A courtroom drama, with its roots in a tony Naples neighborhood, is unfolding in a handful of states right now. The key figures are a wealthy businessman, his nine children, his neighbor, his neighbor's late wife and his neighbor's current wife -- and, peripherally, the Florida Department of Children and Families. At stake: an estate worth about $10 million.

There are so many twists and turns in this story that we reached for graph paper. There are suits and countersuits and foreclosures and reverse mortgages -- all in the year since the businessman's death, at age 92. It's a probate nerd's dream come true.

The story starts in the summer of 2003, with the neighbor and his current wife renting the home next to the businessman's home. The man -- we'll call him Bob -- had lost his wife in 1996. They'd been married for 56 years. The neighbor's wife dropped by with a bottle of wine, and a lasting and complicated relationship ensued. Bob was in his mid-80s at the time.

In December of 2003, the neighbors purchased a house near their new friend in Port Royal. Apparently, they couldn't afford it, and Bob picked up a share of the tab. By the end of the following year, Bob was making the monthly payments for the couple -- putting $1 million toward the mortgage.

As Bob's relationship with the neighbor's wife evolved, he took an extraordinary step with regard to the house. He put the property in his and the wife's names and arranged a new mortgage -- with her. That mortgage became a reverse mortgage that came due on Bob's death.

Here we have the grounds for the first legal action. The reverse mortgage turned into a $2.9 million lien on the house, and the house was soon foreclosed on. Bob's family sued to recover their father's investment. The neighbors promptly countersued, claiming Bob's house was theirs.

The basis of their claim? Bob had executed a new will that forgave the debt by naming the neighbor's wife as a beneficiary.

According to the family's attorney, the problem with this assertion is that the day the new will was allegedly executed, Bob was nowhere near the neighbors. He was with his family, celebrating his birthday.

We'll continue this in our next post.

Source: Naples News, "Love and war in Port Royal: Millionaire's children battle for estate vs. ex-neighbor, lawyer," Aisling Swift, Aug. 28, 2011