Soddy Daisy, TN asked in Real Estate Law for Tennessee

Q: His wife is suing her husband's parents for 1/3 of the property that his name is on, which cuts out his 2 sisters.

He was 1 of a total of 4 people listed on a piece of property that was owned by his parents. He never put any money into the property but his sister did. He filed a chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2011 because of his wife's spending. He died intestate in 2013. Since then, his wife has filed bankruptcy 3 times in 5 years.

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2 Lawyer Answers
Anthony M. Avery
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Answered
  • Knoxville, TN
  • Licensed in Tennessee

A: What is your question? I doubt the two sisters and whoever else was an owner are being cut out of anything. I would suggest a Title Search to see exactly what interest the Husband died owning. Without a Will being Probated, the property was possibly titled in Tenants In Common, and assuming the Bankruptcy Trustee abandoned all non-exempt property to the Debtor, his Heirs would own his 1/4 interest. The spouse would own the whole 1/4, or 1/2 of 1/4, or 1/3 of 1/4. The Parents need to defend as best they can, but a Sale For Partition sounds very likely and enforceable.

Anthony M. Avery
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Answered
  • Knoxville, TN
  • Licensed in Tennessee

A: You might check those Bankruptcy Schedules ("A) to see if she listed ownership of the real property interest you think she now owns. If she did list it, and exempted it, she probably owns it. But if she did not list it, then she may be Judicially Estopped from now claiming ownership. The Parents should have already hired a competent attorney to examine this and defend them.

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