Anna moved to Country Y in 1960 to marry Wayne.
Wayne was adopted by Emma, who is Anna’s aunt.
Emma promised Anna that she would inherit her house for marrying Wayne.
Wayne had two adopted sisters, MissCrazy and 2Shy, who are Emma’s natural daughters.
In 1980, MissCrazy forced Emma to change her will to force Anna to pay her for half the house, which Anna did.
In 1960, 2Shy married Doofus. They divorced a few years later, and Doofus moved to Country Z and has been living there for over 30 years.
Emma dies in 1990.
Today, Doofus sent 2shy to Anna saying that he was also included in Emma’s will, and that he is owed the other half of the house’s value.
To me, this is clearly extortion (let’s assume that extortion is illegal in both Country Y and Country Z.) I want to call the police on Doofus, but which country’s police would I contact? Also, it could be possible that 2Shy’s latest husband is putting her up to this.
The claims MissCrazy made could have been pure fiction as well. She found a dishonest lawyer to threaten to sue Anna for the house but no lawsuit was filed.
You’re putting a lot of belief in the weight (and relevance) of law in this situation. That is, if I understand your explanation–which couldn’t be less clear.
Threatening to sever your fingers and torture your dog unless you’re paid is extortion. This isn’t.
How do you know the lawyer retained by MissCrazy was dishonest? Her claim may have been entirely valid, for all you know.
And so could Doofus’s claim. For all you know, the will may well give him a right to half the house.
On what you have so far, if you report this to the police you’ll be met with derision. You have no evidence that Doofus’ claim is ill-founded, still less that it is dishonest. And threatening to sue in a dispute over entitlement to a deceased estate is not the kind of threat than can found an extortion claim. If people have disputes, they have a right of access to the courts to resolve them, you know? Expressing the intention of exercising that right is not a crime.
You could report the crime of convoluted prose to the University of Chicago Press, I suppose, but they may consider it to be out of their jurisdiction…
Why do you think the police get involved in these matters? It’s a civil matter.
Do you really think some officers will show up and settle the estate for you? That’s what CIVIL courts are for, and it’s where Doofus will be filing his lawsuit.
As everyone else has noted, threatening to sue is not a crime. Let him sue. If his case is as baseless as you claim, he will have trouble finding a lawyer to pursue it for him. Not to mention the difficulty of suing internationally (finding, retaining and paying counsel in a foreign country and possibly currency).
He’s bluffing. He’d probably waste more money on legal fees than his alleged portion of the house was worth.
Threatening to sue if you are not paid is not extortion. Its basically saying “If you don’t agree with my opinion on the matter I will have a judge rule on who is right!”
If the threat was physical harm or to expose an affair or many other things would be extortion. This is not.
It is a civil matter to be handled in civil court.
The OP’s scenario seems to make no sense. Emma died in 1990. At that time her will would have been read and executed. If 2Shy or Doofus had a claim to the house, it would have been known at that time. So on what basis is Doofus making his claim to the property in 2014?