My parents purchased a house while married, when they divorced my father remarried and had 2 children with my stepmother

Question

My mother has a son,My dad still has the house, never bought my mom out, apparently there’s a will they did together dividing the house between 4 siblings (same parents) according to my dad his children from the other marriage have rights to the house but not my mothers son. He also claims she only lived in the house for 2yrs & she’s not entitled to her half as a new law in PR dictates that the house is divided equally between him, her & 6 children, the 4 they have together & his 2 from current marriage. Is this true?

Richard Diamond · Answer

Its impossible for any lawyer to attempt to give you legal advice based on the information supplied. You need to schedule a consultation with a family law attorney to review your parent's divorce agreement to understand the agreement reached between your mother and your father over the equitable distribution of that asset for divorce purposes. The first question though is how was the title to the house held at the time of your father's passing? Was it in his name alone; in joint name with your mother; or was it in joint name between your father and his new wife? Each one of those settings creates different property ownership rights. If it was in your father's name alone, the next question is whether there was a signed writing with your mother giving her or the children of the marriage an ownership interest - again, the production of the signed writing is essential. Your mother cannot simply say that she and your father agreed upon a plan without production of a writing between them confirming it.

Q: My parents purchased a house while married, when they divorced my father remarried and had 2 children with my stepmother