Jun 11, 2026
For 11 years, Josh McRoberts fought for the ball on the court as an NBA player who played for seven pro teams, including the Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers and Indiana Pacers.
Now, he’s fighting in a court of law to keep his grandmother’s property in the family after a council member in Zionsville, Indiana reportedly tricked his grandmother, who had dementia, into signing documents that “permanently deprive Carolyn and her estate and her heirs of its value and use.”
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As WTHR reports, McRoberts is suing both Jon and Sarah Sampson (the latter is a member of the Zionsville town council), as well as an attorney who oversaw his grandmother’s signing of the estate planning documents shortly before her death.
A seven-acre plot owned for 150 years
McRoberts’ grandmother, Carolyn, lived in a home on seven acres in Zionsville that her family had owned for more than 150 years. The lawsuit claims she was “fiercely protective of the property with a definite intention to preserve the property for her family.”
However, a week before her death, while she was in the hospital, Carolyn signed the deed to the property over to the Sampsons in exchange for $750,000. And this was far from her first interaction with the Sampson family.
In October 2025, Carolyn moved into assisted living, where she was diagnosed with dementia. Her daughter, Jennifer, visited her mom almost every day. However, according to the lawsuit, Jennifer was on vacation from April 6 to April 11, 2026. During that time, the Sampsons reportedly took Carolyn out of the assisted living facility and brought her to an “undisclosed location.”
Mrs. Sampson allegedly told staff at the facility that Carolyn was staying with her and would receive “24/7 medical care,” which the lawsuit alleges wasn’t true. McRoberts said it’s unclear how Carolyn was cared for while she was with the Sampsons, adding that she wasn’t allowed to see her family.
While she was with the Sampsons, Carolyn allegedly signed a new will, a second trust amendment, a new power of attorney and a new healthcare representative form, despite having created these documents herself only a few months earlier. This time, though, Mrs. Sampson was given authority, while McRoberts had filled that role in the previous documents.
Carolyn was admitted to the hospital in poor condition on April 29, 2026. She signed the new documents while in the hospital less than a week before she passed away. Mrs. Sampson reportedly had Carolyn embalmed without the family’s permission and didn’t tell them about Carolyn’s passing until two days later. Because of this, an autopsy of Carolyn’s body wasn’t able to be performed.
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Now, McRoberts is suing the Sampsons and wants treble damages (three times the amount of the plaintiff’s proven financial losses), as well as attorneys’ fees, expenses and costs. McRoberts is also pursuing a malpractice claim against the lawyer who oversaw Carolyn’s signing of the documents.
“A prudent attorney would never have allowed Carolyn to sign away her home and seven acres without knowing the fair market value of the properties,” the lawsuit states.
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Theft of property, or salacious allegations?
While the lawsuit is playing out in court, Michael Einterz, an attorney involved in the property transfer, called the allegations “the most salacious” he’s ever seen.
Mrs. Sampson, for her part, claims she and Carolyn were good friends, adding that during the time Carolyn was removed from assisted living, she was staying at another home the Sampsons own and had access to a home healthcare aide and 24/7 monitoring.
Mrs. Sampson has since filed a complaint that seeks to have Carolyn’s previous trust revoked, which would make the former the rightful trustee based on the new documents Carolyn signed before her death.
The defendants’ attorneys also dispute the lawsuit’s claim that Carolyn was trying to protect and keep the property for her family, adding that the lawsuit’s claim that Carolyn had “adamantly refused” to sell the property in the past wasn’t true.
Ultimately, the courts will have to decide which version of events is best supported by the facts.
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Christy Bieber has 15 years of experience as a personal finance and legal writer. She has written for many publications including Forbes, Kilplinger, CNN, WSJ, Credit Karma, Insurify and more.
