My grandfather recently passed away, in Jan. 2012. He and my grandmother had written up a will in 1998 that stated everything was to be sold and split between their 3 children. However in recent years all of the children got divorced and one of them borrowed a significant sum of money from him so he created a quit claim deed and left the house and everything in it to the two children who were living with him. The other child knew about this and was fine with it.
Now one of the children wants to fight the quick claim deed and take the money and go.
A few questions; Can you fight a Quick Claim Deed? Can they revert back to the orignal will? (Because no one wants that) What could happen?
First, a Quit Claim Deed only applies to the structure and the property it sits on. Personal property within the home is not covered.
Second, the day that Deed was recorded with the County Child A and C became owners of the home and the terms of the Will no longer apply to the home.
Third, unless your grandfather revoked his Will, that document controls what happens with the property that remains in his name. The Quit Claim Deed does not effect the validity of your grandfather's Will.
If Child C is the one who wants to take everything for herself she will need to contest both the Will and the Deed.
According to the information that you provided, currently Child A and C each have a 1/2 interest in the home and A, B, & C each have a 1/3 interest in the rest of your grandfather's property.
If C contests the validity of the Quit Claim Deed and wins, the house will revert back to ownership by your grandfather and A, B, & C would each have a 1/3 interest in the house. This gives C a worse position than she started with.
Even if a Court were to find that your grandfather's Will is invalid, the default distribution in Michigan would divide all his property equally between his three children, leaving A, B, & C in the same position.
I recommend that you encourage your parent and their siblings to follow their father's instructions because the likely outcome of any court proceeding is less money for each of them than if they had simply followed those instructions.
You are referring to a quit claim deed (as was correctly stated). Assuming the provisions of the deed allow for immediate transfer at the death of one of the owners (Lady Bird Deed provision that transfers on death, joint tenancy provision that transfers to survivors), the will would not control. If the deed does not provide for such a transfer then the will would control.
It would be wise to consult an attorney to have the deed/estate reviewed. Many attorneys offer a free consultation.
Please let me know if I can help further.
First as I am not a Michigan attorney you should consider this reply as mere suggestion and not something you can rely on. There is a lot at stake here and you should be able to obtain legal advice from a local attorney who understands any unique aspects of Michigan real estate law.
That said your question may be missing the main point. It appears that A and C now own a house and C want to sell it and take his or her share of the proceeds. If that is right then most likely C can ultimately compel that result through a judicial process. In Ct it is called a partition sale. I have to believe that Michigan has a similar process. This isn't good for C or you because traditionally the judicial sale yields a price that is well below fair market value.
It is time to get practical and realize that you and C are not likely to be happy co-owners of this house. If you really want to live there, you should explore the possibilities of buying C's share. If you don't have a strong desire to live there then seriously consider selling it and moving on.
