My name is Joe. I was born in June 1928 in the Netherlands. I am a professional Electrical Engineer and was awarded several patents in electronic design. I manage to build a considerable real estate portfolio for myself and wrote a will to leave to my siblings, dependents and ex-partners worth millions of dollars. I built Gi-Las Property Management Ltd which owns more than 108 apartment units in the Ottawa core in the last 40 years.

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I was married and divorced three times. My last divorced was in May 2011.

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I woke up one morning in August 2018 and found that I do not own a cent. I forgot that in 2011, I signed a Power of Attorney for property and care which I was coerced into signing after a hospital treatment and suffering from the effects of a divorce.

 

Copies of the documents that I signed were not provided to me, until my lawyer obtained a copy in September 2018. The Power of Attorney were submitted to my bank to cut my access to my accounts by the beneficiaries of the POA. 

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The POA that names Joy Overtveld, Todd Overtveld and Gary Katz ( my accountant for the last 38 years) has rendered me defenseless and put me in a miserable state. Joy and Todd were my children from my first marriage. I trusted my children and accountant. This was the worst mistake of my life. I never suspected that a plot to get rid of me was in the making that moment I signed the Power of Attorney.

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I suffered physical disabilities in 2015 due to sciatica. However, my son was able to arrange and manage caregivers to support me. I also have a live-in caregiver and house help from the Philippines, whose family lives in my basement apartment.

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I feel devastated and alone. In August 2018, all my bank cards and government photo identification were confiscated by my daughter. I was left destitute and had to contact friends to get  some loans to pay for legal services. In December 2018, I married again. My new wife help support me financially and help and manage the litigation process.

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