Life Estate and Taxes in North Carolina

[redrose28379]

here in NC my husband was told yesterday that when a person gets a life estate.That person must agree to pay taxes first when they are given life estate on any property.If they don't agree to pay taxes because they(children of person w/life estate) have taken everything out of there mother name including Mobile home she lives in on estate everything is in older son name.she has her own bank account i don't know how much money she does or doesn't have.i just want to know what law is on life estate and who pays taxes the life tenant or the next in line to inherit this piece of land.that does not even list her Mobile home on it only lists my Mobile home and house of my mother that i live in and been living in since mother passed away.the other family members and i don't get on well so i try not to deal with them and leave that to my husband can someone tell me what law is in NC,help please and thanks.

[lwpat]

Your post is pretty confusing. In general, when a person is given a life estate in property they take possession against all others. They can either live there or rent out the property and keep the money. They are responsible for taxes and maintenance but not for any past due taxes. They do have the right to sell the life estate.

If that doesn't answer your question, please be more specific.

[redrose28379]

OK I'll try to be more specific,mother told son he would inherit home&property 30 years ago.oldest daughter was living with her at that time,she passed 10 years ago 2years before son decides sister will need a place to live,so at this time son's (wife) helped sister find and set up, we did all the work to get her set up in her Mobile home that now sits on a small section cut out of center,sisters who were also executers of estate went to lawyer to add a life estate in for sister.Mother wanted son to go so he could make sure it was OK with him he chose not to go .life estate was entered on will.son was to get house and and all appliances&furniture,other family members 1got her new car another her antique server and son-n-law her desk and those 4 split all money left over.Both older sisters also executers went in took out all the furniture and even silver ware pots,pans and dishes,we got the house .roof leaking ,needing painting repairs in general.At this time we tried to get a loan to do much needed repair.Now is when we found out life estate was on whole property.We tried to get her to sign off rest of property she would not she wanted brother to deed to her 1/3 of property whole front section .we would not.We were told repeatedly from deed office land had no life estate on it,we knew that loan office found something out,he told us life estate w/on whole not a portion.It has taken a few years but he has now found it in the clerk of court office,and they say it is only a portion that is for her. 10 years ago it was all.We have paid taxes on this land for the last 20 years even before mother passed,thought if we showed her she was to have been paying taxes she would sign off life estate as she is NOW in a assistant living home.We really want to sell.what if anything can we do .thanks again

[lwpat]

Now I'm only more confused so I will try to lay it out for you.
Step 1. Go to the probate court and get a copy of the mother's file. You need to find out exactly what was done when the will was probated.
Step 2. Assuming the property was transferred during probate, go to the registrar of deeds and get a copy.

At this point you will know the legal owners of the property. Assuming the sister has a life estate, she is responsible for the taxes and maintenance on the property except for the portion allocated to your mobile home. You are responsible for paying the sister the fair market value of your use of the property. The mobile home that is the sister's still belongs to her and she is responsible for any expenses.

You can either wait until she dies, purchase her life estate, or sell with an agreed percentage allocated to the life estate. If she goes on Medicaid, the state may be able to attach the life estate and put a lein on the property after her death.

[redrose28379]

OK i will try to be more specific,well i don't think it went to any probate courtI'm not quite sure what that even is much less what it does,so i am going to say it did not.Go to register of deeds to get a copy of what the deed to property?We did that,husband and I went to court house to see what we needed to do if anything,at this time husband added me to deed and it was placed in our name.NO body ever told us anything about sister's life estate being part of the will.At time sisters went to lawyer office about this husband would not go as he didn't want to talk about anything having to do with his mother passing.The day of funeral right after the family (brother&sisters) no spouses allowed ,read will and next day they started taking everything ! Even the silverware and giving to there children,once that they finished that they gave husband keys to house as that was there mother's main wish for her son to live in her house with wife of 30 years.SISTER was not, as is not, listed on deed only husband and wife.After searching ourselves all this time we finally found it listed at clerk of court, not record of deeds.On this 2&1/2acers sits our Mobile home we listed in 1991 and mother's home,about 1995 older sister (1w/life estate)moved in another Mobile home for herself.This one is not even listed on property as being there,only lists ours&house.the way the will reads is that daughter to have a life estate on the portion of her property where her Mobile home is now located,clerk of court says there is nothing to say where her Mobile home sits so life estate is on whole.Why do we have to pay taxes if we can't use it for collateral for funds to do much needed repair or there wouldn't be a house left if left up to them.We really would like to just sell our portion ,but nobody can agree on what portion is for her use and what was meant for us Will is clear but i think court was mislead by another sister that was co-executor w/sister holding life estate(now-n-nursing home)As i am only the in-law w/sisters,I have always till mother passed gotten along great w/sister on life estate .She is not the one giving problem as she is old herself and does anything other sister tells her.(other- executor)We can't stand each other,any time she can stick it to us she does .i just don't think as executors they handled this the way it should have been handled.I hope i explained a little better.Thanks again!

[lwpat]

Step 1. Same as before
Step 2. Same as before
Step 3. Take all the paperwork to an attorney

You cannot will someone what you do not have. Even if the will gave her a life estate, the sister does not have one if the mother did not own the property at the time of her death. If it was in your husband's name as you claim, there is no life estate. Someone will have to look over the actual paperwork.

[redrose28379]

OK let me try again,property was in Mother's name at her death,a month or so after death,husband & I went to court house and changed over to his name and added mine.Now deed is in our names(his&mine) with no mention of life estate,or sister we have made several trips to court house to search records almost 10 years we looked now we find it still in clerk of court office, deed says nothing about life estate,records do not even show her mobile home on property could this be because her mobile home is listed as belonging to HER son . She put it in his name at time she purchased it .thanks again