Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I know these types of posts can be somewhat entertaining...so here's my contribution
Long ago, my uncle gave his brother (my dad) a lump sum of money, which he used to buy a house. The money was understood to be a gift or a loan. Since the money was from my uncle, my dad decided to leave the house to me and three other cousins, each of us having a 1/4 interest. My dad passed away a few years ago and title is now in our four names.
We recently decided to sell the property and I offered to give my uncle my share of the sales proceeds, since it was his gift/loan that allowed my dad to buy the house in the first place. He told me that the payment was neither a gift nor a loan, and that it was actually payment of my dad's inheritance from his father's (my grandfather's) estate, and that the house should therefore go only to me. My uncle was the executor of my grandfather's estate.
At the time, my dad declined to accept any estate-related payment (probably just to be a good guy - he was like that), so my uncle told him that it was a gift/loan, after which he accepted it. My uncle never told him later that it was his inheritance. Therefore, my dad's decision to leave a portion of the house to the three cousins was probably made based on the incorrect assumption that the house was essentially a gift from my uncle to us all. I remember his telling me this.
My uncle offered to explain to the others that their interests may not be valid, but I asked him not to. We're all pretty close and I don't this to blow up into a big argument that weakens the family, which could happen, with the inlaws having their say and all. The amount is fairly large, but I can live without it. I'm thinking we should just go forward with the sale and split the proceeds by four. OTOH, my cousins are pretty fair and would probably understand and do the right thing.
So what would you do? Pursue full ownership that you may be entitled to (which I guess would involve contesting the will) or just taking my dad's will at face value, though it seems to have been prepared based on an erroneous assumption?
"Their interests may not be valid"?? Sorry, uncle, but legally their interest in the house is theirs. It's too late now to do anything about it. Uncle should have told his brother in his later years that the money was his inheritance, so that when brother was making arrangements for his estate, he'd do the right thing.
You can't tamper with a will. People do, but it's not legal. Only if your uncle were willing to explain to his kids that he screwed up, and because of that, they got a share of a house that rightfully wasn't theirs, and if he had the guts to ask them to let you have the whole house, OP, and they complied, would you be able to get full ownership of the house. It's your uncle's place to try to make things right, not yours.
Likely it matters not because your father decided based on what he believed. Likely your father wish as original was not to inherit anything which was his right. Now his last wishes are to do what he stated in the will. Leave it; alone is my advice.
legally, the house belongs to all four people and there is nothing your uncle can do about this, unless your cousins choose to give up their portion, which i doubt will happen. why was your uncle so unclear in the purpose of this money? your dad never knew if it was a gift or a loan? there's a huge difference between the two.
legally, the house belongs to all four people and there is nothing your uncle can do about this, unless your cousins choose to give up their portion, which i doubt will happen. why was your uncle so unclear in the purpose of this money? your dad never knew if it was a gift or a loan? there's a huge difference between the two.
That doesn't make sense. The whole story doesn't hang together. Why would the OP's dad accept a gift from his brother out of nowhere? Was the dad not able to see to his own needs? Did he not make as much money as his brother? Why wouldn't he have asked whether it was a loan? Anyone would want to know that, to know if they needed to pay it back some day, and if they'd owe interest, and all that. And if this gift/loan was offered not too long after their own father's estate was settled, wouldn't the dad have wondered if that was the source of the money?
lol. We're overthinking it, I guess, but it seems like the dad was strangely unworried about some of these details.
"Their interests may not be valid"?? Sorry, uncle, but legally their interest in the house is theirs. It's too late now to do anything about it. Uncle should have told his brother in his later years that the money was his inheritance, so that when brother was making arrangements for his estate, he'd do the right thing.
Agreed. I don't think my uncle was the best choice for an executor. I trust him completely, but let's just say he's not the most detail oriented person I've met.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth
You can't tamper with a will. People do, but it's not legal. Only if your uncle were willing to explain to his kids that he screwed up, and because of that, they got a share of a house that rightfully wasn't theirs, and if he had the guts to ask them to let you have the whole house, OP, and they complied, would you be able to get full ownership of the house. It's your uncle's place to try to make things right, not yours.
The will was executed years ago according to my dad's wishes as stated in it. I understood all along that the house ownership would be split 4 ways and was fine with that, until the uncle mentioned this "minor detail" that he forgot to tell my dad. My uncle offered to explain things to the cousins and there's a good chance they might agree to let go of their interests once they hear the facts (this is what I meant when I said "contest"). If not, I wouldn't blame them and would also be okay with that. I'm wondering if it's even worth opening this can of worms by having the uncle talk to the cousins, as this in itself could cause a rift.
My uncle, realizing his screw up, even offered to buyout the other cousins at his expense so the whole house would be mine (he's quite well off, so it wouldn't be a big deal for him). I told him this isn't necessary, but the more I think about it, this whole issue arose because of him and maybe I should take him up on it if the cousins don't want to give up their interests. I just want the right thing to be done so no one feels cheated.
sounds like you've got plenty of income, or you would be trying to get it all. One or more of your cousins would do the same, if they were hurting badly enough. So best just let it go as is.
Likely it matters not because your father decided based on what he believed. Likely your father wish as original was not to inherit anything which was his right. Now his last wishes are to do what he stated in the will. Leave it; alone is my advice.
This is exactly what I was doing until speaking w/ my uncle and getting his version of the facts. I recall my dad saying that the house was bought by my uncle, which supports my uncles opinion that my dad never knew that the money for the house was actually his inheritance rather than a loan or gift. I'll just let my uncle "make things right" as much as he can and live with whatever happens.
As I recall, my dad saw this house and didn't have the cash at the time because he was starting his business, so my uncle wired him the money. My uncle lives in another country and sporadic communication is probably the main reason for my dad's misunderstanding. This all happened before there was skype . They were all generous in helping each other and sometimes did not keep the best records of loans and transfers among family.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NewbiePoster
That doesn't make sense. The whole story doesn't hang together. Why would the OP's dad accept a gift from his brother out of nowhere? Was the dad not able to see to his own needs? Did he not make as much money as his brother? Why wouldn't he have asked whether it was a loan? Anyone would want to know that, to know if they needed to pay it back some day, and if they'd owe interest, and all that. And if this gift/loan was offered not too long after their own father's estate was settled, wouldn't the dad have wondered if that was the source of the money?
Not at all. The sum would represent about three years' salary for me and would definitely be nice to have. But I only want it if it would be fair to all parties.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dreadd
sounds like you've got plenty of income, or you would be trying to get it all. One or more of your cousins would do the same, if they were hurting badly enough. So best just let it go as is.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
