Q: How do I account for vendor's interest in a land contract when completing inventory of estate?
My father passed away and was the vendor in a land contract agreement with my aunt. There is nothing about survivorship rights in the contract. I need to inventory his assets for informal probate. How do I account for his interest in the land contract as a vendor at the time of his death? Is he still considered the owner of the property? Do I include all or half of the fair market value of the real estate as part of his estate? Or is he technically no longer considered the owner of the real estate, which would mean that I just include the remainder of the money owed to fulfill the land contract as part of his estate assets in the inventory? Also, do I have to transfer the house deed and land contract into my name at any point or can I just leave it as is and eventually transfer the deed to my aunt once she fully pays off the agreed upon payments of the land contract?
A: The contract for deed is a chose in action which is personal property. It is an Estate asset, for which the fiduciary can sue on or be sued to enforce. Your lawyer should know this. Its value can be easily computed by the amount owed on the contract. The lessee Aunt has the risk of not having anyone to give her a Deed.
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