in the house.

And your mother,
because it was so crowded, moved into

a trailer on the premises,
and you moved into the master suite.

-Is that correct?
-Yes, it is.

-Say "thank you, Mom."
-Thank you.

-Thank you.
-Thank you, Nancy.

Now, did you pay for
anything else that you're not telling me?

Yes, we paid for the Internet.

-Their Internet.
-[Judge Judy] Shh!

-For your own Internet?
-Yes.

I'm talking about expenses for the house.
I assume the mortgage was paid off.

-Is that what you wrote here?
-Danny did pay for the property taxes.

Okay, well,
then that was my next question.

Property taxes,
did you pay for any of that?

-Yes.
-How much did you pay?

-It was $1,264 a year.
-Anything else?

Remodeling expenses
that we did to the home.

I know it was expanded,

-and it was expanded after you were there.
-Yes.

Yes. And do you know how much
the remodeling expenses were?

The additions were done
before I came home,

but everything else was
added to when we were living there.

-Like what?
-Um...

The pellet stove had went out,
so we bought a new one.

Oh, that's... I'm not interested.

-Okay.
-I'm not interested in that.

I'm talking about regular.
So, let me get to my trusty computer.

We have $300 a month for Con Ed,
so I don't even have to do that.

I could do 1,264.
Everybody who knows me

knows I'm a little challenged
with regard to these things.

Divided by twelve equals $105 a month.

And $300 a month for Con Ed
and $50 for trash is five... five...

So you paid, in total...
the expenses that you told me...

$455 a month
for living in a five bedroom house.

I'm just setting the stage for this.

You paid $455 a month for
living in a five bedroom house,

and your mother moved out
to live in a trailer so that you could

be in the master suite with your fiancée,
a new baby, and one on the way.

-Those are the objective facts I have.
-Okay.

Now, so I asked you... because
your mother is suing for a lot of stuff,

and I don't understand why
somebody would take this approach

when she was
nothing but good to both of you.

You screwed up your life.

She got stuck raising your
two children, working full time,

and taking care of a sick mother.
You... what,

you go to school
and you're a full time mother,

but that's very nice. But she's not
your mother. She's not your grandmother.

She's nobody to you.
She took you in and your two children.

What do you think you did to
make her so angry that she would sue you?

-I'm curious.
-I honestly don't know.

Well, you started to tell me
that you moved on because she

ultimately gave you notice to leave.

We actually gave her notice we were
leaving, and that's when all that started.

Okay. Did you also tell your
mother that you wanted to buy the house?

-Yes, I did. Yes, I did.
-Okay, well, that started the trouble.

-And your mother's response was...?
-"Of course."

-She said okay.
-And what happened?

I went and applied for a loan.

They told me that I did not
meet the criteria for the loan.

I said, "Okay, that's fine.
What about a rent-to-own, option-to-buy?"

And she said okay.
We try to get a real estate

agent to go ahead
and write out the contract.

At that point in time,
she wanted to move another one of her

nurses onto the property
into the trailer that she was living in.

I did not feel comfortable with a stranger
living on our property. I don't know them.

I don't want them around my children.
I don't know who they are.

And if I'm going to be buying a home,
I wouldn't want to...

You're not buying anything.
You were renting.

With the option to buy.

I want to buy the home,
and then when I go back to apply

for the loan in a year,
I'm going to buy the home.

[Judge Judy] Maybe. Maybe not.
Mr. Horath, so, so far,

you see, you have somebody
who has done all things to make your life,

which you screwed up
a little bit, more comfortable.

Takes you in.
Takes your girls in.

Takes your girlfriend in.
Takes your girlfriend's kids in.

Allows you to have more
latitude and more freedom by moving

herself out of her own home,

which is totally paid off, into a trailer
so that you could be more comfortable.

And she said,
'you want to buy the house? Fine.'

You couldn't get a loan.
'Well, could I rent to buy?'

She says, okay, but she's still a working
person as opposed to your fiancée.

You ratified the gift by buying her
something that could only be

utilized with that machine,
so I'm not interested in the machine.

Could we move forward, please? I have
seven years of postgraduate education.

I'm getting very tired of this case.

[Narrator] Nancy Castleman
claims her son, Danny Horath,

and his fiancée, Trinity Watson, owe
for living expenses and stolen property.

Danny and Trinity say they
always pay their share of the bills.

Okay. Now, she's still a working person,
and she said,

'I would like to move one of my nurses.'

She's not talking about
moving in some sex offender into a trailer

next to her grandchildren,
who she's raised.

I wouldn't see what your problem is with
that, but that's neither here nor there.

So, that started
an acrimonious separation.

I'm not going to rent the house
because I'm not going to allow

you to move somebody that I don't know...
I'm not even going to meet them...

somebody that I don't know into
the trailer. Where are you living now?

We have our own home now
because we didn't agree with...

we didn't want to live with her nurse.

Just a second.
I said, the question is where is

-your own home?
-In Helena.

Is that where she lives?

-Near.
-How near?

-Ten miles up the road.
-And when did you move there?

-July 14.
-How big a house?

-It's a three bedroom, three bath.
-Who owns the house?

-We're renting.
-And how much are you paying in rent?

$2,500.

So, you got a smaller house at
five times what you were paying her.

Is that what I'm hearing?
You paid $455 monthly to your mother.

We also paid her van payment,
but we also used the van.

-Her van payment, it was $900 a month.
-Did you use the van?

-Yes.
-Good.

-We used it to also take her mother to...
-Did you use the van?

Yes.

For you and your children
and his children?

-Yes.
-Okay, good.

So, I want to know,
if she's right down the road

and she was good to you for a decade,

why is she not included
with your family anymore?

She chose not to be.

-Really?
-Yeah. She wants to work all the time.

When we invite her to do things
or family functions or church functions,

she would never come.

[Judge Judy] Well, you say "never."
You just moved out a month ago.

This is prior to us moving out.
We haven't talked to her since we moved.

You mean prior to you moving out,
you would invite her?

What you said was... could you read
that back? "She's working all the time."

I just want to know
if that's what he said.

He said, "Yeah,
she wants to work all the time.

When we invite her to do things or
church functions, she would never come."

Okay. Unpaid
living expenses, electric bill.

All right, let's get to the electric bill.
Said he paid $300 a month.

What does owe for
the electric bill and for what months?

I was on a level pay plan every month,
and it went up higher.

The rates have increased in
the past year, so that was $900.

It was one $1,800, the bill that came out.

So, it actually
increased over the last year.

And I have copies of that,
so I asked for them to pay half.

Did they ever pay the extra money?

-No.
-Okay. And they continued to live there?

-That just came up in May, yes.
-Well, then, I'm not interested in that.

Go ahead. What else?
What are the living expenses?

Well, the other electric bill,
they were still there.

-They didn't pay for that one.
-Which one?

-The one from June to July.
Were you there in June, July?

Yes, ma'am, and I have

-evidence that I did pay.
-Okay. I'd like to see it.

-He paid three. Not the whole amount.
-[Judge Judy] Shh. Shh.

-No, I did pay.
-Just let me see that you paid it.

-June 19. $600.
-That was not for this electric bill.

-No, it was for Edison.
-[Judge Judy] It says Con Edison.

-Yes.
-There was another bill that still needed.

-It was, like, $723 that he owed...
-I don't care.

He paid $600 in June of 2022.

You have vet bills here and
personal items taken without permission.

Now, the personal
items taken without permission...

you took some of her things.

What did you take
that didn't belong to you?

-Nothing.
-Well, you acknowledged that you did.

You acknowledged
that either you or your fiancée

took things that didn't belong to you.

You said you returned them,
but you took them.

They were packed by other
family members that were helping us pack.

And? So, they were taken
without her permission.

-Yes.
-By your agents.

By people who were helping you, so
they were your agents. What was taken?

-I guess there was a g*n.
-Not guess. I don't want to hear "guess."

-There was a g*n that was packed.
-Okay. Did you get the g*n back?

-I got the g*n back next day.
-It was returned, yes.

What else?

-That's as far as I know.
-What else was missing?

-The a*mo.
-[Judge Judy] The ammunition for the g*n.

-I don't have any ammunition.
-I wouldn't have a g*n without a*mo.

Well, go and look for it.

-What else?
-Kitchen-Aid machine.

-What is that?
-A kitchen aid for mixing and making...

I bought that for my mom. They took that.

That was given to us by my grandmother
because she can no longer bake...

or actually given to her
because she bakes.

And, um, she even...
for Mother's Day, she even...

Nancy bought... her and Granny, her
mother... Nancy bought me the attachment.

It makes pasta for the Kitchen-Aid...
for Mother's Day.

So, she was aware that her mother
gave me, when she moved to the facility,

-that she gave me the, um...
-Oh, she moved to a facility.

She can't make a gift. If she's moving
to a facility because she has Alzheimer's,

she can't make a gift.

-Okay.
-I have power of attorney over her.

[Judge Judy] Shh!

Now, if what you're telling me
is that you did take it

and that the plaintiff sort of
ratified that by buying you

an attachment for it
for Mother's Day, that I'll ask her about.

-Okay.
-Now, Ms. Castleman,

listen to me very carefully.

Did you buy Ms. Watson, around
Mother's Day, a pasta attachment

-for the Kitchen-Aid.
-Yes, ma'am, I did.

For my mom...
with my mom...

because they were
supposed to be cooking together.

[Judge Judy] No. No.

You bought an attachment for it.
And if you buy

an attachment, that was a gift, correct?

-Yes, ma'am.
-And you made the gift.

You handed the gift to whom?

-To Trinity.
-Right.

So, even if your mother
didn't have the mental capacity

you could have argued
to make a gift and it was yours,

you ratified the gift
by buying her something

that could only
be utilized with that machine.

So, I'm not interested in the machine.
Could we move forward, please?

I have seven years
of postgraduate education.

-I'm getting very tired of this case.
-[Nancy] Okay.

Anything else? Vet bill.
Now we'll get to the vet bill. Okay.

You had to go to the emergency room
when and for what, Ms. Castleman?

I was having issues with my stomach.

I had... I was diagnosed
with diaberticulitis and had to go.

-I can imagine. When?
-That was in June. Beginning of June.

June of this year.
Who took you to the emergency room?

-I had to take an Uber. I couldn't drive.
-Who was home?

-Trinity and her family.
-And her family.

And when you went to
the emergency room, where was the van?

The van was at the home.

Why didn't she take you
to the emergency room?

She said she couldn't do that. She said
that she was too busy and stressed out.

-Is that right?
-I was dealing my children's father

-just passed away that day,
-[Nancy] And I was there with you.

You were separated from him. Why couldn't
you take her to the emergency room?

Because my children just
found out that their dad passed away.

-I was dealing with their emotions.
-Just a second.

I'm just trying to figure out why you
couldn't take her to the emergency room.

You've been living with your mother for
a while now, since you got out of jail.

How many times has your
mother been to the emergency room?

-Quite a few.
-How many?

More than ten... that I know of.

And did you take her to the
emergency room since you've been home?

-I have before, yes.
-How many times did you take her?

-Two to three times, at least.
-When was the last time you took her?

-Maybe a year ago.
-And what was wrong then?

-Her sciatic nerve.
-Did you wait with her?

Yes, ma'am.

Good. Because that's
the right thing to do.

-Yes.
-Excuse me a second.

[Sarah] Get it.

Don't write to me if you're a fly lover.
I don't care.

You did absolutely nothing wrong.

If I looked up the word ungrateful in the
dictionary, their pictures would be there.

[Narrator] Nancy Castleman has accused
her son, Danny Horath, and his fiancée,

Trinity Watson,
of taking advantage of her kindness.

Danny and Trinity claim Nancy became
upset when they stopped doing her favors.

Well, Ms. Watson,
I know that you have an excuse.

If it were me and I had been living off
somebody else for years, I would have put

my kids in the van and say, we have
to take Grandma to the emergency room.

That would just be me. And deal with
my children in the van five minutes later.

And I would have if I wasn't
dealing with my children at the time.

And she was aware of that.

I think she even took a Lyft or an Uber,
but she let me know it was okay.

I'm just telling you. I'm trying to get
some sympathy going for the two of you.

I'm not getting any sympathy
going for the two of you.

-Did she ask you to watch her dog?
-No. I have a dog, too, on the property.

And it was a mutual agreement
that anytime one of us were gone,

we would always make sure
the dog went out to use the restroom.

But the day her dog had an injury,
I wasn't home.

-[Judge Judy] Where were you?
-Gymnastics competition.

But this happened at night.

When was your dog injured?

On the day that I went to the E.R.
I asked her before, I said, "I have to go.

My Lyft is here."
You know, and "can you feed my dogs?

"Because they're in their trailer still,
and Tamale is still on the bed,

"and I didn't want her jumping down.

And can you take them out?
I don't know when I'll be back."

The Uber was there...
or the Lyft was there, and I left.

And when I came back home,
it was about 5:30 in the morning.

I noticed the dogs were in there
and that Asher was cut up.

-He had big old laceration.
-Did you know what happened?

-Could you figure out what happened?
-No.

I think I know now.

It was probably
under their trailer while he was out,

because she did say that she took him out,
but she forgot to feed them.

-And she was home.
-That night, I was home, yeah.

Did you see her dog injured?

-No.
-Did you feed her dog that day?

No. I did forget to feed the dogs.

I took her small dog, Tamale,
off the bed, and I had them go out,

and then I put them right back in
and I went back on to the house.

-And you forgot to feed them?
-Yes, I did.

Okay, but when you went in there,
the dog was not injured?

-No, he was not.
-Okay.

The last part of this,
and then I'm actually finished...

money owed for unpaid living expenses.

Anything other
than what we have discussed?

-They're supposed to pay rent.
-Starting when?

It was supposed to initially have been
in November for January of 2022.

Because since my mom had to go away 'cause
she couldn't take care of her anymore,

you know, I do what I have to do.

You mean after
she stopped watching your mother?

That's when I mostly enforce it, but there
are text messages that they agreed to pay.

[Judge Judy] I'd like to see them.

-[Nancy] Okay.
-I understand, Mr. Horath and Ms. Watson,

that the agreement
was that you would live there

paying certain expenses, but not rent,

as long as you...
Ms. Watson and-or Mr. Horath...

when you were home, would take care
of her mother so that she could work.

-Yes.
-Yes.

And that stopped at a particular point.

-Yes. In May.
-That stopped in May.

-[Trinity] Yes.
-Okay.

Well, it does seem that there
were arguments back and forth

about these expenses,
but never wholly an understanding

that that was going to happen.

Your Honor, I had several conversations
with my son while he was truck driving.

He didn't really talk to her,
particularly, because I think

she had a lot of influence on that.
He would have done that.

Whether he did or whether he didn't,
this comes from Danny himself.

He says, "Okay, check this out.

"I'll call the state inspectors for the
septic, room additions in the bathroom

-that needs permits first."
-She did.

[Judge Judy] Just a second.

What kind of thing is that?

How many times have you been married?

-Two.
-And how old are you?

-37.
-How many times have you been married?

-Two.
-And how old are you?

-28.
-And that's two in addition

to this current engagement?

-No. Then it would just be one.
-And you?

-Just one.
-Well, then, you're not married.

-So, you've each been married once before?
-Yes, ma'am.

[Judge Judy]
I just want you to look at your mother.

Maybe in the next couple of years... maybe.

Maybe she will be here
and maybe she won't.

I'm sure when you married the first time,
you expected that to be forever because

'cause you made
a couple of children, right?

-Yes.
-I hope you'll be able to

see that face for a very long time.

But she had another husband before you.
You're only going to have one mother.

And your mother was really
good to you and really good to

a stranger and her children.

And she didn't
invite them in and say, 'well,

I'm going to apply for some assistance,
because...' No, she worked all the time.

According to you,

she chose to work all the time
instead of going to church with you.

You have no idea
how ridiculous that sounds.

You have no idea
how ridiculous it sounds to me

that Ms. Watson says to me,
"I have children.

I can't work."
Well, she had two children... yours.

And she worked and had your two
children that she had to take care of.

And she's much older than Ms. Watson.

-Do you understand?
-Yes.

If you have a work ethic,
you have a work ethic.

If you don't have a work ethic,
you don't have a work ethic.

But right now, she took care
of you since you got out of jail.

That's a long time.

And for you to
cut her off from yourself

and her grandchildren
is pretty outrageous to me.

But you're 37 years old,
and you have four children.

Now six,

because they don't
have a father anymore, right?

-Yes, ma'am.
-[Judge Judy] Yeah.

So, I don't know what you
were doing with all your extra money,

but to your mother, you were paying
$400 a month for a five bedroom house,

and now you're paying $2,500
a month rent in a three bedroom house.

And I assume that that's plus trash,
Con Edison and Internet

and everything else
that goes along with the house.

So, I don't know who's paying for that.
Unless you were just stashing away money.

I don't know. I doubt it.
I don't even want to go into it.

Anyway, Ms. Castleman, it's not worth it.
You did the right thing with him.

You took him in.
You did absolutely nothing wrong.

But you didn't have a contract with him,
and you didn't have a contract with her.

And I can't enforce giving you money
when there was no enforceable contract.

But if I looked up the word
"ungrateful" in the dictionary,

their pictures would be there.

-We're done.
-[Bailiff] This court is adjourned.

I'm grateful for the things
that she did say so that they can

-understand where I'm coming from.
-She has no control.

She gets upset and wants to
see revenge in any way she can.

Those words are not from him.
I know my son.

We had a good relationship
before all of this transpired.

-They don't get it.
-Well, I hope that we can all

eventually get back to that point
for the sake of the kids.

You know, I don't think that there's
a legal lesson there to learn, Sarah.

I know. It's just so unfortunate
because I... I feel for the plaintiff.

As a grandmother, as a mother,
you try and do the right thing,

and just... to feel so taken advantage of,
and I didn't hear a good reason.

I was waiting the whole time
to hear a good reason for why she was

this terrible person that they had
to move away from, but it never came.

Well, the only thing
that I came up with was that she

agreed to let them rent the house.

-Rent-to-buy.
-Yes.

Because they couldn't buy the house.

They didn't have sufficient funds.

But there was a condition, and she
was living in a trailer on the property.

She said, I want to be able to
move somebody in there because

I'm going to have to find another
place to live and I'm going to need money.

If I sold the house,
I would have some money.

And I'm sure to pay for her mother
in care costs money as well.

She's a hard working lady. She had two
little kids that she had to take care of.

In addition to a sick mother,
in addition to working full time.

A lot of stress.

This one is in prison,
and the girlfriend is going to school.

No legal lesson,
but hopefully they work it out.

Hopefully. Be too bad if they didn't.

[Narrator]
Are you having a family dispute?