Estate of Wife never Transfered to Husband

[AlmandD]

What is the name of your state? NJ

My mom owned a townhouse and died in 2015. My step father never put the town house in his name but just kept paying everything. He is now deceased. The tax assessors office has it names as "the estate of.......". My mom did not have a will when she died. Who does the townhouse go to next? I have one sister that died in 1997. She had a daughter just before she died.

 

[Zigner]

You will want to review New Jersey law on intestate succession. https://law.justia.com/codes/new-jersey/2019/title-3b/

In a nutshell, the estate of your stepfather is entitled to a portion of the estate of your mother, as are your mother's descendants.

 

[adjusterjack]

The tax assessors office has it names as "the estate of.......".

Get a copy of the deed. Might say something different and you need to know.

 

[zddoodah]

My mom owned a townhouse and died in 2015. My step father never put the town house in his name. . . . My mom did not have a will when she died. Who does the townhouse go to next?

Under New Jersey law, when a person dies without a will and is survived by a spouse and at least one child who is not also a child of the surviving spouse, the estate is divided as follows: (1) the surviving spouse gets 25% of net estate (but not less than $50k or more than $200k) plus 50% of the balance of the net estate; (2) the surviving descendants split everything else.

Since it appears your mother's estate was not properly administered, that will have to happen before the property can be ultimately disposed of.

Did your former stepfather leave a will? If not, did he have children/grandchildren? At the end of the day, it seems like you and your niece will co-own the townhome with whomever the heirs of your former stepfather's estate are.

 

[AlmandD]

My former step-father did not have a will. There is a grand daughter of his only deceased daughter between him and my mother. There are no other children/grandchildren.

In order for her estate to be properly administered, does that mean I would have to become the executor of her estate by going to probate court and obtainting a bond or how would I go about handling that appropriately?

 

[zddoodah]

My former step-father did not have a will. There is a grand daughter of his only deceased daughter between him and my mother. There are no other children/grandchildren.

Ok...so the end result of all this is that, since no one had a will, the townhouse should be sold as part of the administration of your mother's estate. The proceeds of that sale, along with any other assets, would be used to pay estate debt, if any, and the remainder divided as indicated between you and your sister and the estate of your former stepfather. As the apparent sole heir to your former stepfather's estate, his granddaughter would receive his estate's share, together with any other assets, less his estate debt and costs of administration.

It's possible that you, your niece, and your former stepfather's granddaughter could make an agreement that results in the three of you jointly owning the property, but I'm not sure why you'd want to do that. If you don't just want the cash, the smarter thing to do would be to try and make an agreement to buy them out.

In order for her estate to be properly administered, does that mean I would have to become the executor of her estate by going to probate court and obtainting a bond or how would I go about handling that appropriately?

Almost certainly yes (although you might not need to obtain a bond). I suggest you confer with a local probate attorney ASAP.