I am much relieved that this is all going to happen afterward, I have to admit. But you should still be concerned about too much stress on your poor health, we don’t want you getting seriously sick, after all.
Try not to let the stress get to you is all! And, of course, Good Luck!
Hope you have talked to a lawyer by now.
In order to minimize the cost of legal help, I am scrambling to get everything in order and ready to go so the attorney can just take it and do his thing. I have yet to find anyone with a much reduced cost of service, or anyone willing to offer us pro bono help, but I am still looking. Legal aid is an option if we can get Dad to one of their offices, we’re a bit far out of town for most of them to want to come here, but that’s also a question I ask when I call them.
My mother has offered us some money for legal help if we need it, so we’ll see where that goes. Dad is adamant in his refusal to deal with much of anyone local to our town, he “don’t want these Taylor County snakes knowing my business!”
He’s also of the opinion that should the sellers decide to enforce the due-upon-transfer clause of the mortgage upon his death, that “no Federal law is going to stop them if they get a Taylor County judge to agree with 'em.”
He’s had some bitter experiences here in Taylor County. :rolleyes: I think he’s being overly dramatic, and I’m not sure why he thinks I woudn’t raise hell if anyone breaks the law in their dealings with me.
What you think that you want done may not be your best option. Or even do-able. That’s why you need a lawyer’s advice, not just the technicalities attended to.
The Florida State University law school is Tallahassee might have a student clinic, or other resources. A bit further – University of Florida law school, Gainesville.
A Yahoo! search on “florida low-cost legal advice” turned up these as top five non-advertising results:
http://www.flcourts.org/resources-and-services/family-courts/family-law-self-help-information/
http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/states/florida/homeownership/legalaid
Also – you don’t need that second funeral director. The VA cemetery will take care of everything once your father’s casket or urn arrives.
Thank you FeAudrey! I have left messages at the only legal aid firm that serves our area, and am hoping to hear back from them soon. We may have to visit them in Gainesville, but we go there for Dad’s belly-drainings anyway. Can’t hurt to ask if there’s anyone who could visit us closer, I suspect.
It’s also a matter of there only being so much I can do, as his heir and caregiver. I can’t write his Will for him, or decide how to distribute assets. I can get the ball rolling on adding my sister and me to the deed, but he has to sign off on it all. That’s where most of my difficulty and frustration are coming in. I can have everything lined up and ready for Dad to look at and deal with, and then he tells me he wants something else entirely. More than once I’ve been tempted to run laps around the yard, screaming. I just might have to. :o
Most of what I was going to say about you misunderstanding your mortgage parameters has already been clarified by St Cad and others. I may have missed it but have you actually gotten specific legal advice on your mortgage from an atty yet?
One good resource to find reasonably priced local attorneys specializing in real estate is to call some top producing local residential real estate agents. They are usually well versed in who is competent and what the relative local pricing is. They should have some decent recommendations for your situation.
Call a few top agents to get a few names. Attys that specialize in real estate are also usually well versed in law re wills and estates.
Thanks astro, if the legal aid doesn’t pan out I will definitely still be looking for low cost assistance. I will call around to real estate agents, but locally I think my pickings are pretty slim.
I did manage to get my father convinced that Federal law protects us in this exact situation, but he’s still very worried that the owners will wanna fight about it. They’re locals here, we’re outsiders, and Dad thinks that if they manage to get a local judge on their side, we’re in for some difficult wrangling with the law - whether we’re in the right or not.
So being certain of our position with both Federal and Florida law in mind will be extremely helpful, and an attorney will be able to tell us how to avoid any confusion and go smoothly through the transfer of ownership.
I’m not sure legal aid is your friend in this scenario. The legal help you need should be a few hours of cookie cutter work for an *experienced *Real Estate atty and reasonably low cost, but the key is that it needs to be done correctly with all T’s crossed and I’s dotted re tax and estate issues and experience makes a big difference here. I would not trust a young legal aid atty whose specialty may be criminal litigation be up on all the tax consequences in dealing with estates.
See if the atty will give you a package price on the mortgage transfer and estate/will work. It’s not like your dad has a lot to divvy up so this should be only a few hours of legal time.
Understood, and appreciated. I do have a lead on a Tallahassee firm that may prove more beneficial, and will take your advice about calling realtors for suggestions. If/when the legal aid folks call me back, I will certainly hear what they have to say, but I know you’re right. I want this to be as cut and dried as possible, and going to someone with more experience (especially in these matters) is worth the cost.
Our simple solution to the inheritance of the main pieces of property bypasses a Will entirely. We simply plan to add my sister’s and my names to the deed, which carries a cost of no more than $200 total. Then Dad will sign all vehicle titles over to their respective drivers for a purchase price of $1. Fairly certain there’s nothing saying my sister and I can’t own the 2012 pickup together. I’m sure I will get guardianship of his dog (dogs? If Grandma never comes to get hers I guess I have a dang Shih Tzu, too).
It’s been a hell of a month, everyone. All the support and advice I’ve found here have been invaluable to us. I just have to remember I’m just one person, and I can only live one day at a time. Deep breaths…
I’m not sure why you’re trying to avoid inheriting the house. Because of the estate laws, it might be better not to become co-owners now. This is the sort of thing you ought to talk to a lawyer about before you go and add your and your sister’s names to the deed.
And a lawyer may advise NOT putting your sister’s name on anything, since she’s not paying on several thousand of debt she owes. The only way to know if her debtors can force the sale of the house to meet those debts she’s not paying on, is to talk to a lawyer!
There is a very good reason so many people, in this thread, have tried to impress upon you that seeing a lawyer should be the first thing you take care of. If, while still only partially informed, you sell yourself on solutions and ideas that sound great but are not actually in your best interest, it’s going to be really hard to actually hear the correct advice when it’s offered.
Get legal help BEFORE making your plans. It will save you a lot of grief. It’s much easier when you start off on the right foot. Than it is to abandon schemes you’re already invested in and are already convinced about, and invoked others in, etc.
Here’s hoping you get some qualified legal advice very soon! Good Luck!
I forgot that the sister had unpaid debts, but so does the OP (Time Like Tears).
Edited to add, see a lawyer now, before you do anything.
I am headed to Tallahassee to speak with an attorney. A firm that offers free consultations has agreed to speak with me, and they offer lower cost services for those who qualify, which we will apply for.
Got some good news last week in that my sister’s credit is not nearly as bad as we suspected. We both pulled our credit reports and took them to our local bank, in order to make a plan to rebuild credit with the goal of in a year or two applying for a home refinance loan to lower the interest rate and payments, have our own contract, and have our loan federally insured.
Cait’s debts have mostly dropped right off her credit report, and she’s sitting in a good position for rebuilding. She’s already obtained a secured credit card and is exploring other options for raising her score. As for me, I am in the process of negotiating settlements on my debts (95% medical collections, one Verizon account I made the mistake of sharing with a deadbeat) and will spend the next couple of years eliminating my own debt and rebuilding as well.
Part of the US Code that applies here seems to state that the original creditor cannot take the creditworthiness of the inheritors into account and/or use it to make adverse decisions about the administration of the remainder of the loan. That’s part of what I will be speaking with the attorney about today.
Again, because I am not legally the owner of the property in the estate, and have no legal power to make decisions regarding the property my father owns, I am only a messenger for now. I can only receive legal advice on my own behalf, but that includes asking about the best way to go about crossing all Ts and dotting all Is. It’s going to be up to my father to either agree to meet with an attorney OR allow an attorney to visit him here, if possible. That has been my major stumbling block as far as obtaining the legal help that I agree, we need like - yesterday.
Don’t forget to ask your atty directly if, not appearing on her credit report definitively means debtors can’t come after the house, should her name be on it.
So glad you’ve found an atty! It sounds like you’re doing all the right things.
Do you have any back up plans if Pops just won’t cooperate? Or us it just a wait to see thing?