Apparently my uncle is taking my deceased mom's house over

My mom passed away a year ago, her non-husband husband (let's call him Bob) who did a commendable job taking care of us and especially her over the years still lived there and has been making the monthly payments through Social Security.

But i just found out today that he is working to sign ownership of the house over to my uncle. No one informed me of this before. I don't fully understand the plan but it sounds like my uncle will be investing money to make fix the house up completely (it has a slew of problems), and then potentially my other uncle and aunt might live there, and potentially he just sells it.

Is this a shitty move? I have three siblings, so the four of us should have some claim to the house even if it's in a shitty condition.

My wife is pissed off, saying that we could have just sold the house as-is if we needed to for a decent amount of money split between my siblings, or we could have pooled money to fix it up (maybe not realistic since none of us are in a position to do that financially). I'm still trying to figure it all out and need to make calls now to people to get all the details. I dont even know if the house was in my mom's name at the very end and if I'd even be able to claim ownership of it.

Blargh i just wanted to have a good day and call Bob who I haven't spoken to in a few months to see how he's doing.

First, sorry to hear about your mom.
If Bob has power of attorney then he can do whatever he wants. If not, then it would go to next of kin.
Do you know if your mom had a will?

Depends entirely on the will and who the house belongs to.

Turbam posted...

First, sorry to hear about your mom.
If Bob has power of attorney then he can do whatever he wants. If not, then it would go to next of kin.
Do you know if your mom had a will?

She didn't have a will that I know of. We don't even have a definitive answer on where she wanted her ashes to be scattered, I've heard like five different stories from five different people. I was trying to get Bob and my mom to get at least THAT written down when she was at the hospital a month before she passed but even that idea was shot down as "Well she can't see well right now and we'll take care of it later."

In the state in question, spouses and surviving children get equal claim to inheritance but they were never legally married.

Hospy posted...

Depends entirely on the will and who the house belongs to.

Yeah I don't even know who the house belonged to, if someone was marked as a co-owner but even if someone was a co-owner would the surviving children not have some legal claim to a portion of the property?

If she had no will, and was not legally married to 'Bob', then the children will have a claim on her share of the house.

Although some provision may also be made for 'Bob'.

You need to have a chat with a lawyer ASAP.

ai123 posted...

You need to have a chat with a lawyer ASAP.

Estate/Probate Lawyers to be more specific. Estates are the ones you use before you die and after death it's the probate lawyers you want. But either should be able to understand what is happening and help you to navigate this unfortunate time.

Talk to an estate planning attorney as soon as possible and find out what your claim to the property is. Be prepared to spend a little money for this, maybe itll pay off for you.

I would do this sooner before later as the transfer to your Uncle may complicate things and end up costing you more for the attorneys work.

If you have siblings, maybe go in together and split the cost.

I have a different perspective. Is the house located somewhere where it or the land it on will be valuable? Is this going to be enough money after the taxes you must pay to be worth the effort.

Possible outstanding property taxes
Possible outstanding loans
Possible inheritance taxes
Long distance court appearance
Long distance contractors
Long distance sale

???????

Sucks to say but sounds like you need to lawyer up or lose your possible inheritance.