Save A Widow’s Home

On February 22 2025 my mother came home after a morning of wedding dress shopping for her youngest daughter to find the love of her life, Gregory Netto, had passed away after a long battle with mental health. Since that day, my mother has been haunted with PTSD and cannot currently work with any consistency; some days she struggles to leave her bed and face the fact that she must carry on without him.

Greg was my mother’s partner but I consider him my parent so I will be referring to him as such.

My parents were together almost 26 years yet they were not married. Like most couples, they had some joint and separate bank accounts. One thing of note was that my mom was not on the deed to the house; she never thought she needed to be. They had a will that was unfortunately never notarized (let this be a cautionary tale for everyone to make sure they are legally secure so decisions can’t be made in bad faith for you after death). Due to this, the estate is currently intestate (aka going through probate court) and Greg’s parents (Tony Netto and Jayne Vachon) are the administrators. This means legally they are allowed to pay immediately necessary bills using Greg’s money. They would also be entitled to all of Greg’s estate after probate ends, including the house he and my mother made a home for the past 13 years. They, of course, could “gift” my mother her own home, however Tony has regrettably decided not to.

Shortly after Greg’s passing, his parents had told my mother “everything’s going to you”. We (my sisters and I) hoped this meant my mother would be able to focus on processing the grief of losing her partner of over 25 years.

We were wrong.

When my mother most recently asked when things would be turned over to her and probate would be settled, Tony “snickered” and asked why she thought she deserved anything.

Tony then offered for my mom to buy her own, currently paid off, home from him for $50k. Tony has told us he plans to gift that money to his children as well as my sisters and I.

My sisters and I have made it clear we do not want money and we are more than willing to take on any outstanding debts that are in Greg‘s name. Greg’s mother, Jayne, has made it clear she doesn’t want anything and believes it should all go to my mother.

Despite this, Tony still insists he will not gift my mother her own house and that she needs to buy it from him. He also insists on access to her home and property 24/7 and has threatened legal action repeatedly.

We know what Greg’s wishes were and unfortunately that doesn’t seem to matter to his parental family.

As my mother cannot work, and my sisters and I cannot afford to buy her own home for her, I have created a go-fund me in hopes our community will help us save her home. A community that both my parents poured their hearts into for years.

This is never a position I thought we’d be in. We are a family that prides themselves on helping others but now we are the ones asking for help. I’m swallowing my pride to fulfill the last promise I made to Greg - that I would take care of my mom.

Any amount you could give is appreciated more than we will ever be able to articulate. To feel this helpless and broken is not something I would wish on anyone.

In helping us secure my parent’s home in my mother’s name, you are allowing us space to breathe and grieve. Something that we unfortunately are finding out is not an easy process.

To be as transparent as possible, this is how any received money will be spent:

1. Securing my mother’s home

2. Once the above is taken care of, any left over money will be given to my mother to pay off any bills/debts

3. Once bills and debts have been paid off, any left over money will be used for costs of daily living for my mom until she is back on her feet, which she is desperately trying to do

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading this. After this difficult trial has come to a close, we hope to focus on healing and establishing my dad’s legacy to outlive us all.

Thank you,

Emily O’Neil