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NEED HELP ASAP PLEASE
Anonymous4 views4 answers
Need Help ASAP!! While my mother & father were married they bought a house. My mother left my father and they divorced, my father remained in the house, til he past away back in 1998..my mother remarried between 88-92 in Hawaii....a few years after my father passed, my mother & step dad moved in my fathers house, some how my mother was able to transfer the deed to the house to her name and obtain a $60,000.00 loan against the house. There is only a $10,000.000 balance owed on that loan...My mother just recently passed away ( 2 wks to be exact) my stepdad is still residing at the house and beleive he is entiled to the house...There is no will for either parent...Does me & my siblings have any right to the house? what are our options?
The legal mystery moment is when your mother "moved in your father's house, some how.. was able to transfer deed to the house to her name". Since they were divorced, the divorce decree would have defined their ownership rights in the house. Go to the District Clerk's office in the county where the divorced and get a copy of the decree. Then go to the County Clerk's office in the count where the house sits and get a copy of all the deed and transfer papers on file relating to the house. Then talk to a qualified probate attorney to determine what rights you may have. Note that if she did own the house, then her husband (your step-father) will likely have homestead occupancy rights that you cannot legally violate. Read more about homestead rights on my blog at TexasEstateandProbate.com
First, determine the ownership of the house when they divorced. The divorce decree should include that information and a copy of the decree is available from the court if you don't have a copy. If the divorce decree doesn't make it clear how it is in your mother's name, you need to review the deed records to determine how it was transferred into her name. Additionally, there should have been a probate for your father's estate which would include a transfer to heirs or beneficiaries. You next steps will depend on what you discover above. If the title was properly held by your mother then her husband will have homestead rights allowing him to live in the house for the rest of his life. You need to make an appointment with a probate attorney to review this information and determine what your options are. Good Luck!
I agree with the previous posts that the first step is determining ownership of the house, based on the divorce decree from your parents. If your mother is the legal owner of the house, your stepdad may be entitled to the right to live in the house until his death. At that point, the house would pass to you and your siblings. An experienced estate planning attorney can help you sort out the issues.
In Texas a spouse may continue to use the homestead as their residence after the passing of their spouse. There are provisions given to children of the deceased but it may only ultimately result in a future claim when the surviving spouse dies. If you are looking for immediate cash from the realty, that may not occur, even after you establish your rights by descent and distribution. The fact that puzzles me is how your parent was able to secure a loan on the property without showing clear evidence of ownership. So, I would assume that there are facts that you do not know and will discover after you have done some searching in the Dallas County Deed records.
