All to Stepmom or a Bit for Only Child?

[Satyr9]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? NC

My father died without a Will in Oct 2004. He left a few acres of land with two mobile homes that he and my deceased mother (1/1986) had paid for. My step-mother has now left her adult children to live there since she has moved. I received no mailings or contact from anyone. I know that the insurance all went to her as the beneficiary. I am his only child. I have received nothing from the estate. I was informed by someone in the estate division of the local courthouse that my stepmother is entitled to all of the estate as his wife. I begrudgingly have tried to let it go at that but have difficulty believing I don't have a superior or equal claim. I have recently been informed by a non-professional that according to NC intestate laws, I am entitled to 50% of the land and homes. Do I have any legal interest and if so, for how long?

 

[BlondiePB]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? NC

My father died without a Will in Oct 2004. He left a few acres of land with two mobile homes that he and my deceased mother (1/1986) had paid for. My step-mother has now left her adult children to live there since she has moved. I received no mailings or contact from anyone. I know that the insurance all went to her as the beneficiary. I am his only child. I have received nothing from the estate. I was informed by someone in the estate division of the local courthouse that my stepmother is entitled to all of the estate as his wife. I begrudgingly have tried to let it go at that but have difficulty believing I don't have a superior or equal claim. I have recently been informed by a non-professional that according to NC intestate laws, I am entitled to 50% of the land and homes. Do I have any legal interest and if so, for how long?

Without knowing how exactly the property was titled, no one can tell you whether or not if you have any rights to the estate.

 

[Satyr9]

I'm not exactly certain what you mean by how the property was titled. I think I know, but I'm not certain. Originally, the deed to the land listed my mom & dad as the Grantees. Nothing changed on that until about a year after my dad married my stepmom. At that point, they refinanced or remortgaged with several Deeds of Trust that reflected my dad & stepmom. After he died, she apparently used the insurance money to pay off the last of those. The copies of the Satisfaction of Deed of Trusts that are on file with the Register of Deeds still include my dad's name on them as well. I suppose they aren't supposed to reflect that he was already dead at that time.

I don't know how the probate system works, but I have a suspicion that a lot has been done improperly or not at all.

 

[BlondiePB]

I'm not exactly certain what you mean by how the property was titled. I think I know, but I'm not certain. Originally, the deed to the land listed my mom & dad as the Grantees. Nothing changed on that until about a year after my dad married my stepmom. At that point, they refinanced or remortgaged with several Deeds of Trust that reflected my dad & stepmom. After he died, she apparently used the insurance money to pay off the last of those. The copies of the Satisfaction of Deed of Trusts that are on file with the Register of Deeds still include my dad's name on them as well. I suppose they aren't supposed to reflect that he was already dead at that time.

I don't know how the probate system works, but I have a suspicion that a lot has been done improperly or not at all.

Property "In Trust" by-pass probate. In order to learn whether things were done properly, consult with a probate attorney that also does trusts. You could be a beneficiary of the trust.

 

[Satyr9]

No, I may not have been clear on that. The property is not "in Trust." There were several Deeds of Trust that were Satisfied. In North Carolina, a Deed of Trust is pretty much a mortgage.

These meant my dad & stepmom had borrowed against the land (the Deeds of Trust with the finance and mortgage companies listed) and then repaid all of these loans (the Notices of Satisfaction of Deed of Trust,) with the exception of the last two. The Notices of Satisfaction for those two are dated after dad's death. My stepmom apparently paid off those debts with his life insurance policy.

I'm unemployed, I'm trying to confirm I have something meriting the expense of an attorney or if there is a way to approach this on my own.