Question about transfer of property after death.

DeathEatsaCracker · Aug 16, 2012

There's a diverse enough crowd here that maybe someone is an expert in the field and can answer this question for me.

I have a "friend", let's just call him "Life Eats a Cookie" (LEAC) whose worthless mother lives with his grandmother (her mother). Grandmother (a saint, btw) is in ill health and not of sound mind and does not have a will.

Upon her death, what will happen to her house? Is there anything "LEAC" can do to swoop in and secure the house so that the state doesn't taking it, thus leaving my "friend's" worthless, mentally unstable cat lady of a mother homeless?

boatboatboat · Aug 16, 2012

If she has no will, the state will write her will for her after death.

The probate judge will decide, what she would have wanted to do, if she had written a will, while still alive and of sound mind.

DeathEatsaCracker · Aug 16, 2012

boatboatboat said:
If she has no will, the state will write her will for her after death.

The probate judge will decide, what she would have wanted to do, if she had written a will, while still alive and of sound mind.

Ok, thanks. How can I find out who the probate judge would be and would I be allowed to see him/her before they write her will?

boatboatboat · Aug 16, 2012

IMO your best approach would be to have her write a will NOW.

But to find out who the probate judge would be, call your county court house.

C.P. · Aug 16, 2012

boatboatboat said:
IMO your best approach would be to have her write a will NOW.
QUOTE]

Just...goggle make a will...they have them for every state....do it soon...

don't leave it in the Judges...that could be bad....

Have her sign...date...and say she is STILL OF SOUND MIND.....

bol

SECplayer · Aug 16, 2012

If she dies without a will, she dies intestate.

The fact that she is already not of sound mind is going to be problematic. That's a requirement in wills and power of attorney documents and there have to be witnesses who sign the will afterwards attesting to her competence (number of witnesses to sign varies by state).

If she dies without a will (intestate), the estate will be given to relatives in an order already determined by your state (needless to say, your mother would get the assets before you as a grandchild would fall further down the list than a child).

Willie99 · Aug 16, 2012

call a good elder law attorney

seriously, they know the angles

1st consultation free

emphasis on "elder law attorney" (y'all might have to drive into the city to find one)

doing so might save your friend a lot of money

DeathEatsaCracker · Aug 16, 2012

SECplayer said:
If she dies without a will, she dies intestate.

The fact that she is already not of sound mind is going to be problematic. That's a requirement in wills and power of attorney documents and there have to be witnesses who sign the will afterwards attesting to her competence (number of witnesses to sign varies by state).

If she dies without a will (intestate), the estate will be given to relatives in an order already determined by your state (needless to say, your mother would get the assets before you as a grandchild would fall further down the list than a child).

My mother errrrr my friend's mother is the oldest living sibling and has resided in the house for close to 10 years. It seems like it would be pretty likely that the house would go to her, which would be the best possible outcome.

DeathEatsaCracker · Aug 16, 2012

Some good information in this thread. Thanks everyone.

SECplayer · Aug 16, 2012

Death Eats a Cracker said:
My mother errrrr my friend's mother is the oldest living sibling and has resided in the house for close to 10 years. It seems like it would be pretty likely that the house would go to her, which would be the best possible outcome.

Didn't realize your mother (or whoever) had siblings. In that case, in all likelihood, her being the eldest of your grandmothers children is of no consequence. The children would likely have equal shares of her estate (house and other assets).

KennyB · Aug 16, 2012

Under the intestate laws (of Florida) the order of succession is: Spouse, if no spouse to Children, if no children to Parents, if no Parents, brothers and sisters, etc.

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes...ng=&URL=0700-0799/0732/Sections/0732.103.html

I would imagine most states are similar but it is not hard to look up.

DeathEatsaCracker · Aug 16, 2012

SECplayer said:
Didn't realize your mother (or whoever) had siblings. In that case, in all likelihood, her being the eldest of your grandmothers children is of no consequence. The children would likely have equal shares of her estate (house and other assets).

Shit.

JackStraw77 · Aug 16, 2012

Have Ned Racine (Body Heat) do the will and you will end up with all the money

ProPokerPlayer · Aug 17, 2012

Every state has different laws on this....In Louisiana for instance any child over 24 whos not named in a will gets nothing whatsoever. In most states when a single person dies the state becomes the "spouse" and gets half and the courts decide who gets the other half....
By the way if she dies after Jan1,2013 the Federal Govt gets 55% in estate taxes which means you will prolly have to sell the place anyway to pay them off.

If there are substantial assets to protect you need an Estate lawyer, like yesterday. DO NOT go get any tom dick and larry lawyer, find 1 who specializes in estate law or i promise you they will screw it up. Estate laws are very complicated. It will be expensive, the estate lawyer we used charged $400 an hr.

Maggiore · Aug 17, 2012

ProPokerPlayer said:
Every state has different laws on this....In Louisiana for instance any child over 24 whos not named in a will gets nothing whatsoever. In most states when a single person dies the state becomes the "spouse" and gets half and the courts decide who gets the other half....
By the way if she dies after Jan1,2013 the Federal Govt gets 55% in estate taxes which means you will prolly have to sell the place anyway to pay them off.

If there are substantial assets to protect you need an Estate lawyer, like yesterday. DO NOT go get any tom dick and larry lawyer, find 1 who specializes in estate law or i promise you they will screw it up. Estate laws are very complicated. It will be expensive, the estate lawyer we used charged $400 an hr.

The 55% estate tax is only on estates over 1M.

Like stated above, you need (or whoever we are talking about-I got confused) to get an attorney or at the very least, try to get power of attorney and get a will together.

BAGIANT · Aug 17, 2012

Why don't you quit claim the deed to your mother while your grandmother is still alive? That way you shouldn't have any problems.

Willie99 · Aug 17, 2012

Death Eats a Cracker said:
Shit.

in CT, I've seen cases where companionship and care carries a lot of weight

call an elder law attorney, I don't think there's a 2nd option

DeathEatsaCracker · Aug 17, 2012

Willie99 said:
in CT, I've seen cases where companionship and care carries a lot of weight

call an elder law attorney, I don't think there's a 2nd option

This is most likely what I'm going to have to do. This isn't about money at all, because the house is basically worthless and that is pretty much all she has. This is about making sure my mother isn't homeless (and by "homeless" I mean "living in my spare bedroom") after my grandmother passes. This could get ugly because the three siblings don't get along very well.

DeathEatsaCracker · Aug 17, 2012

BAGIANT said:
Why don't you quit claim the deed to your mother while your grandmother is still alive? That way you shouldn't have any problems.

For several reasons but mainly because my grandmother's mind is slipping away and she tunes out whenever the subject is brought up and also because the other siblings would create a shitstorm of epic proportions. There is almost nothing to divide up, but if one thought another was getting a penny more it would be ugly. These are petty people we're talking about.

SECplayer · Aug 17, 2012

Death Eats a Cracker said:
For several reasons but mainly because my grandmother's mind is slipping away and she tunes out whenever the subject is brought up and also because the other siblings would create a shitstorm of epic proportions. There is almost nothing to divide up, but if one thought another was getting a penny more it would be ugly. These are petty people we're talking about.

If it makes you feel any better, that's how it pretty much always goes down. Your mother's family is no different than the average family when trying to resolve these types of issues.