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Here is my question: The house my family lives in has a mortgage solely in my husbands name. He is on the deed along with his parents. I am not on the loan or the deed. If his parents die, what happens to the house?
It all depends on how they took title when they purchased it originally. Go through the original purchase paperwork and find out how the title is held to find out what to expect, the below example is what you are looking for and I will put a link at the bottom to the main google result when I search for "ways to hold title to real estate" just add your state for specific title options.
What you hope they did when they took it is anything that says "with right of survivorship" which means the ownership stake gets split between the remaining title holders until there is only 1 remaining title holder in the event of a death. This does supersede any wills or other arrangements as far as I am aware. This is the way you want it to be titled in order for it to get passed on to your husband in the event of the in-laws death but in the event of his death they will own it completely and you would own nothing.
As always this is not legal advice and you need to seek a local real estate attorney for any specific questions/issues you may have.
Correct. You need to determine how they hold title to the property. If they're Joint Tenants with right of survivorship, the surviving owners automatically get the decedent's share. If it's Tenants in Common, the individual shares would go to the heirs of that individual.
Correct. You need to determine how they hold title to the property. If they're Joint Tenants with right of survivorship, the surviving owners automatically get the decedent's share. If it's Tenants in Common, the individual shares would go to the heirs of that individual.
This. Also, if your husband dies, and there is right of survivorship, the house goes to his parents and not to you. The mortgage lien doesn't go away if he dies though. The house would need to get refinanced by his parents or sold to pay off the lien.
That is a very odd arrangement for title, I have to say. Did he buy the house before you were married?
This. Also, if your husband dies, and there is right of survivorship, the house goes to his parents and not to you. The mortgage lien doesn't go away if he dies though. The house would need to get refinanced by his parents or sold to pay off the lien.
That is a very odd arrangement for title, I have to say. Did he buy the house before you were married?
Quote:
Originally Posted by cully
And also dumb, crazy, and/or greedy people can sue for anything they want.
Tighten up your husband's will and life insurance.
Heck, I'm a layperson who knows very little about real estate and even I know that this could become a huge, HUGE mess after one or more of the parties die (of course, it depends on how everything is spelled out legally). Sometimes, siblings can become quite vicious after the death of their parents.
And, as a wife, the money that your husband is spending on the mortgage is actually half your money (if you live in a joint property state). And, you do not appear to have any rights to the house if something happens to him.
This sounds weird to me. Why would he have his parents on the title and not you? Was this a house he had before you got married or something?
Its easy to fix. Have his parents sign a quitclaim deed. First.....get a real estate lawyer and do what they say.
I know woman who got divorced and wound up collecting zero from a very wealthy family because of shenanigans like this. Worst part was she was a stay at home mom for like 25 or 30 years. She basically was left broke, unable to get a job or a place to live. I think what happened was that when it came down to it the woman found out that her husband didn't actually own anything because it was all in his parents name.
This is the way you want it to be titled in order for it to get passed on to your husband in the event of the in-laws death but in the event of his death they will own it completely and you would own nothing.
Question (and I know this is not exactly what the OP asked): if husband pre-deceases the parents (not likely but possible), Tenancy in Common would pass his stake to his wife, but Joint Tenancy to the parents, correct? I realize it's more likely not to happen this way, but there are a couple of ways to look at it then. If parents are both gone first, I believe their stake will either go to the husband (joint tenancy) or equally to the heirs, of which the husband is one, (tenancy in common).
Real Estate lawyer definitely called for here to avoid a potential big mess...
If you get along well with your in-laws, I would sit down with them and your husband and ask questions. Our daughter and son-in-law weren't married at the time they bought their house, and they couldn't get the financing. We were able to, and so the owners were listed as my husband, myself, and our daughter. They married soon afterwards, but his name was never added. It's paid off, and still just in our daughter's name.
He doesn't mind. They have 4 kids, 21, 19, 17 and 13. He knows the house was paid by us partially, and the house was mainly not for him and her, but for our grandbabies. And he's fine with it. Could this be the case?
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