death before closing

[MsFancyPants]

Originally Posted by DMenscha

Eeeeks! If the death certificate predates the closing date, you may have had the property transferred to you fraudulently which would make it the title companies problem. They generally look at the general index for the county for death certs, or the daughter may have been a joint tenant in which her mothers death would have given her clear title to then act as a principal in the transaction.

Hopefully you have sold the property since then.

We have. It's sold more than once since we had it. I didn't find out about the death during the transaction till after we sold it. Not sure what the deal was. But I'm sure it was legal. The daughter was an attorney, if I remember correctly. It's been a while.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by MsFancyPants

We have. It's sold more than once since we had it. I didn't find out about the death during the transaction till after we sold it. Not sure what the deal was. But I'm sure it was legal. The daughter was an attorney, if I remember correctly. It's been a while.

An Attorney avoiding probate is exactly how that would happen. And there is absolutely no legal way she could have executed that contract with a power of attorney legally.

I would however observe that she appears to have gotten away with it.

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by jctx

What kinds of things should one be worried about if the seller of a home is incapacitated and selling via power of attorney, and subsequently seller passes away before closing? Need help.

Is the agent also the designated executor of the estate? That would make things easier, but this still has the potential to be very sticky and could conceiveably cast a big shadow over the marketable title to the property. I think this is a question that requires a legal opinion and proceeding without one is probably ill-advised.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by jimboburnsy

Is the agent also the designated executor of the estate? That would make things easier, but this still has the potential to be very sticky and could conceiveably cast a big shadow over the marketable title to the property. I think this is a question that requires a legal opinion and proceeding without one is probably ill-advised.

Well nothing wrong with a legal opinion....but why?

The real question is not one of whether the house can be sold...it can be.

The question is how long will it actually take.

I would think the buyer has little, if any, legal risk. That is what Title Insurance is for. Practically the buyer needs to know how long this will take and what uncertainty exist in that time frame.