Posted by Rick Harmon on December 01, 2005 at 16:52:55:
I think Jimmy pretty well covered this, however here are a few points to clarify:
The probate will normally be filed in the State that the decedent (your Mother) resided in prior to her death. If she lived in this home and the property is in New York, it will need to be probated in the same State and County. If she lived elsewhere but merely owned this house, it will need to be probated in that State & County.
If Dad pre-deceased Mom and left no will, normally Mom’s estate will be equally divided among rightful heirs (starting with her children). In that case, Dad’s interest would not be a factor (unless I’m missing something vital here).
Irrespective of your Brother’s standing, all of Mom’s offsprings would we entitled to an equal amount of the residual of the estate (meaning what’s left over after paying attorney, liens, creditor claims, burial, etc.).
If your Brother were to die now, his heirs (named in his will) or his spouse and offsprings, if any, would “step into his shoes” and receive his share as if he were alive.
If you fiddle around too long there could be problems relating to taxes or other things that just plain muddle up this case more than it already is. Best plan is to locate an attorney in that area who specializes in probate estate law (perhaps thru local attorney Bar Association or title company referral) and get it going. Let the attorney deal with the Brother. Maybe Brother even decides to find sobriety.
I am one of five adult children. My parents are deceased. My brother, who is alcoholic and unemployed has stayed in the house. The rest of us thought it would be unkind to have him live on the streets. At one point his adult daughter came to live at the house also. His health is now poor.Can the rest of us now claim our inheritance?
Re: house after parents have died - Posted by dealmaker
Posted by dealmaker on November 30, 2005 at 19:20:29:
Yes, but as with all things legal, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE. It’s always a good idea to perfect your claim to title as soon as feasible, but let’s move forward.
It’s a bad idea for parents to leave an individed estate to multiple siblings, I’m guessing that’s what you’ve got here. Where it gets really dodgy (in community property states) is if one of the original heirs (siblings) then dies (intestate) and his share then descends to his heirs. In this case your adult neice and her NOK. This can be really bad, time consuming and EXPENSIVE to untangle.
Get going on it now, even if the result is for the rest of you to gift your shares to your brother.
FYI MY oldest sister has the deed that is in my Mom’s name only and a letter from my brother that he knows w
e are all(5) heirs. My parents left no will. How do we get moving on it? Are we talking New York real estate laws? I live in California as well as a brother, two siblings live in Florida
Title is still in your dead parents’ names. You and your siblings cannot, unilaterally, transfer title. And you cannot give good title to a buyer.
If there was no will, your parents died INTESTATE. a fancy word meaning no will.
you have TWO ESTATES here, not one. First, you must deal with the first dead parent estate. Resolving that estate will put title (temporarily) into the name of others. Maybe 100% would go to the surviving parent. Maybe not. It depends on several factors which are state-specific.
You may have to do two probates. Maybe not. There could be some expedited procedures in your state which might allow you to avoid full-blown probates. Again, it is state-specific.
Your parents state of residence when they died is the state whose laws are in play. at least for purposes of determining who the heirs are. If the property is in a different state, you may have to open an ancillary probate in he situs state, after you have opened the primary probate in the residence state. Hopefully, you do not have multiple states involved here. Where you and your siblings live is irrelevant.
YOU NEED A LAWYER WHO SPECIALIZES IN DEATH TRANSFERS. Get a referal to a reputable probate attorney in the state of your parents residence.