And, yes, Jimmy. The condo was deeded to my brother, sister and I when my father died. We certainly did not sign it over to The Woman unless she and her attorney managed to get us to sign something saying it was something else. Missouri is a “community property” state, but I don’t see how something that is deeded to someone else can go to the spouse of the deceased. Hence, the attorney tomorrow! I could not have gotten these ducks in a row without your help, Jimmy. Thank you so much!
After my mother’s death, my father remarried then sold the family home and purchased a condo. His will says that all of his real property goes to his children but his present wife may live there until she dies. He died. The new wife sold the condo and left town with the money. What recourse do the children have? State: Missouri.
Was his will executed before or after he re-married?
Was the condo purchased before of after he re-married?
How was the condo titled?
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here’s a wild-a$$ed guess about what went down: condo purchased after he remarried. titled as JTWROS. new wife files affidavit of death, gets title in her name, sells and leaves town. [actually, not such a wild guess. she had to get title in her name before she could sell the propery. and a JTWROS is a real easy way to do it]
and if I’m right, then her actions were proper. that’s because the will has nothing to say about property that passes outside of probate.
Mom and Dad married 53 years. Their home and all other property paid in full. Mom died. Dad remarried and new wife moved into Mom and Dad’s home. She sold her home when she moved in and kept all the proceeds. Next, they went to HER attorney and had a will drawn up. In the will, it says that all Dad’s real property goes to his children. He foolishly allows her to be the executor of his estate. Then Dad sold the house and bought a condo with the proceeds using his money alone for the purchase. Then he died. She lived in the condo a few months then sold it and moved leaving no forwarding address. My sister had checked with the county recorder several months ago and was told the title to the condo was in OUR names, but now they tell us it’s in her name. The will was probated and we believed that meant my Dad’s wishes were to be followed. It was widely known–she most definitely knew–that he intended for the condo to go to his children after his wife’s death. He assured all of us that when he sold our family home it would not affect our inheritance, but obviously, it has. By the way, this woman in the course of a very short time managed to talk him into liquidating every other item of real property that he owned that she was aware of. Mom and Dad had also set up a savings account at least 35 years ago that was to go to the children when the last parent died. During his second marriage, this account was somehow whittled down to one-third what it was when my mother died, so two-thirds of that part of our inheritance was lost too. You know, I honestly don’t care about the money. What I care about is thinking of the years and years of hard work and sacrifice my parents endured in order to leave something for their children and grandchildren. This woman has everything they ever accumulated plus everything she received from the death of her first husband. Is there anything we can do? Can we regain title of the condo or, at the very least, file a civil suit against this woman? She knows we can’t do much because we don’t have the money. I’m a teacher, my brother an admin assistant and my sister a hairdresser. Thanks, Jimmy, for responding to my plea!
how, PRECISELY, was it titled when they acquired it. don’t guess. don’t accept as accurate something your sister told you because a title officer told her. go to whichever agency houses real estate records in your county and get a copy of the deed by which they acquired the condo. see it for yourself. and then see if anything was recorded after they acquired the property, but before your dad died, which changed the titling.
if this property was JTWROS when your dad died, your case is dead in the water.
if it was in your dad’s name only on DOD, then you need to figure out, precisely, how maw-in-law got on title. go to the probate court and get photocopies of the entire file. [maybe available online…check it out].
Posted by John Merchant on July 12, 2007 at 13:09:21:
Go to the probate clerk’s office and get a copy of the Court Orders that were entered in the probate proceeding.
This will show you in detail exactly what happened in the probate.
Also buy a Preliminary Title Commitment on the house property so you can see every recorded conveyance of the house.
Both these are where any lawyer would start so as to learn what’s happened on the house.
A possible legal action might lie in a claim that your Dad was legally incompetent, or was illegally coerced and pressured when he somehow gave her control over the house in question.
While she may have this base well covered by her lawyer, maybe not, and you might have enough evidence and sufficient grounds for your lawyer to force her to the negotiating and dealing table.
Listen to Jimmy. Go to the recorders office and check the deeds, when your dad bought and when your step mother sold.
The bad news is with people like this it is usually all preplanned and they cover all the bases. I used to hear a story like this every couple years and I don’t remember any happy endings for the fleeced.
Thanks, Jimmy. I did as you suggested and looked up the deeds online. Here is a timeline: Mom died 1997. Dad married Woman 1998. Dad sold house 2002. Dad and Woman (both grantors) purchased condo with Dad’s money. Dad and Woman (grantors) transfer deed to me and my brother and sister (grantees). Dad died 7/2005. Three entries regarding the condo occur in the records 5 months after Dad’s death. They are: 1. Woman (grantor) and Woman’s Trust (grantee). 2. Woman and her daughter (grantors) and Woman (grantee). 3. Woman (grantor) and Woman (grantor). This looks like a lot of fancy legal footwork to me. To the best of my knowledge, we did not sign away our claim to the condo, but Woman’s lawyer did have us sign a waiver after probate saying there were no more claims against the estate. Did they slip one in on us???
We finally got a call back from The Woman’s attorney. He said that when Dad died, the property went to his spouse, The Woman. He also said Dad “changed his mind and wanted [The Woman} to have the condo.” I KNOW my dad did not change his mind. My sister asked The Woman’s attorney for documentation that our father changed his mind. The attorney said he didn’t have the paperwork handy. I am calling an attorney tomorrow because I just cannot let this woman get away with this. To make my point, I would give any money I might get from civil litigation to the American Cancer Society in my mother’s name. It’s not the money. It’s the creeps who prey on vulnerable, sick old people like my father.