You have a big heart and a little bit of money. You want to help out a cash-strapped family member, and – “because you’re family” – you don’t put down how much you’ll loan or how it’ll be paid back. You would hate to do it, but, in a worst-case scenario, you suppose a court could help you get it back. Through its opinion in Roberts v. Smith, however, the Georgia Court of Appeals may have made it harder to get that money or property back from a family member through an implied trust.
Four siblings arranged to purchase a home for the benefit of one of the siblings. All of the siblings verbally agreed to contribute money toward the purchase and maintenance of the house. One of the siblings testified that “[n]obody had a set amount to pay,” and another testified that “we