<p>Dear FIL passed away early this week and H, who is the executor, is wondering about this issue: Our nephew, who is one of 4 grandchildren beneficiaries, owns a home that is in both his and my FIL’s name. Is the house considered a part of the estate or is it a simple case of having FIL’s name removed on the title and legally recorded? If it is considered part of the estate, what does that mean in terms of settling the estate?</p>
<p>We are both inexperienced with settling an estate…everything else about it seems fairly straightforward except this one issue. Of course H is heading to lawyer next week, but would appreciate any thoughts or comments from others who’ve gone down a similar road. Thank you in advance!</p>
<p>I would imagine it would depend how the title was written but no expertise in this matter; I do know that joint bank accounts do not have to go through probate (through the estate) but don’t know if that applies to real estate…</p>
<p>I’m sure someone else on CC will know though…</p>
<p>Is everyone in agreement about what should happen here? Did the father-in-law contribute money towards the house? If so was it supposed to be a gift for his grandson or is it something that should be accounted for now?</p>
<p>We settled an estate recently and one thing I found is the internet is a terrific resource for technical questions that you are wondering about. Then when you see an attorney you can be a little more educated and his or her answer will confirm what you found out. Figure out your key words and do a google search and see what comes up.</p>
<p>Please get legal advice on this question. The executor is financially responsible in most states if an error is made, and anything involving real estate could mean a big error. Getting a copy of the deed from the county clerk would be helpful. </p>
<p>Two people can own a home together in many different arrangements: as joint tenants, as tenants in common, in a revocable trust,…</p>
<p>It could be a case where the grandson needed someone to guarantee/co-sign the loan for the mortgage. If that’s the case, I would think it would not be part of the estate unless the grandfather was making payments, too.</p>
<p>This is not the type of issue that you can resolve by seeking advice from anonymous strangers. I imagine you realize that but you definitely need to seek legal advice so that all the relevant documentation is reviewed and also to make sure that your husband as executor is fulfilling his duties properly.</p>
<p>Basically, if your FIL’s name was on the title, it will have been being held one of two ways – as tenants in common, or as joint tenants. The recorded deed will reflect which of those it is.</p>
<p>If the house was being held as tenants in common, the estate succeeds to the FIL’s interest (whatever it was), and that is part of the estate. In the absence of a different agreement, the estate and the grandson will each own half.</p>
<p>If the house was held as joint tenants with right of survivorship, then the grandson now owns the house outright, and no further action is required to transfer it. The grandson may owe the estate something, but the house will be his.</p>
<p>Having just been through this with my dad, I can say that it was well worth the fee to hire a local attorney to handle the estate. Definitely get some quotes on just signing over your executor powers to a lawyer. They know the nooks and crannies of the local probate office and can simplify consolidating various bank accounts, holding funds as necessary under state law, etc. </p>
<p>I would particularly lean this direction with something that may be as involved as this house situation.</p>
<p>If you have bank accounts, brokerage accts., other real estate, and in most cases more than a deminimus amount of money, you will need to file paperwork in the probate court (or whatever it is named in your state) and I would highly recommend an attorney familiar with this type of law. For a small estate, the fee should not be a great deal, and it is an expense of the estate.</p>
<p>I agree with posts 4 and 7 that the type of deed will be controlling. There also may be some type of other monetary arrangements that you may need to locate the relevant paperwork for to determine whether there is money due to the estate from the grandson. In many areas, copies of the deeds are available on line from the relevant county registrar (or whatever the office is called in your locale.)</p>
<p>Sorry about your FIL. Good luck with the legal work.</p>
<p>For what it is worth, I would NOT “sign over executor powers” to a lawyer. You DO need a lawyer who knows local probate, but you should keep control of things in order to deal with family situations like the one you are describing. Consolidating accounts is not complicated.</p>
<p>It occurs to me that if the FIL had a will (which he must have had for your husband to be the executor, if you are using terminology precisely), it is very surprising if the will doesn’t make clear what is supposed to happen with the house. If it doesn’t, and the will postdates whenever the FIL entered into the house arrangement, it probably means that the FIL didn’t see himself as having an ongoing economic interest in the house.</p>
<p>It also occurs to me that if the FIL was guaranteeing his grandson’s mortgage, the FIL’s death is almost certainly a default on the mortgage. And while at common law death terminates a guarantee, I would not be surprised if the bank’s guarantee purports to let it claim against the estate if the mortgage isn’t paid in full now, after the guarantor’s death. So . . . more complications to talk to a lawyer about.</p>
<p>I have been an executor on a complex estate for over 5 years. Can’t answer your specific question, but would second all here who say that an attorney (preferably one who specializes in estates, not a jack of all trades) is your most valuable resource. I LOVE my estate attorneys. They have been worth every single penny.</p>
<p>Your H should request and read the deed to the home. It’s possible that the FIL had it written so that was in your nephew’s name but the FIL retained life use. If that’s the case, it passed directly to the nephew which is similar to what my mom and I had arranged. It’s a fairly common practice among older adults as they are concerned that a prolonged hospital/nursing home could cost them their homes if they did not have sufficient assets/insurance (IIRC Medicare/Medicaid has a couple of year lookback period on asset transfers). If he has any questions about the deed, he should certainly have the estate attorney look it over.</p>
<p>And as a current trustee, I would recommend a living trust, it has been so much simpler in dealing with the estate for which I am responsible. It is the same in that I have items to deal with a distribute, forms, checks, etc. But, it is me and the beneficiaries and the banks etc, not having to jump through the extra hoops of probate. Anything to make it a bit easier!</p>
<p>1down - Listen to JHS and intparent … you NEED legal help with this. If you’re lucky (and there’s no issue) your $500 investment will at minimum buy you peace of mind. And if there is some issue, you’ll need experienced legal help to navigate it. Either way, a suitable lawyer is a good investment.</p>
<p>I don’t know the exact terminology, but my brother and I were co-executors of my father’s estate. We hired a lawyer (the lawyer who had drawn up his will) to handle the entire estate. The exact terminology may have been “personal representative”, I’m not sure and I don’t feel like digging through the files. He had the authority to go to all of the banks and brokerage houses and close the accounts, consolidate everything into an estate account, file the taxes, probate the will, settle the estate, and distribute the funds. The sum total of the work my brother and I had to do was sign off on forms at several points in the process.</p>
<p>This was particularly helpful since neither of us live in the state where the estate was being settled. We were also fortunate in that the will spelled everything out very clearly and there were no disagreements among the three interested survivors.</p>
<p>I felt, in retrospect, that the fees charged by the attorney were money very well spent. The alternative was to hire the attorney to advise us on local law and handle some of the legal filings. The attorney made a credible argument that it wouldn’t cost us any more to just let him handle the whole thing because not needing our three signatures on every last slip of paper made it much more efficient for his office. I don’t know. I think each person should explore the options and fees with an attorney and make their own decisions. I was VERY happy that we chose the path of giving the attorney the authority to handle every thing.</p>
<p>I just checked. The official terminology was that the co-executors appointed the attorney to be our “personal representative” in closing the estate. Just to give some feel for the order of magnitude of costs, the fees were under $10,000 and that including setting up a trust fund. I suspect that we might have saved $5,000 at most doing it ourselves, with a big potential for headache being out of state.</p>
<p>My brother in law had power of attorney & my sister & brother were co-executors of my mothers estate.
( I originally was, but they pitched a fit until my mother changed it .
While I was find with my BIL having power of attorney & handling the sale of her assets, I would like to know a little more what has transpired other than to be told he is going to cut me a check for my portion of the estate.
( which I was told today- & that he couldn’t reach me- because I have been on jury duty)
She didn’t have a will, she had a trust & BIL was named on that.
What should I ask?</p>
<p>I took care of getting my father’s estate through probate this summer for my mother. In CT, if the assets owned in the deceased spouse’s name alone is below a certain figure, one can skip the full probate procedure. No executor is appointed, and the probate judge reviews the documentation and simply conveys the assets to the heir. The fact that my mother was the sole heir may also have helped qualify us for the simplified procedure, I don’t recall.</p>
<p>Paying a lawyer $200/hr or more would have been a complete waste of money. Yes, there was paperwork, and one had to be systematic and meticulous, but it really was straightforward. I got statements from all of the banks and brokerages, filed the life insurance claim, had property valued, filled out the state estate tax form, and so forth. Although one of the banks was notably obtuse about the CT process, refusing to give us a date of death valuation because there was no executor, the probate court accepted the last bank statement instead. I would not rush to hire a lawyer. Talk to the probate court first. If after doing so it seems too complex to deal with yourself, then hire a lawyer. In our case there wasn’t a lot of stuff to be “wound up” because my mother was continuing to live in the house, pay the bills, etc, and there was nothing to be divided. I was also available to be there and handle it, and of course having someone available is not always the case.</p>
I imagine you realize that but you definitely need to seek legal advice so that all the relevant documentation is reviewed and also to make sure that your husband as executor is fulfilling his duties properly.</p>