advice on buying mother's home

[thebuzz]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? LA

My father passed away 2 years ago and my mother wants to sell me her house. There is 100,000.00 in equity. My mother and father have a will which states that upon the death of either one of them the other has full ownership of the property. I was told that unless an open succession(?) was done the other 4 children have a right to 1/5 of my father's half of the property. Does anyone have any information on this? It would be greatly appreciated.

[nextwife]

How is title held?

[rowz]

Have your Mom sell you the house "at arms length".

This way the other siblings would have as much say in the matter as if she sold it to a stranger.

After the sale, Mom can disperse the funds in any manner that she sees fit.
Mom is not a bank so you do not want het to be holding the mortgage

[nextwife]

Originally Posted by rowz

Have your Mom sell you the house "at arms length".

This way the other siblings would have as much say in the matter as if she sold it to a stranger.

After the sale, Mom can disperse the funds in any manner that she sees fit.
Mom is not a bank so you do not want het to be holding the mortgage

Dad is still on title. He's DEAD. So "the house" cannot be sold, as there is an interest that cannot be conveyed.

IF mom held title as a joint tenant with her husband, then the OWNERSHIP, rather than the will, would control what happens with dad's interest. Mom would become the full owner upon termination the interest of the deceased co owner and can sell to whomever she wishes. Or not sell at all. That would be mom's choice, but NOT a probate matter.

[FlyingRon]

And if theirs a will that leaves everything to the other spouse, the kids don't get a share.
I suspect that 1/5 stuff comes from someone trying to apply intestate succession rules which don't apply if the property is specifically covered in the will.

But either way if dad is still on the deed it needs to be fixed (in the case of joint owners, often all it takes is taking the death certificate down to the records office). If there is a will, there may need to be other legal action.

If you're going to buy it, I'd recommend a lawyer. He can handle both getting mom's title cleared and then the sale to you.

Note, that in addition to sibbling squabbles (which they really have no legal stand, mom could give away the house if she wanted),
if you don't pay fair market value for the house, it could quite possibly screw her medicaid eligibility.