22 yr old son is suing me Over House!!

[justalayman]

It is very likely that you never owned the house. Anyone can pay the taxes for someone else's house. Same with insurance. When you paid the taxes it would have said who was the owner of the property right on the top of the tax bill. What did it say? It probably said what you mentioned earlier, "The Original Deed reads mom and I as Trustees of her trust". That makes your mother the owner of the house.

technically it makes the trust the owner of the house although depending what type of trust it was the ownership can be easily converted back to the mother.

 

[curb1]

Who owns the revocable trust?

 

[justalayman]

Who owns the revocable trust?

a trust isn't really owned by anybody. It is similar in it's independence to that of a corporation.

With a revocable living trust, it is treated as an extension of the settlor for tax purposes but in truth, the trustor neither owns the trust or the assets held by the trust. It is treated as such because the settlor does have the ability to revert ownership of the assets back to themselves.

In an irrevocable trust, it is more obvious the independent standing of the trust. It is controlled by the trustees as allowed by the governing instrument and it has beneficiaries neither of which actually hold any sort of ownership interest in the assets while they are held by the trust.

 

[curb1]

I understand what you are saying, but for all practical purposes the trustor/trustee is the owner of the revocable trust. I own all of the assets in my trust. I control the assets in my trust. No one else owns my trust and no one else has control of my trust. The IRS recognizes me as the owner of my trust income. My stock broker recognizes me as the owner of the assets in my trust brokerage account. My bank recognizes me as the owner of my trust bank account. The county recognizes me as the owner of the trust real estate.

 

[justalayman]

. I own all of the assets in my trust. .

So tell me, who is legally listed as owner of the trust real estate, the trust bank account, and the trust brokerage account?

 

[TrustUser]

i think both of you have some valid points.

owning property is a state function or right, not a federal one.

the irs does not recognize revocable living trusts. but neither the irs nor the federal govt has any say with regard to actual "ownership".

however, when the trustor, trustee and beneficiary are all the same person, there is not much legal separation regarding ownership. and this is most typical in revocable living trusts.

 

[justalayman]

however, when the trustor, trustee and beneficiary are all the same person, there is not much legal separation regarding ownership. and this is most typical in revocable living trusts.

so, we are back to my statement:

technically it makes the trust the owner of the house although depending what type of trust it was the ownership can be easily converted back to the mother.

we also have to realize the op was not the trustor. There were multiple trustees and no idea who the beneficiary(ies) is/are so that changes how curbs and my discussion plays into this thread.

yes curb1, for practical purposes the trustee is the owner of the assets but technically they aren't. Fair enough?

 

[curb1]

Fair enough. I understand your point.

 

[anteater]

Fair enough. I understand your point.

And Peace and Harmony reign once again in the Kingdom of FreeAdvice!

(Except for the OP who has a real mess on her hands.)

 

[divona2000]

...I sold the property in June of 2005 when my current husband and I were signing paperwork..

...the title company never questioned the sale, I received the proceeds, all of them.

I'm still blinking over a title company closing on the sale of a home you apparently didn't own...

...and what kind of mess might the current owner now have?

 

[anteater]

I'm still blinking over a title company closing on the sale of a home you apparently didn't own...

...and what kind of mess might the current owner now have?

Yeah, but there are so many headscratchers in this story that we aren't going to be able to provide anything even approximating an answer. Such as:

Ok, then when I sold the property in June of 2005 when my current husband and I were signing paperwork, a document was slipped in and we both signed it re:the Uniform Transfers to Minor Act.