My husband and his father are on the deed to his father's house. His father died but the will says that all 3 kids get the estate. So that would mean all 3 kids would be on the deed when he passes. Since my husband was originally on the deed before he died, does that mean it's officially... View More 
answered on Mar 2, 2024
It all depends on how the deed was written. If the deed gave the co-owners survivorship rights, the surviving owner would own it all regardless of what the Will said (because there would be no interest to pass through the Will as it would have automatically gone to the survivor). However, if the... View More
My husband and his father are on the deed to his father's house. His father died but the will says that all 3 kids get the estate. So that would mean all 3 kids would be on the deed when he passes. Since my husband was originally on the deed before he died, does that mean it's officially... View More
answered on Mar 2, 2024
If the deed is owned as joint tenants, then your husband is now the sole owner and the house is not an asset of his father’s estate, so it doesn’t matter what the Will says.
If the deed is owned as tenants in common, then your husband now owns 50% of the house outright, and the other... View More
My husband and his father are on the deed to his father's house. His father died but the will says that all 3 kids get the estate. So that would mean all 3 kids would be on the deed when he passes. Since my husband was originally on the deed before he died, does that mean it's officially... View More
answered on Mar 2, 2024
Your question is missing the exact wording of the deed naming your hubby as a co-owner. If the wording made him a full owner upon Dad's death, then the Will's bequest would be ineffective. But if any interest became part of your Dad's probate estate, then that portion could be... View More
My husband and his father are on the deed to his father's house. His father died but the will says that all 3 kids get the estate. So that would mean all 3 kids would be on the deed when he passes. Since my husband was originally on the deed before he died, does that mean it's officially... View More
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answered on Mar 2, 2024
The ownership of the property after your father-in-law's death largely depends on how the deed was titled when your husband and his father were placed on it. If the deed lists them as "joint tenants with right of survivorship," then upon his father's death, your husband... View More
My father is mentally unstable. He would have doctors comit him to have his attorney have him released, for a large fee. My father died because the doctors and family was afraid to authorize treatment for a infection. His attorney is is sole benefactor in his life insurance and will. Isn't... View More
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answered on Jan 10, 2024
It's not inherently illegal for a lawyer to be named as a beneficiary in a client's will or life insurance policy, but this situation can raise questions of undue influence or conflict of interest. If your father's mental capacity was in doubt, there could be grounds to challenge the... View More
Two sisters inherited a house, one is the executor of the will. They both wish to sell the house but the executor payed the mortgage for the last two months out of pocket instead of out of the estate funds. She now wants reimbursed saying there were no estate funds only the bequeathments as set by... View More
answered on Dec 5, 2023
Yes. The sister can petition the court to remove the Personal Representative, who is not doing the job properly. There is no reason to pay a mortgage if the estate is insolvent. It just means the house must be sold. The bank will get all its money at settlement, if the price is high enough. The... View More
Two sisters inherited a house, one is the executor of the will. They both wish to sell the house but the executor payed the mortgage for the last two months out of pocket instead of out of the estate funds. She now wants reimbursed saying there were no estate funds only the bequeathments as set by... View More
answered on Dec 5, 2023
An online post cannot fully answer specific questions about a specific estate, but generally speaking one way or the other the mortgage needs to be paid and in nearly all scenarios this legally is treated as an estate expense.
If an estate lacks liquid funds (cash) to pay the mortgage,... View More
Two sisters inherited a house with a mortgage now one sister wants the other sister to quit claim deed the house. Said sister is also the executor of the estate and is forcing my wife to either pay half the mortgage or quit claim on said house
answered on Dec 5, 2023
When a house has a mortgage on it, the mortgage will need to be paid one way or another. Either the estate will pay off the loan with other cash and deed the house free and clear, the house will be sold and the loan paid at closing or the house will be conveyed to heirs "subject to" the... View More
Two sisters inherited a house with a mortgage now one sister wants the other sister to quit claim deed the house. Said sister is also the executor of the estate and is forcing my wife to either pay half the mortgage or quit claim on said house
answered on Dec 5, 2023
"inheritance" doesn't mean the bank loan is forgiven. It must be either paid off from Estate funds, or refinanced by the person inheriting the property. A "quitclaim" deed (one without the usual warranties of title) means the mortgage lien/loan obligations of the dead... View More
Two sisters inherited a house with a mortgage now one sister wants the other sister to quit claim deed the house. Said sister is also the executor of the estate and is forcing my wife to either pay half the mortgage or quit claim on said house
answered on Dec 5, 2023
It might be easier for you to think of this a different way. If the course was inherited by both sister, each has the right to use the undivided whole, and either has the right to demand that it be sold and the proceeds after paying off the mortgage split. If you cannot reach another agreement,... View More
based on the FMV. I am paying cash, no loan needed. I am wondering the pros/cons of either (1) transferring the property into our joint names first, then completing the buy-out after the estate is closed, or (2) doing the buy-out through the estate, then we distribute the house/funds accordingly.... View More
answered on Aug 31, 2023
Thanks for your post. One beneficiary/heir buying out the other(s) presents a fairly common scenario.
When an estate has enough other liquid assets, then to eliminate transfer taxes it often makes sense to distribute the real estate entirely to the child who wants to acquire it and... View More
My wife applied to be the personal representative of my MILs estate on April 21, 2023. As of June 5th, there is no response from the court. The register of wills did not have the latest will and we don't have an original, but we had a copy. My wife is listed as the primary representative... View More
answered on Jun 7, 2023
Wow. You don't have the latest version of the will, and what you do have is only a copy. No, that's not good enough. You're heading for judicial probate on this one. That's why it's taking so long. There has to be a proceeding regarding what happened to the most recent... View More
My wife applied to be the personal representative of my MILs estate on April 21, 2023. As of June 5th, there is no response from the court. The register of wills did not have the latest will and we don't have an original, but we had a copy. My wife is listed as the primary representative... View More
answered on Jun 5, 2023
Ordinarily, you are required to make a court appearance and produce the original will to be appointed as the personal representative of a decedent's estate. The fact that you don't have the original, but do have a copy, tells me that you may be trying to do something without an attorney... View More
In the Will, he states, "I give and devise unto my wife my real estate [home address] for the remainder of her natural life, or until she shall decide to reside elsewhere on a permanent basis, or until she shall remarry...she shall pay all maintenance cost, insurance, and property taxes at her... View More
answered on Jun 7, 2023
You may only have a future interest after your father's widow (your mother?) no longer is residing in the house. You have no present rights to enforce, unless it has to do with an accusation that your father's widow is causing "waste" to the property (e.g., not paying the taxes... View More
In the Will, he states, "I give and devise unto my wife my real estate [home address] for the remainder of her natural life, or until she shall decide to reside elsewhere on a permanent basis, or until she shall remarry...she shall pay all maintenance cost, insurance, and property taxes at her... View More
answered on Jun 5, 2023
Hi and thanks for posting a real estate question.
The first variable is whether your father's wife is still living. This appears to be a life estate to your father's wife, with the life estate ending if the life tenant moves out or remarries.
You describe a position... View More
My boyfriend of 10 years passed away April 1. He told me in 2020/2021 he had done a will & it was with his papers at his shop. He told me who the executor was & that his son wasn't to get anything. It was not filed with register of wills
I believe his son found the will.... View More
answered on May 31, 2023
Have you checked with the executor to see if he has a copy of the Will, or any correspondence regarding being named executor? Do you or anyone you know have access to the shop where the Will supposedly was stored? Do you know who he named as beneficiaries under his will?
The purported... View More
The decedent died on 3/08/2022. The Notice to Creditors was published in March 2022 just after the decedent passed. The estate closed on 12/19/2022. I am personal representative and am still getting bills for medical services provided back in May 2021 thru January 2022. Am I obligated to pay them?
answered on Mar 29, 2023
If these bills are Medicare or Medicaid-related, and are requesting reimbursements for benefits paid through those programs, then maybe. Otherwise, creditors have an outer deadline of 6 months from the date of death to file a formal claim in the estate (not simply mail bills--the claim if a formal... View More
answered on Mar 4, 2023
Yes, they can live there through probate, so long as the PR permits it (or the Will directs that they may). Are the contents of the house also going to the two children in the home, or are other persons receiving some of those contents? Until the house is distributed by deed to your two children,... View More
answered on Mar 2, 2023
You need to discuss your situation with a lawyer. There are way too many unanswered questions. Is the home free & clear? Are there other heirs? Will the two heirs share it equally and get along in it? Do you want them to have the house or the proceeds from the house?
The short, and... View More
I think I understand the "death" taxes in Maryland, but I am not positive on the calculations.
Are all taxes based on the value of the gross estate, or are some calculated based on the value after other taxes have been deducted?
For example:
Gross value of estate... View More
answered on Feb 27, 2023
Maryland inheritance tax is based on the relationship of the giver to the recipient, and is not tied to other death taxes, so on a $20M estate this could be $2M, $0 or nearly anything in between. (And if the tax is paid "outside" of the gift, Maryland will "tax the tax" and... View More
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