Property & Probate, Headache Vs Opportunity
My father and my uncle H both owned a this property. When my father died, his interest went to my mother (recorded). Now my uncle H has passed with no will. Uncle H was never married. My deceased uncle and father's only remaining brother (uncle E) is in a nursing home and his wife has POA and acting on his behalf. They have no children TOGETHER (only she has two sons). I am trying to get this probated, but my am having a heck of a time. When my uncle first passed, Uncle E and his wife went to see an attorney and spent nearly $1500 to begin proceedings (nothing was ever filed). When they paid the last $500, they "fired" their attorney because they felt that they were throwing their money down the drain because uncle H had been a lifelong recepient of state aid and MO has a recovery clause, so the state can make a claim on uncle H's portion of the estate. Uncle E was told this upfront and urged to use our attorney, but he chose one of his own and incurred fees. Now, uncle E's wife wants nothing to do with the estate. QUESTION- can she (acting on his behalf) quitclaim their interest to my mother before probate? Basically, can you give something you dont yet have? I plan to rent this property to pay for the rising associated costs. Take home point - make a will!
Well Hands, the amount of useful advice we can give here is pretty limited because we cannot have all the information. For example, we do not even know what state the property is in (although we might assume it is in MO since that is where your uncle lives) and inheritance laws vary widely.
So, you're going to have to ask your attny.
That said, yes your aunt can QC the uncle's property to your mother even though the estate has not yet been probated. Whether the state will chase that for recovery or not is largely a function of whether they even find out about it.