Do You Have a Right To Sell That Half Moon Bay Probate Home Part 2?
As a realtor who specializes in Probate sales I have recently been involved with a number of families were trying to sell homes they thought they inherited or had title to, but wound up in Probate instead. Since the Probate courts are backed up, this can cause delays, heartache, and tension for the families and were problems that probably could have been avoided.
I want to say firmly, I am not a lawyer. I am a Realtor who specializes in selling homes in Probate and this is not legal advice. If you are going to be involved in intra family title changes PLEASE get the advice of a lawyer. This is complicated stuff.
I just want to give you a few examples so you can see that you should not assume anything when it comes to Probate sales. To see First Example click here
Second Example:
Mom owns home in Pacifica in a trust free and clear after Dad passes. She needs money for daily living expenses so she takes out a reverse mortgage.
Eventually she is unable to care for herself. She takes the house out of the trust and gives half to Daughter 1 as joint tenant so daughter has right of survivorship and right to sell house to pay Mom’s assisted living expenses.
Mom’s health gets worse and she needs to be moved to assisted living. Mom and Daughter 1 decide to sell the house to pay for the finest assisted living they can find.
Mom moves to assisted living and 3 days later dies.
Daughter 1 wants to sell the house which has plenty of equity that was not used to take care of Mom, so she plans on splitting it with Daughter 2 and Son 1.
Reverse mortgage company says “Hold Your Horses.” You had no right to change title of house without our knowledge. They claim:
Reverse mortgages are for senior home owners only, not their children. Daughter 1 should not have been on title because she was not given permission by Reverse Mortgage Company.
Joint Tenancy is an equal partnership between all parties. All partied must be equally responsible for any liens/mortgages on the home. Only Mom was on the loan so she should have been the only one on title.
You can see the problem here.
I suspect this one ends up in Probate Court with Court Confirmation needed instead of a fast, clean easy sale.
Tomorrow I will give you details on other issues that have come up in my Probate sales.
If you have any questions about selling a home in Probate or need a Probate Realtor in Half Moon Bay or anywhere else in the Bay area please feel free to contact me.
Marcy Moyer
Keller Williams Realty
650-619-9285
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