# A Mess:



## dogo (Dec 3, 2005)

I was wondering has anyone ever faced a situation as this and if so what can be done if anything ? My oldest sister had been married twice. Her first marriage she had twin girls her second marriage she had another girl. Over the years she had gotten a divorce from her second husband. But later got back together and as far as I know never got remarried to the man. But still they lived together for years maybe 30 or 40 up till the day he died . This is where the problem starts. Say her husbands name is Ray. Well Ray had a will made leaving everything to his girl by my sister. But my sister had control over all till she died. He had bought a house which was still mortgaged through a local bank. He left the house to his girl and all his belongings. This is where it gets confusing to me. My sister paid the mortgage off a little over 22,000.00 dollars, me and my baby sister telling her not to.My sister passed away in March and Rays daughter claims the house and change locks on the house and want allow her step sister in the house to get her mothers belongings. It seems to me if she paid the mortgage off my sister . Then all the girls should split the property 50/50 . Other than personal belongs and property obtained outside of the marriage. I know there's more to this but perhaps you guys understand what the problem I'm trying to explain ?


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## Lizza (Nov 30, 2005)

Not being a lawyer and more then just a little bit confused by your post, I can't, of course, 100% say. We have however gone through probate court twice in the last two years. 

My best guess is that the house and all it's belongings belong to the girl, there is no 50/50. It depends on Ray's will and then the mother's will. It sounds like though that everything is just like the daughter says, it is 100% hers. Just because your sister chose to pay off the mortgage doesn't matter, she could have easily done it for her one daughter and been a gift (maybe she promised Ray, can you really say?), unless it is written down (and notarized) nothing can be for sure why she did it. If the property was in her daughters name at the time, then it is the daughters, no matter who pays for it. Unless of course there was some sort of legal paper that said something like "I'm paying this $22K note in exchange my other children will receive 50/50 of the house at my passing" or something like that AND the daughter in question of course actually signs said paper. 

You can of course contact a probate attorney and start proceedings. It depends State to State, so you need to contact a practicing attorney in your state to find out the particulars. One visit shouldn't be very much money but going to probate court will be expensive. 

Can I just say, having gone through probate court twice (one being a very young person that should have not died, I know no one thinks they will ever die). Let this be a lesson to everyone everywhere! GET YOUR AFFAIRS IN ORDER. SEE AN ATTORNEY. WRITE THINGS DOWN. HAVE THEM NOTARIZED AND FILED WITH THE PROBATE COURT. After a death, things are very legal, even if they seem like they should be straight forward. You can not even imagine the paperwork that happens with a death and if things are not clearly written down, ugh, it's a nightmare for the family.


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## TedH71 (Jan 19, 2003)

I would speculate if the courts say it's not your sister's then don't make payments and either the Ray's daughter will start making payments or suddenly get house seized due to lack of payments. Simple enough.


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## Lizza (Nov 30, 2005)

TedH71 said:


> I would speculate if the courts say it's not your sister's then don't make payments and either the Ray's daughter will start making payments or suddenly get house seized due to lack of payments. Simple enough.


I think the mother paid off the note ($22K) and the house is owned free and clear, so there are no payments on the house, only taxes I would suppose. If I read his message right?


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## onthespot (Oct 7, 2007)

Did the mother leave a will? I would think as the surviving spouse she would have gained ownership and the right to leave it to whomever she wanted. If she did not make a will... chips have fallen and the other sister is SOL. The house and everything in it is the second sister's now in my opinion, which is not worth the Kb it is written in.


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## Lizza (Nov 30, 2005)

onthespot said:


> Did the mother leave a will? I would think as the surviving spouse she would have gained ownership and the right to leave it to whomever she wanted. If she did not make a will... chips have fallen and the other sister is SOL. The house and everything in it is the second sister's now in my opinion, which is not worth the Kb it is written in.


Unless I'm reading it wrong (a real possibility), the house was never in the mother's name, it was in the daughters, AND "ray" and mother were not married, although it could be a common law state? But in any case the house was not the mothers to "will" away. 

Maybe OP can straighten out a few facts?


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## Micheal (Jan 28, 2009)

As I read it:
Sister married Ray and had a daughter.
Sister and Ray divorced.
Ray makes out will leaving all his belongings to the daughter.

Therefore if the house and/or any of "his belongings" are in his name only then they transfer to the daughter as per the will.

End of story.
It doesn't matter who paid what, said what, or even when - the legal paperwork (and who is named to what) is what will win in the end.

Least wise that's the way it would be in NY.......


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## TedH71 (Jan 19, 2003)

Not in Texas or KS. Spouse gets it all if it's legal. Not sure about common law marriages.


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## Karen (Apr 17, 2002)

Retired paralegal here. The answer is simple -- Ray's property becomes an 'estate' the moment he died. No one owns any of his property at this time. 

This means that his property must go through probate - that's the law in all 50 states; especially since there was a will because the law requires the will to be probated in order to make it legally binding. 

The bad thing is, for anyone to start taking assets is illegal at this time -- no matter who he left it to (even if it were a spouse). Probate should have been done immediately upon his death. You need to speak to an attorney ASAP because those folks are all operating outside of the law, which could have serious consequences. 

Also, if Ray had any debts, the law requires those to be paid from the estate BEFORE any heirs get a single penny; as well as the court costs and attorney fees in probating the will/estate; as well as the fees of whoever he named in his will as executor of his estate (unless they choose to exercise their option to not accept any fees for their job of executor). 

An estate that has any creditors at all (medical bills, credit cards, debts, etc.) and has real estate, almost always ends up in probate for months - often for over a year.


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