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In this case, conveying his interest back is complicated due to the mortgage and several liens.
By signing her son's name to a home equity line of credit (HELOC) and using his name to obtain a credit card that resulted in a lien on a home she didn't own, the mother has committed fraud. 84 or not, these are crimes.
Foot-dragging attorney or no foot-dragging attorney, the son needs to explain to her that he is not being held hostage any longer. He is selling the house and paying off the mortgage, the home equity loans, and the lien.
She either agrees, or he turns it over to the authorities to straighten out.
If she has the money to pay the mortgage, then perhaps she has the money to buy the house from him. Who knows?
If not, then she needs to move into a rental, perhaps something for low-income seniors, while he sells the house and clears up this financial mess.
Of course, no sane woman would take up a man this enmeshed with his mother and her nefarious financial schemes.
The son needs to find some backbone as well as an attorney. Surely, there is one somewhere who will take this on. Depending on how this goes, he may also need to contact the local criminal authorities.
But with or without an attorney, he needs to sit down and make it clear to his mother that either she agrees to give up the life estate so he can sell the house and clear up her debts, or her foot-dragging attorney and her will be be negotiating with the AG fraud department.
Life estates are very difficult to terminate. That is kind of the point of them. If they were easy to get rid of they would hold less power. I know in my area, I have seen one life estate in my 15 years as an agent. No one likes to do them because they are next to impossible to get out of.
So, I wonder, since mom is forging documents if it makes sense for the son to seek conservatorship of her. A case could be made that she isn't coherent since she is forging documents and such. I am confused about how she executed the HELOC loan documents since they require a notary. Maybe the threat of that might make her agree to terminate the life estate?
The other option might be a lawsuit for waste? A life tenant can't waste the property or its value. Maybe there is an angle there that can be used by an attorney.
The son should be able to get a rental in another city if he wants to move though. People move across the country all of the time for jobs and all he has to do is say he is renting it out, selling it whatever. Unless he has crappy credit, this is totally normal.
Credit card lien isn't an issue, you can't put a lien on a house that isn't owed by the person who owns it. If he didn't sign the HELOC he should call them and tell them that and start getting it taken off. If they go after his mom in that it's not his fault.
The house should be nearly paid off by now if he really has been paying it down. In any case a remainder interest in a house can be sold, happens all the time. I bought out my siblings remainder interest along with their shares in our family business and then made a deal to buy my step mother out of her life estate.
All in all this whole thing sounds pretty fishy. A woman supposedly taking out a 50k loan on a house with only a man on the deed? How's that happen?
Decades ago, when my friend was 24, her father died. He had insurance on the mortgage, so their family house was paid for, but no other life insurance.
Her mother, a very sweet woman, was a typical 1950's housewife. Never held a job. No idea of how to support herself. She expect my friend to fill the role of provider. When my friend wanted her own apartment like a normal twenty-something year old, her mother expected continuing financial support.
This situation is more common than anyone here might guess.
If OP friend was born in the late 1970's, his mother probably knew women who never worked and expected never to work. Unfortunately, she is expecting her son to fill the role of her husband. It's creepy and off-putting to women.
What I would do. #1) Get the mother's financial information. Find out her Social Security and investment incomes and her amount of debt. (Is she paying the mortgage with credit in the OP's name) #2) Get LifeLock or some other type of monitoring service. #3) I would get a post office box to prevent her from knowing about LifeLock and other business. #4) Talk to the bank holding the mortgage what his options are. #5) Talk to a lawyer about her mental health.
It is complicated because she has used him but he doesn't want her in jail. It's hard even as an adult, to realize their last living parent doesn't love them. My father wrote my sister and I out of his will. He died in October, but we still are processing it.
Please, ask your friend to chill: he paid mortgage and lived with his mother for so long- the end of his suffering is near( one way or the other- if true regarding cc- she may have the beginning of dementia)
Do one step at a time.
First, let him read what had he signed regarding a Life Estate?
His case seem convoluted: usually parent gives the home to a child, but retains the right to live there until death.
The mortgage complicates everything.
2 step mortgage- how is it possible that the bank gave him loan? Get the document and read it.
3 . Let him do a basic search on laws regarding life estate in NYS.
He might even get a free one time consultation from a lawyer, but because it is a one time free- he needs to learn everything possible prior to that visit so not waste valuable time on things which can be learned from on line resources.
He could intelligently describe a situation and ask an intelligent question pertaining to his particular situation
He may even try to get help from free legal help for seniors- as his Mom is a senior and she depend on her son, and if he moves away- she will have problems.
I even would get in touch with elder services- she may need them
4 How is his moms health? Is there any signs of dementia- financial problems, gave money to scammers? Is she still driving? Are there any siblings?
https://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/c...--2695928.html
Start there, but don’t throw away all he worked for.
Gather as much info, educate yourself, but do not act on it unless you are absolutely sure
Maybe once he is clear on his position- what he can or can not do based on all documents- he may find a position of strength to convince” trick” his Mom
? To move to assisted living?
? To let him sell the house and move together to a new location- getting another place without LE> to assisted living?
? Other options? Does Mom even have a life Estate legally? Was it properly executed?
The most important - calm down, forget emotions and find a rational solution- she is 84! He can figure it out!
Credit card lien isn't an issue, you can't put a lien on a house that isn't owed by the person who owns it. If he didn't sign the HELOC he should call them and tell them that and start getting it taken off. If they go after his mom in that it's not his fault.
The house should be nearly paid off by now if he really has been paying it down. In any case a remainder interest in a house can be sold, happens all the time. I bought out my siblings remainder interest along with their shares in our family business and then made a deal to buy my step mother out of her life estate.
All in all this whole thing sounds pretty fishy. A woman supposedly taking out a 50k loan on a house with only a man on the deed? How's that happen?
According to the OP, his mother forged his name.
If he wants to solve this, rather than just natter away on online forums, it needs to come up out of the basement and have a heart-to-heart with his Mama.
If he wants to get on with his life, he needs to tell her that he plans to go the authorities on Thursday and start the process to get the liens she forged his signature on removed from his house. She has until Wednesday to agree to an alternative solution.
Personally, I find it difficult to believe that the credit card company put a lien on his house without him ever knowing about it. For years, we were hounded by a credit card company looking for the woman who used to have our telephone number.
In any case, if he truly wants to untangle this mess, he doesn't need online advice. He needs to get a grip and straighten this out.
At 84, Mama might be a good candidate for assisted living.
Not always. A friend bought a elderly couples home that joined her property and gave them a life estate because they were having a hard time. When the man died and the wife went to a nursing home, she wanted to sell the house but found she couldn't until the woman died.
My father's third wife left the home they lived in to a charity with a life estate to my father. His fourth, much younger wife cared for him at home when he had cancer because the "life estate" ended if/when he left the house. Their choice. There were other options for his care.
It depends on how the will is written.
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