Father trying to intervene in the process

What is the name of your state? GA
Hi,
My 2 brothers and myself are in the process of selling some property. My brothers recieved this land in 1980, 4 years before I was born. We were not able to do anything with it until my mom passed away, b/c she was given a "lifetime estate" stated in the will. A few months after she died, my dad convinced my middle brother to sign a paper stating that he was giving my dad a lifetime estate also. But me nor my other brother signed this. The deed is stated that, the land is owned by all three of us, but my dad claims that he owns my brothers half. And that his lawyer says that we cannot sell this land out from under him like this. My oldest brother's lawyer says that the paper that was signed is not valid b/c not all the children signed it. Now my father's name is not printed anywhere on any document pertaining to this land. But he continues to say that he will sue us for 1/4 of the profit that we get from this land. By the way, we are giving him $50,000 off the top before any of us get's a check in hand. I'm not completely convinced that he can do anything, and feel a little uneasy about the things he continues to say. Anyone have any insight about my situation?

Thanks,
Kim

Listen to your lawyer, he may know something about the law. It doesn't make sense that a 1/3 owner could sign away rights of the other owners. Of course, that person could sign away their 1/3 interest, but that wasn't even attempted.

But the real question is: Why are you giving him $50,000 off the top before any of the actual owners gets their money? That sounds like a totally boneheaded idea.

If you really want to go forward with that plan, have your attorney draft an agreement that says that dad gives up all rights to the property in exchange for the $50K. Make him sign it before he gets the check.

Some Random Guy said:

Listen to your lawyer, he may know something about the law. It doesn't make sense that a 1/3 owner could sign away rights of the other owners. Of course, that person could sign away their 1/3 interest, but that wasn't even attempted.

But the real question is: Why are you giving him $50,000 off the top before any of the actual owners gets their money? That sounds like a totally boneheaded idea.

If you really want to go forward with that plan, have your attorney draft an agreement that says that dad gives up all rights to the property in exchange for the $50K. Make him sign it before he gets the check.

Click to expand...

Well, I agree that giving my dad is a bad idea. But as of last night, when things blew up around here, he will not be getting anything. And our lawyer told us this morning that this land is not split up into 1/3's. It is owned as a whole. Neither of us three children can seperatly sign away our ownership rights. It has to be done as a whole, and once again the lawyer assured me that the signed document was invalid and could not be used in the courts. But what right does my dad have to say that "we cannot sell this land out from under him"? That's what confuses me, his name is nowhere on this land, except for the invalid document that only one brother signed. And if that document was to be valid, it's only giving my dad a lifetime estate here, he's not entitaled to any type of ownership. I'm only 20 years old and having to deal with all of this. Driving me crazy!