27 years in home

What is the name of your state? California

My mother has lived in a house for over 23 years and has paid the insurance, taxes, made regular morgage payments and has paid off the morgage. She has done improvements to the property such as putting up the fence, a new driveway, new plumbing and fixtures in the home.

This house orginally belonged to her mother. When her mother died - she left no will. The original deed was in her mother's name and the oldest child which is my mothers brother.

The brother has not lived in the house, nor has his siblings lived in the house. He has not made one payment on the morgage, taxes, or insurance. Now that the house is paid off - he has threaten to put her out so that he can sell it!

Does she have any rights at all? She has spent over 23 years and put all she had into that house.

[JETX]

Simply, your mother did all that for a house that she did not legally own. However, depending on specifics, she may have a claim to ownership via 'adverse possession'.
For more on this, go to: [url]http://www.instanet.com/~hgerrity/ap.html[/url]

In any case, she is going to need the services of a competent attorney experienced in real estate law. You can find one by going to: [url]http://attorneypages.com/attorneys/realestate.htm[/url]

[HomeGuru]

[quote]Originally posted by Inshtathe
[b]What is the name of your state? California

My mother has lived in a house for over 23 years and has paid the insurance, taxes, made regular morgage payments and has paid off the morgage. She has done improvements to the property such as putting up the fence, a new driveway, new plumbing and fixtures in the home.

This house orginally belonged to her mother. When her mother died - she left no will. The original deed was in her mother's name and the oldest child which is my mothers brother.

**A: depending upon the tenancy of the title holders at the time of death of her mother, the property either belongs solely to your brother or your brother and the estate. Your mother should have contacted a probate attorney at the time.
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The brother has not lived in the house, nor has his siblings lived in the house. He has not made one payment on the morgage, taxes, or insurance. Now that the house is paid off - he has threaten to put her out so that he can sell it!

Does she have any rights at all? She has spent over 23 years and put all she had into that house.

**A: if she is lucky, she may already have an interest in the property through a Tenants in Common tenancy and probate action.
If not then she must litigate.
With all due respect to Halket, this is not an adverse possession issue but litigation for property equity interest similar to partition.