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Joe Paterno Sold His House to His Wife for $1

Joe Paterno had no idea his defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was raping little boys in the shower. At least that’s what he tells everyone. But his claims seem a little suspect now that reports say that back in July, four months before the scandal broke, he transferred ownership of his house to his wife Sue for $1. His lawyer says it’s a “multiyear estate planning program” and, uh, it’s complicated, you wouldn’t understand. However, legal experts believe it was a way to protect his assets from a civil suit.

Some legal experts, in trying to gauge the legal exposure of the university and its top officials to lawsuits brought by suspected victims of the assistant, Jerry Sandusky, have theorized that Paterno could be a target of civil actions. On Nov. 5, Sandusky, Penn State’s former defensive coordinator, was charged with 40 counts related to the reported sexual abuse of eight boys over 15 years. Paterno, 84, was among those called to give testimony before a grand jury during the investigation, which began in 2009.

Experts in estate planning and tax law, in interviews, cautioned that it would be hard to determine the Paternos’ motivation simply from the available documents. It appears the family house had been the subject of years of complex and confusing transactions.

Lawrence A. Frolik, a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh who specializes in elder law, said that he had “never heard” of a husband selling his share of a house for $1 to his spouse for tax or government assistance purposes.

“I can’t see any tax advantages,” Frolik said. “If someone told me that, my reaction would be, ‘Are they hoping to shield assets in case if there’s personal liability?’ ” He added, “It sounds like an attempt to avoid personal liability in having assets in his wife’s name.”NY Times

Of course Joe Paterno knew his former defensive coordinator was raping little boys. Come on people. Open your ears. Even a deaf man can hear the rhythmic slap, slap, slapping sounds a mile away.

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salivating lawyers
salivating lawyers
12 years ago

LET THE LAWSUITS BEGIN !!!!

Thomas Rockford
10 years ago

A state pension of 500K!! Wow!!