Q: Hi, my father recently passed and his will wasn't written very well. A lady friend of his hired nwtrustee.com to divide
his estate between my sister and my two brothers and myself. I purchased my home 20 years ago but had to use my father to take the loan out in his name due to an ex of mine that pretty much ruined my credit. IThe original purchase price was 55K and the balance of the loan was 27K when he passed. I gave my father 30K for the down on the loan and made all the payments. Since there wasn't a quick claim in the will (or whatever they use) the trustee company had my home estimated by a real estate company which came to $102K. The trustee company split the estate up 4 ways evenly and now they want to subtract the 102K from my share of the estate. It would mean that everything that's been paid on my home would have to be paid all over again. Can they legally do this?
A:
This is the unfortunate result of the documentation not matching reality. Had you hired an attorney when you bought the house, he or she would have helped you and your dad document the fact that you were meant to be the beneficial owner. There are other things you could have done as well, but now that is water under the bridge.
On the surface, the result you have described is correct. However, it would be worth your while to seek out a really good probate litigator to review whatever evidence you have and try to prove that you were meant to be the beneficial owner. You would be making a claim against the probate estate to claim the property as 100% yours. DO NOT DELAY. THERE ARE STRICT TIME LIMITS FOR MAKING CLAIMS AGAINST ESTATES.
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