Q: My mother added me onto the deed without any signature from me. Now she is involved in an injury settlement. Help?
My 90-year-old mother's lawyer recommended that she have 50% of her property signed over to me and my three brothers in order to make sure that "ownership didn't go to the city", as he had apparently put it. Besides the obvious "Capital Gain Tax" issues that may arise from this, my initial main concern has to do with a injury lawsuit that I've been pulled into because of it. There was a piece of the pavement missing on her neighbor's property, but (as is always the case with neighboring row homes) since it was along her property line the man injured is trying to sue her and the owners of her home as well. Now the thing that really is confusing me here is the fact that neither I, nor any of my brothers, ever signed anything to be put on the deed, and only found out that we were because of the lawsuit itself. Can anybody tell me what me and my husband's options are?
A: Were it not for the lawsuit you could simply execute a new deed transferring the property back to your mother. Even with the lawsuit you can do that. However, you still must get out of the lawsuit. If you have insurance, the insurance company's lawyer will file a Motion to have you removed. If there is no insurance, you will have to hire a lawyer to handle this for you. In any event, your first step should be to consult with a lawyer about all this.
A: Hopefully there was homeowners insurance on the property and if so let them handle it. You got free an interest in property. No you don't get capital gains now--only if you sell and then it means you get money you wouldn't necessarily have so focus on now. It may be possible to claim as a defense you weren't a willing owner. But a lot will depend on who is claiming what, and if there is no homeonwers the three of you may want to get a consultation.
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