Legal or Not!??? Real Estate & Probate Question.

[DL11]

What is the name of your state? TENNESSEE

My son-in-law, will call him "Bob", is only 21 yrs. old and adopted at a very young age by his grandparents. His grandfather passed away in 1997, and then grandmother passed away in 2003. There was NO WILL. Grandmother incurred $283,000 in medical bills the final year before her death.

This is ALL "Bob" knows.

1. Grandparents bought home in 1984 for $28,400 and paid $350/mo. up until death. He doesn't know to who.
2. Relatives tell him if he goes to probate court and hasthe "Estate" completed, the hospital will take the home for the medical bills incurred.
3. His grandparents wanted Bob to have the home when they passed, but didn't make out a legal will. Bob was a minor at time of last death.
4. Never been to probate. Aunts and Uncles told him to keep the house b/c that's what grandparents wanted. Now relatives telling him he HAS to go to probate b/c it's illegal not to. Taxes have been paid every year, are current.

The deed is still in grandparent's name, as of October, 2006.

Is it illegal for him to just continue living in it and not go to probate? What is the likelihood that creditors would try to take the house if he doesn't, here 3 years after her death?

Thank you for all your assistance. He doesn't have much money to afford an attorney and is quite scared now from what his relatives just told him.

 

[Dandy Don]

The home probably does not belong to the grandparents IF they were paying a mortgage on it. Go down to the county courthouse and look at the land records to see whose name is shown on the title/deed and if they paid property taxes or not.

So what if he loses the home to a creditor who is owed a valid debt--can't he be a man and afford to find some place else to live?

Won't the name of the mortgage company be shown on their cancelled checks and shouldn't there be some type of supporting documentation for this in their personal papers?

 

[nextwife]

The home probably does not belong to the grandparents IF they were paying a mortgage on it.

Sorry, DD, but HUH??? Many people who have mortgages against their properties are the fee simple OWNERS of said real estate. The existance of a mortgage does not remove the ownership, it only creates a priority lien against the property.

I pay a mortgage on my house, and I can tell you for certain that my title insurance OWNERS POLICY says I am the owner of my house, nobody else!!!! And I have assisted parties buying and selling RE all over the country, and they can still be the owner, mortgage or no mortgage.

 

[nextwife]

The home probably does not belong to the grandparents IF they were paying a mortgage on it. Go down to the county courthouse and look at the land records to see whose name is shown on the title/deed and if they paid property taxes or not.

So what if he loses the home to a creditor who is owed a valid debt--can't he be a man and afford to find some place else to live?

My son-in-law, will call him "Bob", is only 21 yrs. old and adopted at a very young age by his grandparents. Bob was a minor at time of last death.

Perhaps now, but he was a minor, not a man, when his second legal parent died.

 

[DL11]

Exactly...New Information found out

Well, we have FINALLY been told that this was an Owner Financed property to his grandparents.

The Deed states his grandparents are the owners.

The payments only had to be made up until Nov. 2006 (next month) and it would have been paid off. My son-in-law stopped paying payments last June, he didn't know exactly why or the details, just that's what his grandma did. So sad.

The relatives tell my son-in-law that IF he pays it off, the hospital will take it to recover their bills...even though his grandfather worked for the hospital for 30+years before he passed away. The whole situation is sad. Do you think the hospital still will take the house even when it's been 3 years? They could have opened the estate themselves, couldn't they?

My daughter and son-in-law could have lived in this home and it be paid for next month. I have told her to get me the name of the person they had bought the house from and I will call him and see if there is anything that can be done.

 

[nextwife]

Well, we have FINALLY been told that this was an Owner Financed property to his grandparents.

The Deed states his grandparents are the owners.

The payments only had to be made up until Nov. 2006 (next month) and it would have been paid off. My son-in-law stopped paying payments last June, he didn't know exactly why or the details, just that's what his grandma did. So sad.

The relatives tell my son-in-law that IF he pays it off, the hospital will take it to recover their bills...even though his grandfather worked for the hospital for 30+years before he passed away. The whole situation is sad. Do you think the hospital still will take the house even when it's been 3 years? They could have opened the estate themselves, couldn't they?

My daughter and son-in-law could have lived in this home and it be paid for next month. I have told her to get me the name of the person they had bought the house from and I will call him and see if there is anything that can be done.

You know, if he just stopped paying, the place can be foreclosed, don't you? There is still a balance due. One can't just default and expect nothing bad will happen.

He should hire an attorney. A free and clear house (potentially) is certainly worth a few thousand in legal fees.