(1) Did this man leave a will or not? If so, what does the will say about what happens with the house?
(2) Who is the official executor of this estate--the girlfriend or her attorney?You should seriously consult getting a real estate attorney to get his/her advice about how you should proceed and to get your questions answered. It appears that you may be taken advantage of. Or, at least get a probate attorney and then your probate attorney may know a real estate attorney to consult to get answers to your questions.
(3) Are you the only surviving child or are there other brothers and sisters? If there was no will, then the children may be entitled to as much as 2/3rds of the estate, and I fear that you are not being fully informed of what you are eligible to receive!!
(4) What is the estimated total value of this man's estate? What is the house worth, and how much is remaining on the outstanding balance due on the mortgage?
DON'T sign the quitclaim deed until you have something in writing to validate her intention/promise to buy you out. You need to be getting a second opinion from your own attorney as to whether the quitclaim is even necessary--the executor and heirs might have the power jointly with live-in girlfriend to decide jointly how the home is going to be split up and the quitclaim may not even be necessary and you would be signing away your rights for no reason. No wonder you are not getting adequate advice/counsel from the attorney you talked to--I don't know whether it's the official executor or just an estate attorney who is advising the live-in girlfriend, but his obligation is to represent her and he won't be concerned in the least about you.
If this house is not paid for in full, then the mortgage company owns it and the heirs and estate executor need to be talking with the mortgage company to determine the fate of the home--mortgage company may agree to a sale but the equity (payments that your father has already made) are an asset to the estate and whether or not girlfriend refinances or what her share in the home is needs to be legally been determined that is a separate matter.
Something is wrong with their methods of calculation--it would seem that you have no business paying off "YOUR SHARE??" of the mortgage--unless you wanted to do that--did they say how much THAT would be? If the estate has enough assets to be able to pay off the balance due on the mortgage, then that is an outstanding debt that the estate should pay for so that ownership is free and clear so that legal heirs can then decide what is to be done with the property. You also need to consider getting the official opinion from a probate attorney to see whether this live-in girlfriend is entitled to anything at all from this estate.
When they are going to deduct for the upgrades, are they deducting full value or for your 1/4th share? Why are they deducting for upgrades anyway--that is the responsibility of the home owner and the home owner bears that expense, and that INCREASES a home's value--so therefore they shouldn't be charging you for this!! They need to be furnishing you with exact figures they used in their calculations and how they arrive at the final amount. A real estate attorney's services are absolutely essential and INVALUABLE in insuring that a review of the other party's actions is done to make sure you are protected and to make sure that things are done correctly and legally!! The real estate attorney will have insight and expertise about every aspect of the real estate transaction that the probate attorney does not have.
You are making a big mistake if you don't get the services of a probate attorney to represent you and find out exactly what is going on with this estate!! I wish it could be me so I could get a piece of the action!! Good luck on getting everything straightened out--looks like this transaction is going to be financially beneficial to you!!
DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA (
[email protected])
