An attorney representing the three children of Jamey Noel’s late brother, William “Leon” Noel, has filed a lawsuit against Noel and his daughter, to try to recoup the remainder of their inheritance.
The complaint filed Friday alleges Noel mismanaged his brother's estate by selling Leon Noel’s home to his own daughter, Kasey Noel, for less than fair market value, giving her an additional $36,000 in equity in the home and improperly paying himself from the estate.
The complaint closely mirrors the petition filed by attorney Amy Wheatley in March, which sought to reopen Leon Noel’s estate. That was denied earlier this month when the judge ruled too much time had passed to seek recourse this way.
Leon Noel died in late 2018, and Noel was appointed to administer his brother’s estate the following month. He closed the estate checking account in early 2020 after distributing a total of more than $66,000 to the three children, records show.
But Wheatley said they weren’t given all they were due, and they weren't aware until the information came out as part of the now 14-month Indiana State Police criminal investigation of Noel.
“This was a traumatic time. They’d lost their dad,” Wheatley said of the time period Noel was handling the estate. “They were depending on their uncle to take care of them and to look out for them — he was the sheriff at the time — and they had no reason to believe he would do this.”
Neither Jamey or Kasey Noel had attorneys listed in the civil case as of Tuesday afternoon.
Noel is separately facing 31 felonies for allegations including theft and tax evasion related to his time as Clark County sheriff and in running an emergency services company.
The complaint accuses Noel of fraudulently selling his brother’s home, breaching his fiduciary duty and “self-dealing.”
It shows that in 2019, Noel sold his brother’s home to his own daughter, Kasey Noel, for $180,000 which it says was less than fair market value.
The complaint states Noel also gifted his daughter $36,000 in equity on the property. After that, and mortgage and closing costs were paid, a check for $25,545.78 was deposited into the estate checking account.
The complaint shows Noel paid a construction company just over $16,000 from the estate account and the Utica Township Volunteer Firefighters Association, also known as New Chapel EMS, for work at one of Leon’s properties.
It says Noel then reimbursed himself $16,000 from the estate account for construction work he didn’t pay for, and used more than $52,000 from the estate to buy a 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner for personal use.
The complaint shows he later withdrew more than $52,000 from New Chapel and deposited that into the estate account.
In the complaint, Wheatley asks the court to find that the home sale was fraudulent and void from the start. She’s also asked for a temporary restraining order preventing Kasey Noel from selling or disposing of the house during the case.
Wheatley’s complaint also calls for Noel to reimburse the estate for the full fair market price of the home plus the gifted equity, and to return or reimburse the estate for the 1969 Roadrunner.
“I’m hoping to recoup the assets that Leon intended to go to his kids,” Wheatley said. “I don't think that he believed that that would have happened, or else he wouldn't have put [Noel] in charge of it.”
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