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Real Estate Laws

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kseanng

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas

I was married for 16 years and during those years we had 2 kids. We bought a house which we got in 1999. In 2010 I got a divorce from my wife and I left her the house. In the divorce decree it says she gets the house, well she died in 2012 but she was also married for 1 month. She never changed anything with the mortgage company and the statements still say our names. My question is I know my kids would receive the house and I was told by another lawyer that the new husband has no right to the house he can only just live there. The new husband says he does not want anything to do with the house. My question is if I get him to sign a document and get it notarized with that be sufficient if 10 years from now my kids decide to sell the house.

thanks,
 


FlyingRon

Senior Member
The lawyer is likely wrong, did he fully understand the situation?

If the property was deeded over to your wife, then when she died, it became part of her estate. If she had a will, it was distributed based on that. If she didn't, it goes by the laws of intestate succession which means likely her new husband and the kids share in the ownership of the property. It's also possible that she deeded the property to herself and her new husband joinly with right of survivorship. In this case the new husband solely owns the property.

None of this has any bearing on the mortgage. Unless your wife refinanced you off the property, you remain responsible for making the payments. If nobody makes the payments, your credit will be trashed and the property will likely be foreclosed upon. You can get him to quit claim his interest in the property to the kids, but frankly, I'd seriously consider getting an attorney to unravel this ownership issue.
 

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