Does a title or deed over ride a Will?

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Maryland

My father added me to the title or deed on his house, in 1996. It states if he dies his house would go to me. He recently passed and left a Will with no mention of me. Does the title or deed over ride the will?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

how, exactly, did he add you to the title?

Did he put you on as a joint tenant or a co-tenant?

Be very specific with how he added you to the title and granted this post death transfer.

Does a title or deed over ride a will

I'm reading of this long form. It states a title search, assignment leasehold individual grantor with my fathers name and mine, witnessed and signed by an attorney.

that is vague. Quite the opposite of specific.


so, let's try this;

are you listed as a grantee on the deed? What you have is apparently the results of a title search. Do you have the actual deed your father recorded with you included however you are?



You mentioned leasehold. What does it say about the leasehold? A mention of a leasehold suggests it is not conveying ownership to you but some lesser type of interest. A life estate would be considered a type of leasehold.

Does a title or dead over ride a will?

Yes listed as a grantee. Have copy of deed with block number, fathers name and attorneys name, address and phone number.

Far as leasehold it states, The whole or entire estate or any part except by devise or bequeath in any Last Will and Testament, their personal representatives/ successors and assigns the leasehold interest in all lot of ground situate in state of Md.

PEACHY132 said:

Yes listed as a grantee. Have copy of deed with block number, fathers name and attorneys name, address and phone number.

Far as leasehold it states, The whole or entire estate or any part except by devise or bequeath in any Last Will and Testament, their personal representatives/ successors and assigns the leasehold interest in all lot of ground situate in state of Md.

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Besides your name as Grantee, is any language added behind such as ". . . as Tenants in Common" or anything else? Did he deed to you and he together 100% or deed to you alone 50%?

If it just lists your names with "and" you are tenants in common. You own half and he owns half. Your half is unaffected by his death. His half is distributed based on the will (if it addresses it) and the rules of intestate succession otherwise. Further, if there are debts in the estate it may encumber the transfer of his half.

FlyingRon said:

If it just lists your names with "and" you are tenants in common. You own half and he owns half. Your half is unaffected by his death. His half is distributed based on the will (if it addresses it) and the rules of intestate succession otherwise. Further, if there are debts in the estate it may encumber the transfer of his half.

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If he is Grantee, and accidentally deeded 100%, rather than deeding a half interest, she MIGHT own the whole shabang. However, if he had nursing home care or other vsuch expenses, and the interest was deeded within the 5 year lookback period, there may be a problem. Or if he was not competent by the time the interest was deeded.

as you can read, we are still lacking info to tell you much of anything so,

who (all) is listed as grantee?
if more than one person, is there any use of the word "joint" in describing the co-tenants? Is the term "in common" used?

If more than one grantee, does it list some division such as 50%, equal shares, or anything else that would refer to how much either grantee would own.


within the deed, does it list anything such as life estate, life tenancy, for the use of (insert name here) during their natural life , or anything that is remotely similar?

Far as leasehold it states, The whole or entire estate or any part except by devise or bequeath in any Last Will and Testament, their personal representatives/ successors and assigns the leasehold interest in all lot of ground situate in state of Md.

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and? what does it say about it? Who is assigned the leasehold? What are the terms of the leasehold?

there are several here that understand real estate law well but without information, all any of them can do is guess and that won't help you.

Thanks to all of you for your advice. I'll take the deed to an attorney for further legal advice.