Need legal advice on acquiring inherited home.?

Question

My mom currently cares for an elderly uncle who is mentally quite fine, just old and frail. His wife passed many years ago. Our elderly uncle only had one son who never married and sadly is very sick in a nursing home. With no other heirs that he sees fit, our elderly uncle passed on his home to my mother. She now wants to give the home/lot to me, so I can build a new house. My only fear is that my mother's greedy and estranged cousins will come after the home/property if my uncle passes. They have never come forth to help with my uncle's care, but they're very willing to get their hands on his possessions.

My mom's paperwork was all done up with a lawyer and she is now paying the taxes on the home, but am I still at risk of being sued by my greedy relatives??

Anyone have any advice.

Answer 1

I am not a lawyer but am pretty familar in inheritances from being handed a bunch of family messes and being left to untangle them.

One of the biggest things that jumped out at me is that one of the biggest ways to run into problems both with inheritance taxes and problems if is the directions are only given in a will but no other actions are taken. One of the biggest concerns I would have right now in your shoes is are you protected against claims from the nursing home? They are vicious in going after funds and I nearly lost most of a good sized inheritance before I learned enough to protect myself.

Do you currently have working powers of atty on your uncle? Are there living wills? And you say the uncle "passed on" the home to your Mom, but is that in a will or has he already done that? If it's a will there are a million ways it can be contested.

As for the paperwork all being done by a lawyer....well I've learned there are excellent ones and ones that just do the bare minimum and not always what is best in your big picture. If she is paying taxes I'm thinking she has possession now but not sure. Is there anything in writing about your role in this? Maybe you could agree to help your Mom with taxes, but make sure she puts your agreement in writing.

And does your uncle have a will where he clearly states that he specifically is disavowing all other claims by any other heirs? If not that should be done ASAP. That will help protect any claims from cousins etc.

Hard to say more without knowing what was done and what wasn't. The big things are having that will with the exclusion, having the changes done now, and having some form of independent person who can testify later to your uncles wishes if it comes to that. For example, we had a bank manager witness my Aunt sign much paperwork who could later state in writing that she was lucid and in clear mind and that was her wishes.

Also laws vary in states, which is why a good atty can advise on both how to protect yourself and how to save the most money. For example I got a few stocks and if I sold the ones that were my Mom, the inheritance taxes would have been small, but some that went back to my grandparents and it would have been HUGE because of the difference in capital gains. Someone needs to look at the big picture and see what makes sense for you and your Mom, and how to protect everyone. So hope your atty did more than draw up papers.

Best of luck with it!

Answer 2

There are a tangle of legal questions that emerge from your question(s). It also bring up many more questions that should be posed in order to properly answer your question.

From what I has surmised from what you have written, as I see it your uncle has already passed this home to your mother and she is currently paying taxes on the property as well as I hope the insurance.

I would probably do a couple of things immediately for your and your mother's protection.

#1 Get a power of attorney from your uncle to your mother to take care of him as well as any other property he has.

#2 Have your mother make up a trust for the house making you the trustee so if something happen to her she leaves the house to you. This will prevent the house from going through probate thus eliminating any money for probate as it will not even go through probate. Your mother might add other things into the trust such as bank accounts, or anything else of value as well as who and how she want to be treated if she is ill for any reason. This need to be done by an attorney or a para-legal whom ever you feel comfortable with.

Make sure that whom ever you get to make up the trust, fund the trust. Don't allow them to get away without funding the trust. The trust should cost around $500.00 or so.

This may not keep your relatives from suing you but you will be in a better situation legally to defend yourself.

Now you may do what ever you want with the land through the trust. You will have to come to an agreement with your mother about building a new house, but you two appear to be on the same page.

Check with a builder you might want to remodel as oppose to building a new house. In some cities if you leave one wall up it is considered remodeling as opposse to building a a new house. A professional construction person will understand this. Seek the help of a professional construction person before decided as to building a new house or remodeling the existing house. The cost is the factor and getting a permit from your city.

I hope this has been of some use to you, good luck.

"FIGHT ON"

Answer 3

Anyone is at risk of being sued by anyone else who wants to sue them. That being said, you need to assess your legal standing if they SHOULD decide to sue after Uncle Alfred passes. Assuming that the property in question was properly and legally deeded to your mother and she also properly and legally deeds it to you, your cousins chances of success at such a suit are relatively slim. They would have to show cause that Uncle Alfred was not of sound mind when he deeded the property to your mother. As always, it is best to seek the advice of a qualified attorney in this matter. Some will give you a free opinion on such an inquiry.

Answer 4

Ok the simple answer is to buy the house. It dosent have to sell for full value. (i.e.10$). You may want to have a title company or real estate lawyer handle the transaction so that it meets the laws of your state. This will legaly transfer the home to your name. You will always be in danger of being sued but this should cover you as far as the house.

Answer 5

Hire a real estate attorney to review all the papers and you should be good to go if he approves it.