US woman returns from abroad to find inherited house sold using forged documents

A woman posing as "Dorothy Chestnut" falsely claimed to be the sole heir to the property. (AI image) A Tennessee appeals court has revived the fraud claim of a woman who discovered, after returning to the United States from abroad in 2021, that the house she had inherited from her late brother had been sold without her knowledge using a fake identity and forged documents. A woman using a fake identity had claimed to be the rightful heir. In its Thursday ruling, the court allowed Barbara Chesnut to pursue her fraud claim against the company involved in the sale but upheld the dismissal of her negligence claim.According to court records, Chesnut had acquired the house in Cottontown, Tennessee, in 2012 after her brother, James Upchurch, died without leaving a will. His estate was divided among several heirs, and Chesnut arranged to buy the property using her inheritance along with additional funds. She lived in the house before moving to the United Arab Emirates around the time the estate proceedings were being completed.While she moved overseas, Chesnut continued to use the Tennessee property as her permanent address and stayed there whenever she visited the United States. Between 20...