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Posted: 4/18/2015 7:30:59 AM EDT
First the question.

Mother going to court over property dispute with daughter and son-in-law. State of Michigan.
Deposition this Thursday.
Office person stated that all parties will be in room at the same time.
Daughter and son-in-law have right to be in room for mother's deposition.

She not only doesn't want them in the same room, she doesn't even want to be in the same office at the same time.

Is this correct?

She is worried sick about this and her attorney will not be able to call her back with explanation until Monday, so she is going to fret about this all weekend.

I thought she would be alone with her attorney, their attorney and court recorder.
Being in the room at the same time with the little creeps would lead to a major confrontation.

OK the rest of the story.

Mother in her 80's buys a house with daughter and son-in-law and they hoodwink her into signing a quit claim deed.
They kick her out of the house and make her take them to court to get her own belongings out of house.

Mom is trying to get the quit claim deed reversed to force them to buy out her half of the value of the house from her so she can be done with the creeps.

I said I didn't thing she has a snowball's chance in hell of winning this case but she found an attorney to take the case.

This is a very stressful situation for an 83 year old woman to have to take your own daughter to court and I'm worried what it will do to her to be in the same room with the creeps while giving her deposition. I think this is BS and should not happen like this.

Thank you so much in advance.

paddy
Link Posted: 4/18/2015 12:14:59 PM EDT
[#1]
Burn the house down.
I mean what do u want to hear?
If she is afraid they will be there maybe she not telling you something. Go with her for support.
Link Posted: 4/20/2015 1:20:01 PM EDT
[#2]
Yes the defendants have the right to attend.

Mom does not and should not say a word to them no matter what they say to her.  She should speak only with her attorney, and to the opposing side's attorney when answering questions during the deposition.
Link Posted: 4/20/2015 2:17:24 PM EDT
[#3]
Thank you.

I think I found out that even though I'm not in the lawsuit I can be there.

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c)(1)(E)

"Unexpected Guests: Who May Attend A Deposition?
There are necessary participants at every deposition—the deponent, court reporter, counsel—but who else might you encounter? The answer may come as a surprise; in the absence of a protective order, there are no limitations on who can attend.[1]
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c)(1)(E) places the burden on the party seeking to exclude people from the deposition to move for a protective order “designating the persons who may be present while the discovery is conducted.”[2] To meet this burden, the moving party must show “good cause” that an order is necessary “to protect a party or person from annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense.”[3]
Showing good cause requires the party seeking to exclude people from the deposition to make a substantiated and particularized demonstration of “serious harm” if the person to be excluded is allowed to attend. [4] Conclusory statements of threatened harm are insufficient.[5]"
Link Posted: 4/20/2015 2:19:42 PM EDT
[#4]
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are not state rules.  Although some states have copied them as a starting point for their own civil rules of procedure.
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