Daughter/Administrator/Only Child - HELP!

What is the name of your state? Washington State

What is the name of your state? Washington State

HELP! I feel like I am in a lifetime movie network/jerry springer show...let me try and explain.

My father recently passed in Washington State. Him and his girlfriend (not my mother) purchased a piece of land in 1985 as separate (not married) individuals. They got married in 1988 and entered the marriage with his new wife having 3 children from a different marriage which he never adopted. They then divorced in September timeframe of 1996 (petition was filed in August so I gave it approx a 30 waiting period...not 100% it went through, but my lawyer is checking with the courthouse) and in the divorce papers my father left everything to her, but remained to live together on the property (I feel the divorce was a sham to elude creditors). They were then remarried in April of 1999 and she passed in May of 1999. Here is where it gets sticky...while going through my dads things I found his late wife’s will - the content in the will is dated August 23, 1996 but her final signature (on the witness page) is dated September 1996. This will is clearly giving my father everything (minus some family heirlooms that were to go to her children)...this will was never filed with the court house so it never went through probate, but the executor is named to be her sister. NOW his late wife’s children are coming forward saying that they are thought to be awarded the proceeds from the house sale since it was awarded to their mom in the divorce. They have also come forward with a quitclaim deed from their mom to her sister for the land in August of 1996. Well in June of 1999 (after his wife passed) my father started building a BEAUTIFUL home on the property...which is now the main selling point and reason that it is for sale at such a steep price.

BREAKDOWN -
Bought land as separate unmarried parties - 1985
Married - 1988
Divorced - petition filed on August 29th 1996
Quitclaim deed from wife to sister - August 28th 1996
Will - 2 dates...August 23rd 1996 and September 22nd 1996
Remarried - April 4th 1999 (Marriage certificate granted on March 29th)
Wife Passed - May 1999 of a brain tumor
Dad started to build his house - June 1999
Present - finished the house in 2003 and has lived on the property, paying the mortgage (paid off a couple months ago), etc. Both her and his name are still on the title of the land and were on the mortgage (before it was paid off)

MY QUESTIONS -
* Is the will valid even though there a 2 dates on it (August in the content pages and August (in the content) & September (after HER signature) on the final page with the witnesses and his wife’s signature)
* Is her Quitclaim deed good after all these years and if so since they were not legally divorced yet, is she quitclaiming her 1/2?
* Can her children get 1/2 of the proceeds of the sale even though their mother was not alive when he built his house?
* My father has lived on that land since 1985 and has paid mortgages and bills, etc - his AND her name are still on the title of the land (as unmarried couple back in 1985)...how can someone claim stake on something this late in the game and is it even legal to pull out a quitclaim deed from 8 years ago after he has been there this WHOLE time and made significant improvements to the land.
* Doesn't the fact that they were remarried before she died reinstate her will fully? Her children’s attorney is going to try and say she was remarried under influence or something of that nature...is that possible? Don’t they have to meet with someone first before they can be granted a marriage certificate?

UGH...YES this is long, but any advice would be GREATLY appreciated...I am WORN out with all of this!!!

My response:

. . . and you really believe that someone on the Internet is going to come along and untangle that mess for free?

You're also living in a dream world. Pay your attorney!

IAAL

Jeesh!

I wasn't asking for the answers...just some advice - not a smart a** comment!

kstraub said:

I wasn't asking for the answers...just some advice - not a smart a** comment!

Click to expand...

Well, since all I had was a smart-assed response I guess I won't respond at all.

Take the wife's will to a probate attorney and have it examined to see if it is legal and would stand up in probate court (does it have the correct number of witnesses (2 witnesses), did it need to be notarized or not,etc.). If it is legal and needs to be probated, then that should probably be a main priority now, since the will is going to be a primary factor in determing ownership status of the home--it is possible that the deed needs to be changed now or retroactively or before the husband's probate is finished, to reflect husband's estate ownership or it is also possible that the children might have legal rights to a share of the home (if she didn't disinherit them by name in the will) since children were supposed to have been mentioned in the will. It's okay for the different dates to be on the will--it obviously was prepared or typed up on one day, and she then needed time to review it and think about it before she provided her signature on another date.

At some point you will also need to order a copy of the divorce papers to see exactly what they say about the home ownership, but your attorney (as you were advised previously) will need to review everything to figure out exactly where everything stands. What the divorce decree says may or may not be important, since the will is going to trump everything.

If she was remarried to him at time of death, then that does reinstate her will.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

Dandy Don said:

If she was remarried to him at time of death, then that does reinstate her will.

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My response:

Oh God. . . Somebody save me from Dandy Don!!

You idiot! That answer is EXACTLY why this writer needs an attorney to take the 25 hours necessary to sort this mess out!

Remarriage DOES NOT reinstate a Will. You must be thinking about a health care POA, which is reinstated upon remarriage. However, Washington State is a "community property" State, and as such, upon Dissolution of marriage, the property has already been divided per court order, and the spouse beneficiary under a Will is "automatically" revoked by operation of law and is NOT revived by remarriage; i.e., a new Will, with a new date, post remarriage, would have been necessary. The Will in this case, since it wasn't redrawn post remarriage, is a nullity insofar as the wife is concerned, despite the remarriage!!

This is just one issue. There are others in your response, but it's futile and frustrating to explain to you. It would take pages. That's why we can't make lemonade from this writer's lemon!

IAAL

I'll bet she appreciates my answer more than yours.

Ok Ok

Well thank you both for your replies and just to set the record straight, I do have a lawyer for this instance, but as I am sure you can imagine - I am left in the dark and am trying to get some HELPFUL advice to ease my uncertainty and my bank account. I know this is NOT an easy matter and the law is not an easy subject, just wanted to get some peoples advice who are more experienced then I am so that I can sleep better at night...that is all! Thank you for the help...

Dandy Don said:

I'll bet she appreciates my answer more than yours.

Click to expand...

My response:

Appreciates? What good is "appreciating" an incorrect response, Dandy?

You're from a "separate property" State, Dandy, and you're attempting to inject laws that have nothing to do with a "community property" State.

Our writer is asking for "advice", but in order to give "advice", one necessarily needs to give "answers" - - correct answers.

Our writer obviously doesn't understand the difference, nor the various and innumerable intricacies of the problems stated. Each problem is intertwined with the next problem, and there are too many variables to the problems in this "web" of problems to figure any of it out on an Internet forum site.

IAAL