Mother's House Placed In The Name Of A Sibling
My sisters father in law passed away several years ago, he had just sold a large amount of land to a developer and as a result left a very large amount of money to his wife. There were 5 children in their family, a short time after the death of her husband the mother in law brought a new house, there was a mother in law apartment in the basement where she lived and one of her sons and his family lived upstairs. My sister and brother in law as well as the other siblings were not happy with this arrangement - they felt if it were the mothers house she should be living upstairs and were not happy about her buying such a large house as well as feeling the other son and his family were taken advantage of the mother. For the last 15 years they were told that the house was in the name of the mother. Well the mother has just been put into a nursing home and while completing the paper work to have her admitted my brother in law and his other siblings found that the house had been in the brothers name all alone and they had been lied to. The mother brought the house but legally it belonged to the brother because he had his name put on the deed. In the short time since the mother has been in the nursing home the bother and his wife have sold the house and are taking the money from the sell and buying a new house for themself. The mother has money left in her bank accounts but with the cost of nursing home care it will not last long and she will be placed on medicare. Is there any steps my brother in law and his other siblings can take in order to recover the money from the sell of their house for their mothers care?
Re: Mother's House Placed In The Name Of A Sibling
It was the mother's money and she was free to do with it as she wished. Sounds like they looked after her for 15 years until she had to go into a nursing home. Also sounds like you need to stay out of it (sister's father-in-law).
Re: Mother's House Placed In The Name Of A Sibling
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Quoting
lwpat
It was the mother's money and she was free to do with it as she wished. Sounds like they looked after her for 15 years until she had to go into a nursing home. Also sounds like you need to stay out of it (sister's father-in-law).
No, they did not look after her. They stuck her in the basement and went about their business. My sister was they one that took her shopping and anywhere else she wanted/needed to go. I'm not sure the mother was even aware of who's name was on the deed. She was raised in a time where men took care of all business and women were taken care of. She had said herself her name was one the deed and I'm not sure she didn't believe it. The son and daughter in-law are taking the money from a sell of a house that the mother brought and putting it in their pocket even though the mother needs the money to help pay for nursing home expenses - are your reading skills not such that you could understand the point of the post??
Don't tell me what to stay out of it - thank you for your response but if that is the best you can do it is no help.
Re: Mother's House Placed In The Name Of A Sibling
The circumstances raise questions about undue influence, particularly if there are also questions of mental competence at the time of the transaction. This is the type of circumstance where I would suggest that you find a good probate litigator to assist you.
Re: Mother's House Placed In The Name Of A Sibling
Aaron, I have to disagree with you on this one. The transaction took place 15 years ago and the mother is just now having to go into a nursing home. Proving she was incompetent that long ago is going to be pratically impossible and the SOL will be another barrier. Even if the house was in the mother's name, it possibly would be taken under Medicaid estate recovery. Hiring an attorney will be money wasted.
To the OP. It is your sister's husband's family. While I understand your concern, it is not your fight. Learn from the experience and be sure it does not happen to your mother/father or your children. I had a similar experience with my sister and my wife had one with her brother. We simply were too involved in our own lives and others were hurt. There is a time to fight and a time to cut loose.
Re: Mother's House Placed In The Name Of A Sibling
It may well turn out that the case cannot be proved, but I am not in a position to determine that.
Re: Mother's House Placed In The Name Of A Sibling
Iwpart and aaron, I can see where both of you might have a point. I guess the best thing the other siblings could have done was to go to the courthouse 15 years ago and saw who's name was on the deed. But who would think a brother would take advantage of a mother like that? I guess he didn't want to wait until his mother's death to get his share of the money left by his father. I hope he can sleep at night. I suppose when it comes to estates and money the rule of thumb should be "trust nobody", even your own flesh and blood. It's sad really. My brother in law and his other siblings are speaking with an attorney so I hope that he will tell them if there is a chance of winning a case.