Please help me if you are familiar w/ NJ Law:
Suppose A's mother (M) just passed. A's father (M's husband) died long ago and is irrelevant to this analysis. A's last will was written 30 years ago. It seems that the will can survive any contests. The most important part of the will pertains to the house that M owns in fee simple absolute (worth, say, only $200,000 to make it easy). A has lived in the house with M her whole life, and has paid for upkeep and even contributed nominal rent to M. A has also cared for M and supported her after M's husband died and has payed for her medical coverage, food, utilities, etc... and even her upcoming funeral.
A has a brother B, who is a deadbeat. He is in debt, has no job, lives with his girlfriend, has minimal communication with M and A, and did not see M at all during her dying days at the hospital (citing his own difficult circumstances as a reason for not traveling 1 hour to see her, even though A offered to drive there and back). As despicable as he is, he is in M's last will (even though M, while in the hospital, said she wanted B out, though that never made it onto paper).
The house that M owned was willed to A and B with each receiving 50%. It does not state the type of concurrent estate, so I assume the default would be TIC.
Now, A has a lot of worries. Since she wishes to keep living in the house, she knows that she will have to keep paying the taxes in full to ensure that there is no tax sale. (B has absolutely no money). Meanwhile, she also is scared he may try to move back into the house (he's a mooch and eats all the food and doesn't contribute to utilities etc). A also fears B may try to compel sale of the property under partition action. Also, she is unsure if B's debt-holders can come after the property (even though B's current debts are unrelated to the property... B could also take on more debt using the property as collateral).
So what can A do? Are there any remedies of estoppel or other equitable remedies? Anything creative? Even nonlegal solutions if that's what A is limited to?
Thanks.
Suppose A's mother (M) just passed. A's father (M's husband) died long ago and is irrelevant to this analysis. A's last will was written 30 years ago. It seems that the will can survive any contests. The most important part of the will pertains to the house that M owns in fee simple absolute (worth, say, only $200,000 to make it easy). A has lived in the house with M her whole life, and has paid for upkeep and even contributed nominal rent to M. A has also cared for M and supported her after M's husband died and has payed for her medical coverage, food, utilities, etc... and even her upcoming funeral.
A has a brother B, who is a deadbeat. He is in debt, has no job, lives with his girlfriend, has minimal communication with M and A, and did not see M at all during her dying days at the hospital (citing his own difficult circumstances as a reason for not traveling 1 hour to see her, even though A offered to drive there and back). As despicable as he is, he is in M's last will (even though M, while in the hospital, said she wanted B out, though that never made it onto paper).
The house that M owned was willed to A and B with each receiving 50%. It does not state the type of concurrent estate, so I assume the default would be TIC.
Now, A has a lot of worries. Since she wishes to keep living in the house, she knows that she will have to keep paying the taxes in full to ensure that there is no tax sale. (B has absolutely no money). Meanwhile, she also is scared he may try to move back into the house (he's a mooch and eats all the food and doesn't contribute to utilities etc). A also fears B may try to compel sale of the property under partition action. Also, she is unsure if B's debt-holders can come after the property (even though B's current debts are unrelated to the property... B could also take on more debt using the property as collateral).
So what can A do? Are there any remedies of estoppel or other equitable remedies? Anything creative? Even nonlegal solutions if that's what A is limited to?
Thanks.