Can our daughter transfer land given to her by her dad, back to him so she will not lose the money she receive

Question

Hi,
We gave a piece of land to our daughter, who is receiving NC state assistance(money) for herself and her two children. Since then we have found out she can not have property valued over $2000.00 and not live on the land. The land is used for farming and until her sister built a house on the piece of land next to Margaret's track of land, (that is still used for farming) wasn't really valued at much. .All the land was farm land to begin with that has been in the Warren family for over 150 years. My husband wanted to go ahead and give his girls the farm and he divided it three ways as a gift. Now she is all upset about us giving her the land and her not being able to get the help she needs to help raise her girls. She is a totally disabled person and unable to work. It would be greatly appreciated if anyone can help us figure this one out. How do we take the land back without it appearing as if we are trying to defraud the State of NC????
Thanks, Judy Warren

Answer 1

Contact a local title company with a copy of the recorded deed. Advise them that you deeded to your daughter in error and she is prepared to sign a corrective deed. You would like them prepare a corrective deed using the necessary verbage in order for her not to have any repercussions due to the error.

I am not familiar with your state, but were I am a "Corrective Deed" placing the property back into your name signed by your daughter would suffice. I would also included verbage on the top of the deed stating something in the lines of "this deed is being recorded to correct the chain of title and to remove any interest (Daughter) established in the property by the recording of in Book XXX, Page XXX, Instrument Number XXX, which was recorded in error.

Answer 2

Your daughter can sign a quitclaim, but my guess is that the NC assistance rules state that if an applicant gives away assets she owns, the assets will nonetheless be considered as owned by the applicant when determining eligibility for assistance.

Why doesn't your daughter just sell the land, and use the proceeds to take care of herself and the children? When the money runs out, your daughter can then reapply for assistance.

Answer 3

Check with your tax person for one person as you've already done the damage. Then if she's getting assistance from the state talk to the local office that knows you and your daughter and situation. But the Tax man should be talked to 1st. There are far to many details for anyone to be able to answer you here.

Answer 4

If the land has already been deeded to your daughter, you may have a problem, since she is now in possession of the asset.

Check with a qualified trust attorney to see if this 'rollback' can occur without incurring some sort of problems.

Answer 5

In most cases family transfers can be done by "quit claim deed" with little or no consideration (purchase price that taxes and document tax is paid on) I would contact the clerk of the court in your area to confirm what procedure you need to follow for your situation.
Hope this helps!

Answer 6

Speak with a lawyer about a "Special Needs Trust."

If you put the land into this sort of trust she can still collect state aid.

find a lawyer in a small office in your town It should not cost more that $200.-$500. dollars.

Answer 7

The state you're living in should help with this. But it sounds like he's trying for a job and with this economy I think he should see his own child. It sounds like he'll owe you but at least he's trying through the jobs agency. Give him a break for now.