Daughter Making Payments, But Decesed Mother Owns It
There is no will, and the daughter is falling behind, 4 months behind max. The property is worth 80k, she owes 30k and some work is needed.
My question is how to buy the house from her even though she can be an hier to the house. I'm not sure if she has fellow siblings that would fight for the house but what usually happens in this situation?
Greetings Joe_Oh,
I’m no expert in this area, by any means. But I am going through a similar situation, as my mother just passed away 2 months ago.
If she really wants to sell, I would recommend finding a good Probate Attorney. Because (at least here in CA) a lot has to do with whether or not Probate is required. If it is, there are all kinds of legalities, time constraints, notifications that have to go out to creditors, etc. If not, it’s a much simpler and faster process – a lot of which can be done through escrow.
However, if she has siblings, they would most likely have a claim to any of her mother’s assets, and their cooperation would be necessary.
I know this is over simplified and may not be that helpful, but again… if she’s interested in selling (and siblings are willing) I would contact a Probate Attorney.
Hopefully, TCI members with more experience in this area will have some ideas for you on how to approach this.
Did you find out if the daughter or other relative was granted power of attorney? This is common with many elderly who suffer from long illnesses.
BTW, I got my current residence from a probate situation...paid $164K a year ago, FMV now $240K.
The deals are there if you can navigate probate as suggested above.
Also, in some states, as I understand it, without a will, all remaining posessions go to the spouse first, then the kids.
So if the daughter is the only surviving immediate relative, she may own the house and not know it.
Again, as suggested above, get a family law attorney to meet with you for an hour and explain things. Most will do an initial consult for free if you ask nicely.
writergig, a power of attorney ceases to have any powers the minute the principal passes away.
don't know the original poster's answer but from the info supplied, in PA court proceedings are necessary in this case. this is a state specific question.
sue:
Indeed...I spoke with an attorney friend right after I posted and he confirmed that death does end the power of attorney.
And he thinks this particular scenario is headed for a probate court since no will was in place.
I worked in a law office for a LONG time. The very few times I saw adverse possession cases were never to take an entire property. They were for little strips of land between properties, odd corners, straightening out boundary lines, etc. I am sure that someone somewhere has actually gotten entire properties this way but I can't imagine why anyone would ever go this route.
thanks to both of you. Just trying to think outside the box.
Jeff, thinking outside the box is something I need to learn to do more of
Seems to me that you must find out the following:
1. Was there a written last will and if so, what does it say and is it going to be probated?
2. Who are heirs in that Last Will and what are its terms (what's it say) ?
3. If daughter doesn't know, then are there other siblings? And what are they wanting to do?
While there is an Intestacy procedure, where there is no Last Will, generally it's only for very small estates and not the best maneuver for conveyance of RE.
Few title companies would be willing to issue a title policy on any inherited RE, without some kind of court order or final Judgment...and I suspect that even if there is no LW and no siblings, any title co. is going to want a J to Quiet Title on the property. So they KNOW all other claims are cut off.
I have seen situations where there WAS a LW, but the sibling heirs got along well enough that they were all willing to forego probate of that will and jointly deed the property to a new owner.
There's no law that a LW MUST be probated, and lots of times it's not done as nobody really wants it enough to pay the legal fees and court costs, and it's possible to work around probate.
Likewise, often there is a probate even though the heirs don't need it as to determine their respective rights...because a probate J winds up the rights of all creditors, and if there's ANY doubt about whether there were any unsettled or existing debts owing by the deceased, the J of Probate cuts those off.
Even where the deceased had conveyed all his RE to a living trust prior to death, that trust agreement often contains a Last Will paragraph, so the trust beneficiaries MAY file and get a J of probate to close out the debts of the deceased if they feel that should be done.
Assuming the daughter is the only known heir, and no known will, I'd get a deed from her but plan to file a SQT (suit to QT) so as to get a J for QT for title ins. purposes.
By the way, for benefit of all, I've learned over the years that morticians & funeral homes all over the USA are quite expert at tracking down all the lost kids, heirs, etc., and whenever I've had one of these riddles to solve, my first move was to find decedent's date of death then find the funeral home that handled the funeral (through the obit. notice in the local newspaper), then talk to that mortuary and see what they learned. They're normally VERY cooperative and helpful.
What about squatters law? I heard how if the owner doesnt claim the property within a certain time period, then the "squatter" gets ownership. I can only see this working if the daughter has no siblings, or it may, I'm not sure.
Thanx for the input so far-