If a relative and I own a house, and the relative is going to ‘buy me out’, what happens if I die before the legal papers are signed? Does he then own the whole house until he sells it? Would some of the sale proceeds would go to my family? Or does the whole house and proceeds from sale go to him, the. end? I’m not expecting a lot of money, enough for a new car for a grown child who needs one. Would she have to sue that relative for a share (that I should have gotten, but I died before)?
Since this involves legal advice, let’s move it to IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
If your name appears on the deed as a co-owner, why wouldn’t your share be inherited by your next of kin (spouse or child)? Do you have a will?
IANAL
Depends entirely on the original agreement. If you are joint owners, the relative owns all of it upon your death. If you are “tenants in common,” meaning you both own equal (or unequal) shares of the property, your estate retains ownership upon your death and is then dictated by your will.
Mother had a will leaving her house to me and a sibling. She passed away and the house is being rented. Sibling wants to keep the house to rent or sell someday. I want nothing more to do with it. He offered to buy me out. (It won’t be for that much, as there is another disabled sibling who will need some of the proceeds, Medicaid will probably get some as mom was in a nursing home, and it’s not much of a house.) We (husband and I) have a will leaving everything to our kid. Sibling is coming up here,and we will go to the lawyer next week. I have been quite ill lately. If I die before we go to the lawyer, that is my concern. I should think when the house is sold my estate should get a chunk of that, to go to my heir.
Hope you feel better soon, salinqmind!
Not to be an additional downer, but better check on that ASAP, depending on how long your mom was in the nursing home and the amount per month. The house is protected as long as the owner lives there, but after the patient dies Medicaid can collect on the estate. (This is why my mother transferred ownership to the house to her children years ago.) The question may be moot depending on how much Medicaid might want to collect.
IANAL but…
If you each inherited a share of the house, you each own a share. With most agreements, the agreement is the thing; but with real estate, I think usually what the deed says is the official word. So until the papers are signed to transfer the title, it is what it is before that.
But it sounds like the estate is trying to dispose of the house. Again, IANAL but… the house belonged to your mother, now it belongs to her estate. The estate will be settled and each of you get a share, minus any debts that the estate owes. I assume this is a small enough house that capital gains on the value will be minimal (How does that work in your state?)
Also, I guess the question is how much of a claim does Medicare/Medicaid have? The house may have to be sold on the market to pay any such bills. If your sibling wants to buy it, he has to pay fair market value to your mother’s estate. Then, the estate distributes the cash left after the bills and taxes are paid. I presume he’s simply coming up to get your approval (as the other beneficiary) to a sale.
If you bite the big one, ring down the curtain and join the choir invisible, then whatever rights you had belong to your immediate heir(s). Your sibling deals with them. This is normal - my stepmother’s will had the provision to split between all 5 extended siblings, meaning a fifth share would be distributed to her already dead daughter’s children.
The other gotcha to watch for, is that some wills have a “provided they survive me by 10 days” or some such clause (although usually that’s a clause between spouses… for example, so there’s no argument over who died an instant before the other in, say, a traffic accident; If A died first, his wife B inherited then a minute later died, her children not his inherit it all). I assume it’s been a while since your mother passed away and/or no such clause.
Thank you. I’m not expecting free legal advice, really, just a little worried what will happen if I died before sibling bought me out.
Mom didn’t leave any estate - I did forget to mention the house was put in my, and my siblings names, years ago. Medicaid will probably get a certain amount when the house is sold someday. It won’t be my concern any more, as I have enough on my plate right now rather than look into all of this.
Sibling is handling all of this with the lawyer (the capital gains thing) and he said all I have to do is go to the lawyer’s office with him, hear what is being done, and sign something. I just hope I am up to it! I am hoping I will get over my ailments and not die before this is over!
I was just wondering if I did, would my child get what was supposed to be my share.
It depends on the exact wording of the title.
If the title says “joint tenants with right of survivorship” then your share will be split among the other siblings on the title. Your heirs will get nothing.
If the title does not say “with right of survivorship” then your heirs will inherit your share.
Not quite. If you are “joint tenants with right of survivorship,” then your share goes to the remaining tenants upon your death. If you are “joint tenants” (no mention of survivorship), then it goes to your estate.
If the house has already been in your and your siblings’ names for years, then Medicaid has no claim on it, either now or when it is sold. This is our situation. At my mother’s insistence, we established a family trust, composed of her six children, years ago and the house is now owned by us. The trust provides that she continues to live there rent free. My mother has dementia and needs 24-hour care, which she was recently able to get through Medicaid because she no longer owns the house or has other significant assets.
You mother lives in the house, and she gets 24-hour care through Medicaid?? That’s amazing. We had mom living in the house with for as long as possible long after she had deeded it over to us, but we had to pay caregivers (private pay) with her savings. They told us Medicaid was phasing out in-home care and what we could get for mom was a couple hours of care a week and a few hours of day care at a senior citizen center. I guess every state is different, or country
First of all, hope you feel better soon.
Second, IANAL but I have been through this, in a way. My grandmother died, leaving everything to my father, who had already died and who had left half his estate to my mother and half to me. My grandmother had not updated her will, but actually these two events happened fairly close together, but in the wrong order. So what happened is that my mother and I each owned half of my grandmother’s house, as it instantly became part of my father’s estate, even though he had died some months before his mother.
The house we lived in when he died became my mother’s property, not part of the estate (even though I lived there too, but I was a kid).
This was in California.
So it sounds like, if you die before the paperwork is completed, your interest in your house passes to your heirs, designated by a will if you have one and by state law if you die intestate, if you are tenants in common, and to the co-owner(s) if you are joint tenants with right of survivorship.
You do have heirs, right? Don’t die intestate. In fact, don’t die at all.
Note also that some jurisdictions do not recognize a right of survivorship except for married couples.
That’s been my operating model for years now.
If ‘years ago’ was before the Medicaid lookback period (5 years?) then Medicaid shouldn’t be due anything.
Since it was transferred vs inherited, the ownership terms are whatever was specified then. Thus the ownership terms guide what happens should you die soon (btw, please do NOT do that, get well!!)
Note: because it was transferred vs inherited, there may be a capital gain as your basis is whatever it was worth when purchased. If she bought it for 50k and it’s now worth 150k, and you sell it to sib for 75k, you have a 50k gain.
All righty then! I am looking forward to getting this over soon and crossing my fingers I will be in good enough shape to travel the short ways and absorb as much of the lawyer gobbledy-gook as possible!
Thank you all for your advice, and your wishes I get better. Fingers crossed!
The only one I know about is Louisiana. Are there others?
Are you, by any chance, thinking about “tenancy by the entirety”?
Yes. Yes I am. Thanks for the correction.