Could a zealous district attorney claim the house was purchased with stolen funds and make a claim for ownership? I mean, it is in Arizona.
That does not, strictly speaking, eliminate the possibility of her name being on the deed.
In my area we had a gentleman fall down some stairs in his home and expire some days later. He had long had a live-in girlfriend but they were definitely unmarried since she was disabled and concerned that a change in marital status might muck up her access to state-subsidized health care and other benefits. When he died, though, a look at the deed to the house showed that, in fact, she had been added to the deed some years ago. Unfortunately, she was not physically able to live alone but sale of the property is now allowing her to live in a place that is better than a pauper’s snakepit of a nursing home.
On the other hand, both parties involved in THAT particular case were neither criminal nor stupid.
So, the woman in the OP might actually have a legal claim to the home… but that is something for a lawyer (or even a court) to determine, and only after examining facts that the OP may or may not be privy to.
Is the state that she resided with him, a common law state, during that time? If so, she could be considered his common law spouse, which could result in her being the rightful owner of the house.
She needs expert counsel.
Clear claim of adverse possession here in the UK.
Looking up home ownership is easy since the information became available online.
Here, each county maintains a web page.
All you need is the address. That will find the subdivision and lot number.
I paid off my mortgage and got nothing. No congrats letter, no title. Zip. Thirty years of payments and nothing.
I looked it up later and confirmed their lein had been cleared off my title.
AFAIK, Arizona is not and never has been a common law state. Unmarried couples are covered by some areas of law while together (mainly having to do with kids) but have somewhere between diddly and squat in the way of legal protection if they split up, regardless of whether they were rent asunder by a horrible argument or a sudden death.
It was a fairly big deal when I was in college (early '00s) and AZ finally repealed its laws against cohabitation. No one actually enforced any of them, mind, but they existed and could be used to cause trouble if someone really had it in for you.
Keep in mind that paying taxes and utilities and maybe even a 25 year old mortgage might be cheaper than renting an equivalent house at today’s prices. Take away the mortgage payment and it almost certainly is. Even if someday she has to give it up, she’s living cheap for now.
I would certainly hate to lose the equity built up in the house if someone came forth to claim it or I had to move for some reason. But if you are just thinking about living for today, it’s probably a pretty sweet deal.
By the way, I am not saying she does not have some rights such as adverse possession or that she is not the rightful owner (no one has yet looked up the actual title), I’m just trying to give a little insight in case the worst case turns out to be true.
She needs to consult a real estate attorney before any potential heirs figure this out. She is likely on solid ground with ownership of the house, but the paperwork needs to be put in order. She’s been living openly and notoriously in the house for 25 years and has been paying the property tax. That’s a solid adverse possession in just about every state.