• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Farmland inherited

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

Kimberly807

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? North Dakota.
Many yrs ago, my grandmother, while living, put her farmland into the names of her 4 children, (my father/3 sisters). Two sisters put their land up as collateral to help one of their husbands with his farm/financial problems. He ultimately lost his farm, and as a result, the 2 sisters lost their share of the farm. The land was never divided as to who got what part or parcel. The third sister lives in another state and has Alzhiemers. The bank involved went under.

My grandmother recently passed away, and my father, having an 8th grade education, has no idea how to handle the business end of selling his share of the land, or if he even HAS to sell it. We would like to know what his options are in this matter, and what kind of attorney we need to hire, if necessary. Any advice you can offer is greatly appreciated as to steps we should take. We have no idea where to go from here. Thanks so much.
 


tranquility

Senior Member
This is an example of it being cheaper to see an attorney up front rather than afterward.

You need an attorney. One who specializes in Real Estate law. There will be court time involved. It will be expensive.
 

latigo

Senior Member
This is indeed thorny. You will definitely require the services of a Texas attorney highly skilled in real property law. And it will be expensive! But you and dad had best get it sorted out now or it will only become more thorny and more expensive after his death.
___________________

But let me point out some legal inconsistencies in your narrative indicating that you may not be aware of what truly transpired subsequent to the transfer over to the children.

One that immediately catches attention is where you write, (1) grandmother placed the farm in the names of her four children, BUT
(2) “the land was never divided as to who got what part or parcel”.

If that is so and it is most likely, then the four children received the land as cotenants with each owning and undivided 25% interest.

And if that is true, and the property was never physically partitioned/divided between the four whereby each ended up owning a given parcel outright, then the two sisters alone could not have encumbered the entire farm as collateral to help one of their husbands.

It would have taken all four of the co-owner to encumber the property.

And yet you say that the two sisters “lost their share of the farm’, which implies that there was some sort of a foreclosure proceeding which had to be preceded by some physical division.

I suppose that it is conceivable, theoretically at least, that the bank lent against two undivided interests and in the foreclosure proceedings the property was partitioned, but I’ve never heard of it happening.

There is much to be sorted out by the attorney.

Good luck
 

Kimberly807

Junior Member
farmland inherited

I apologize for my inconsistencies -- I tried to keep my posting condensed to save the reader time and unneccessary "fluff" and may have omitted important information.
My grandmother had it set up so no one could do anything concerning the farm until after her death. Depending on the year, it was rented out or in CRP -- and the income from that farmland was used to support her and eventually pay her nursing home expenses. I believe my aunts thought that upon my grandmother's death, when the land was sold, they would simply forfeit their shares, my father would get 25% of the sale of the land and that would be it.

THANK YOU FOR ANSWERING MY POSTINGS, LATIGO AND TRANQUILITY.
 
Last edited:

latigo

Senior Member
Your last makes less sense than the first!

In fact the second makes no sense at all. Plus there isn’t an element in the second that is consistent with the first.

What happened to “grandmother putting the farm in the names of her four children”; the “two sisters/aunts” that supposedly borrowed against their interests and “and lost their share of the farm”?! And the bank that went under?

Now instead of having lost their interest in the “farm” the aunts have elected to “forfeit” their ¼ interests. And yet their brother is only to receive 25%. What happens to the other 75%?

And what about the aunt with Alzheimer’s? Who makes the decision to forfeit her interest? Or has someone found a cure for the dreadful disease?

You say “inconsistencies”? I’m inclined to think “fairy-tale”!
___________________

Oh what a tangled web we weave . . . “
 

sam02135

Member
Your last makes less sense than the first!

In fact the second makes no sense at all. Plus there isn’t an element in the second that is consistent with the first.

What happened to “grandmother putting the farm in the names of her four children”; the “two sisters/aunts” that supposedly borrowed against their interests and “and lost their share of the farm”?! And the bank that went under?

Now instead of having lost their interest in the “farm” the aunts have elected to “forfeit” their ¼ interests. And yet their brother is only to receive 25%. What happens to the other 75%?

And what about the aunt with Alzheimer’s? Who makes the decision to forfeit her interest? Or has someone found a cure for the dreadful disease?

You say “inconsistencies”? I’m inclined to think “fairy-tale”!
___________________

Oh what a tangled web we weave . . . “
Latigo is correct ... you have to be consistent with the terms especially real estate. Leaving the property to four people, they have equal shares of the title. If forclosure was involved with 2 siblings, then 1/2 the property will be going to the bank. But the bank can't take your father's portion nor the other aunt's portion.
Most likely a lien on the house. Since sister has alzeihmers... then her next of kin would most likely be her executor with approval of the courts.
 

Kimberly807

Junior Member
I did my best to explain everything as I was told by my elderly parents. I'm sorry I couldn't do it well enough. All I wanted was some help, but I've obviously made a mistake in posting. Didn't mean to waste your time. Thanks.
 

FarmerJ

Senior Member
Kim it is not a waste of time to post, what would serve your father best is to first have the title of the land looked at to verify what or was not done to it by his mom , then once that is known a atty can offer more options as to how to move forward , see some of what you were told may or may not have actually happened. some times people speak about what they intend to do but dont carry it out so this is where the services of a atty would be great so your father would know where he stood.
 

Kimberly807

Junior Member
Thank you. I'm flying home this weekend to try and get the information I need to sort this out for him. I'll do exactly as you suggest. Thanks so much.
 

FarmerJ

Senior Member
Try the sites links to locate a atty up there , this way you can go with contact information so he has a place to start. I assume he is western part of ND since you said flying, so have a safe trip.
 

nextwife

Senior Member
Wouldn't it be cheaper to order a properly researched abstracting of title activity from X date to X date, along with back up document copies? A title searcher is better able to complete such a search than you are anyway, and this way you don't have airfare cost.

The documents will show who was in title when, who SIGNED any mortgages (maybe all owners agreed to the mortgage, and only two were on the note, for example). Could be the whole thing was long ago properly foreclosed and all family interests extinguished.

IMHO, you are far better served by getting a complete title search done with all document copies than flying out there. Especially if this contains a metes and bounds legal description. I doubt you'd yourself know how to tract through any land splits, or check all the postings to a quarter quarter section and sort through to see what applies to the subject property.
 

FarmerJ

Senior Member
Kim :) yeah I know its great up there , Im pretty sure when the time comes for my next move ill end up near some of my friends down in Lidgerwood /Hankinson area , I drive up there alot so didnt occur to me about flying from the cities to GF since its a easy drive from my area (Mille Lacs county) Enjoy your holiday visit while there and keep in mind Nextwifes suggestion even if your father has to have help understanding it a local title firm up there can do a report , it would reduce the attys hours when he sees one later on, Have good holiday.
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top