Q: Housing question
my mom & dad owned a home 10 years ago. It was me, & me 5 brothers living in the house. my father got sick & changed the title of the house to go to my older brother to avoid hospitals & doctors from taking his house. my dad passed away 10 years ago. my brother sold the house and bought another house in Warwick NY & my mom & 2 other brothers all went to live in this new home. They have been living there for 9 years. now my brother wants to kick out my 70 year old mother & brothers out of the house. He is constantly verbally abusive to my mother(although I believe he has hit her but she wont say)Is there anything we can do? Can me, my 4 other brothers & my mom go to a lawyer & state what happened & how my brother received the house and try to get some money from it or is this a lost cause. They live in Warwick, NY Pam P
A: It is not a cause at all. Your brother owned the last house and owns this house. The others are tenants. You are nothing and have no standing. If you think your mom is being abused, call adult protective services in the county where she lives.
A: Probably a "lost cause," however maybe not for the reason you may be thinking. The deed transfer to your brother is arguably a voidable transaction since it was for the purpose of your father keeping it away from his creditors, this is otherwise known as a fraudulent conveyance and rescission of the deed is among the remedies available. That means the house just passes down to his estate. The problem is that the statute of limitations on a fraudulent conveyance is 6 years from the date of the conveyance. Another issue might be weather your mom, you and your siblings have standing to contest the deed in any event since it is usually the creditors who lost the ability to collect are the parties intended to be protected by the statute. Your father could have executed the deed to make all of you owners, but he didn't. Unfortunately, it appears that your mother and siblings are all staying at the house at the discretion of your brother and only really have squatters rights. As the other attorney pointed out, contact the authorities if you suspect abuse is going on.
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