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My siblings & I just found out that my dad & step-mother's house is for sale. My dad died in '95. We just found out his wife died last year. We've all always had a cordial relationship with his wife after his death, despite all living in different states.
For several years, we'd all left msgs on her home answering machine & sent holiday cards, no one ever hearing from her. Suddenly, the phone was disconnected, so we wrongly assumed she perhaps didn't want to hear from us, although we all still continued to send holiday cards. According to the neighbor who'd found a sibling's phone # some months ago, she'd taken 2 falls in her home during the past 3-yrs, sustaining head injuries, developed Alzheimer's & was in a nursing home for at least the last year of her life. We had no idea.
So, someone must have been paying the utility bills on her home & received our many phone msgs & cards over the years. Why we were never contacted, is beyond me... why didn't someone tell us she had had falls, returned calls or letters for 2-3 yrs making us aware of her condition?
In any event, I just discovered her home is for sale & there are a husband & wife who have listed it for sale. Should I assume they were listed in her will (if there was one)? The neighbor said they'd been caring for her for some time. Again... why they didn't let us know, is beyond me. Someone opened the dozen cards/yr & erased the dozen msgs/yr left for several years.
I called a Century 21 agent today, who had the listing on their site. Turns out, he's not the listing agent & he didn't want to get involved... I won't be able to contact the listing agent 'til after the Memorial Day holiday... there's no answer at his office.
My q's:
* Do I assume the couple who listed the house for sale are in her will & are the executors of her estate?
* If they did indeed care for her the last years of her life, I have no dispute with their claim to the property, if they're in her will... but, if they're just taking advantage of an old woman with Alzheimer's, then I have relatives in the region who'd be most grateful to "inherit" my dad's house, since it's his $ that was put into many renovations after his death... $50K, in fact.
BTW, the property is currently being sold for under $50K (shocking, when I know she put that same $ amt into renovations)... they initially listed it at $70K & decreased it to $50K over the past 2-mos... it's been on the mkt for 6-mos. I don't want to hire a lawyer to contest the will, if it's a fruitless pursuit & will cost me $$$, but how can I find out if they were, in fact, in her will? If they weren't, it should rightly go to a local relative. If they were, good luck to them in their sale.
Can anyone help me? BTW, the home is in PA, where we all grew up & I have 2 siblings in PA... the others are in CA & FL.
Contact the listing agent and find out what you can. It's a starting point, contact a lawyer from there if needed.
Wow, thank you for your lightening fast reply, Brandon!
I wasn't sure what's legal to reveal on the part of the listing agent? The C21 agent I contacted was eager to get me off the phone, when I began explaining as to why I was contacting him.
Can the listing agent (a small agency) tell me who is the legal executrix of the estate? And, can an executrix be a person not in a will... IOW, we (I) are the next of kin, but if we didn't know about her death, can caretaking neighbors claim executrix title, if someone/anyone didn't reveal that my dad/step-mom had 5 kids and/or tried to reach us?
Given the value of the property, I don't want to put $$$ into it, particularly if there's a slim chance my siblings have a right to a $50K property. I'm in FL... would I contact a PA lawyer, since the property is in PA?
Wow, thank you for your lightening fast reply, Brandon!
I wasn't sure what's legal to reveal on the part of the listing agent? The C21 agent I contacted was eager to get me off the phone, when I began explaining as to why I was contacting him.
Can the listing agent (a small agency) tell me who is the legal executrix of the estate? And, can an executrix be a person not in a will... IOW, we (I) are the next of kin, but if we didn't know about her death, can caretaking neighbors claim executrix title, if someone/anyone didn't reveal that my dad/step-mom had 5 kids and/or tried to reach us?
Given the value of the property, I don't want to put $$$ into it, particularly if there's a slim chance my siblings have a right to a $50K property. I'm in FL... would I contact a PA lawyer, since the property is in PA?
Thank you so much for your reply.
You would likely need a PA lawyer. As mentioned you need to see a copy of the will. Register of Wills in the County of residence maybe. The executor/administrator of the estate doesn't necessarily have to file in the residence.
When you call the listing agent, you tell him that you maybe contesting the sale UNLESS you have proof that this couple has the right to sell the place. Saying it doesn't make it true, but it will likely get you the information you want.
Frankly I would be a bit suspicious of these people. You are kinder than I am in this situation.
I would request a copy of the will from the Register of Wills.
So, the Luzerne Cty site lists (below). I'm not in the state... I'm in FL, this is PA:
[CENTER]**PROBATE NOTICE**[/CENTER]
[LEFT][CENTER]EFFECTIVE JANUARY 27, 2014, THE OFFICE WILL ACCEPT AND ENCOURAGES APPOINTMENTS FOR PROBATE. PROBATES NOT MADE BY APPOINTMENT WILL EXPERIENCE LONG WAIT TIMES.
PLEASE CALL 570-825-1672 OR 570-825-1670 TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT
THANK YOU
[/CENTER]
[/LEFT]
Is this the only way I can find out who is in the will... I don't even know if there were a will. I need to find out the executrix of the estate, no?
You can call a title company and get them involved. With any sale, clear title would be required. The title company would require a copy of any probate to show who the legal heirs to the property are. You make it clear they might be a claim, they will definitely be contacting the listing agent to get in touch with the "sellers" to provide the proper paperwork. No title company or attorney would close on the property without a clear title.
If there was no will, a court will appoint someone to act. Typically there are legal notices that must be published. If the area has a local or county newspaper that is searchable I'd start searching for your step-mother's name.
Typically you can go online to the website of the County Recorder for the county in which the home is located and view the documents in the chain of title to the house. Your stepmother's name should be enough to bring up the documents. If the caregivers are selling it, they are either doing so as the designated personal representatives (executors) of your stepmother's estate, having been named in her will, or the property has actually been titled in their names and they are selling it as the owners because it was left to them in her will. In the latter case, there should be a recent deed from the estate to them in the chain of title. Your stepmother may have even designated them as joint tenants or death beneficiaries while she was living, in which case you would see that deed (and her death certificate) in the chain of title. Anyway, I would start there. There may also be information on the County Assessor's website that will tell you who is the owner of record and where the property tax bills have been going and are now being sent. I am a lawyer and use the Recorder's and Assessor's websites all the time to obtain information (although not all states are as use-friendly as mine). A title company could also quickly tell you what is going on.
There is realistically no way the caregivers could be selling the house without legal authority - either as the outright owners or the executors of the estate. So one way or another, it is a near-certainty that your stepmother either named them in her will or made them joint tenants or death beneficiaries while she was living (if PA allows beneficiary deeds).
The exploitation of elderly adults is a tremendous problem in our society, and the "caregiver" scenario is a classic one. Unfortunately, the state agencies that protect vulnerable adults will not become involved since your stepmother is dead. And realistically, a lawyer is not going to be interested if the only asset is a $70K house unless factually you have an absolutely slam-dunk case of exploitation, which is seldom the case. Most of the time the vulnerable adult statutes have potentially draconian penalties (such as treble damages) but this is no help if the caregivers have no assets anyway. Any lawyer would want to see the will, which would be a public document that you could view and copy at the office of the clerk of the court where it was filed for probate (if it was), which would be the county where your stepmother died.
These "caregiver" situations always sound fishy, but often everything was indeed on the up and up. You would either have to prove your stepmother lacked "testamentary capacity" when she executed the will or was subjected to "undue influence" by the caregivers, neither of which is an easy task. Anyway, I would gather as much information as you can and perhaps sit down with a lawyer if you come up with some really "bad facts" and/or a lot more assets than the $70K home.
Standard disclaimer: These are general observations, not legal advice. I am not licensed in PA and know nothing specific about PA law.
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