10 replies to this topic

[love2beach]

Firstly, my husband owned his house prior to our marriage in NC. I wanted to know if he passes, I automatically become the owner, as he thinks. He has 2 children from previous marriages, also if I die, will my property become his unless otherwise requested in writing? I also have 2 children from previous marriages.

My second question is that before my father in law passed, he and my mother in law transferred all the property to their one of four children in case my mothe in law would need to be in a nursing home but giving her full rights to the home and land and contents while living but there is a will which divides up the property and home to all 4 children. My mother in law states she is still paying all property taxes and that the will overrides the one sibling owning the land and property. Is this true, does the land and propetty in NC divert back to the state automatically to fulfill the will? or does there have to be a signed agreement with my mother in law and her daughter to divert the property back to fulfill the will?

A lot, I know, I do appreciate your knowledge in NC law.
Thanks

[harrylime]

Firstly, my husband owned his house prior to our marriage in NC. I wanted to know if he passes, I automatically become the owner, as he thinks. He has 2 children from previous marriages, also if I die, will my property become his unless otherwise requested in writing? I also have 2 children from previous marriages.

You and your husband are prime candidates for a visit to an estate planning attorney. I suggest that you visit this site where you can use the calculator to see what happens if either of you die without a will:

http://www.mystatewi...culator_nc.html

My second question is that before my father in law passed, he and my mother in law transferred all the property to their one of four children in case my mothe in law would need to be in a nursing home but giving her full rights to the home and land and contents while living but there is a will which divides up the property and home to all 4 children. My mother in law states she is still paying all property taxes and that the will overrides the one sibling owning the land and property. Is this true, does the land and propetty in NC divert back to the state automatically to fulfill the will? or does there have to be a signed agreement with my mother in law and her daughter to divert the property back to fulfill the will?

No, your MIL's will does not override the transfer of property while she is alive. Her will only pertains to property that she owns when she passes away. The other children will be at the mercy of the daughter's sense of fairness when MIL passes away.

[Fallen]

No, you don't automatically become the owner if you aren't a co-owner on the deed/title and you two don't own as joint tenants w/ right of survivorship or tenants by entirety ... unless your husband makes a valid will (and doesn't change it) saying you get it (and assuming estate debt is otherwise covered). His kids are heirs too, unless he decides to make a will and leave everything to you.

"... also if I die, will my property become his unless otherwise requested in writing?"

Depends on how your "property" is held; if it's in your name alone, no, he doesn't automatically become sole heir.

Transferring ownership to someone else's name makes it their property. Well, if the deed says MIL retains a life estate in that property, daughter is remainder owner when she dies or abandons the life estate. MIL meanwhile has right to live there as long as she likes (and the obligation to cover related expenses) (or rent it out and collect the rents), but whatever MIL's will says doesn't matter in a scenario as you describe.

Not clear who was giving MIL estate planning advice, but transferring property to a kid thinking (a) the taxpayers will (or should) cover nursing home care because the only major asset is interest in house, and ( that the kid will do as expected once you die is generally a bad idea. I'm also fuzzy on why people think Medicaid-level nursing home care is something they want to endure just to see that kids receive X assets rather than spend some or all of the relevant asset on proper care for oneself. Maybe they presume they'll die within a few months? I don't know.

Also doesn't make a lot of sense to me ... this notion that people suddenly shouldn't be responsible for the cost of their living expenses/care simply because ... they need to live in a nursing home situation.

At any rate, MIL is wrong about wishes in the will overriding her transferring ownership to someone else. A will doesn't guarantee that someone has an ownership interest in the stuff that's mentioned in it.

"Is this true, does the land and propetty in NC divert back to the state automatically to fulfill the will?:

Sorry, but "revert back to the state automatically"? You lost me.

The daughter would have to agree to sign over part interest in property to other siblings in order to effect what mother wants after she dies.

[FindLaw_AHK]

How is the ownership of the property listed on the deed regarding you and your husband's house? I also agree with the previous poster, you and your husband may want to consult with a local North Carolina Estate Planning Lawyer to advise you further on your rights regarding this matter. You may also wish to visit the Estate Planning Center as a good resource to learn more about this subject matter.

[adjusterjack]

Every time you put the letter b in parentheses, the smiley face turns up.

What's up with that?

[harrylime]

Every time you put the letter b in parentheses, the smiley face turns up.

What's up with that?

Kind of annoying, isn't it? Especially fun when you are pasting in a citations to statutes. Subsection ( is a smiley. Subsection © is a copyright mark.

[pg1067]

Firstly, my husband owned his house prior to our marriage in NC. I wanted to know if he passes, I automatically become the owner, as he thinks.

First, there's no "if" when it comes to dying. Second, why would he think that? The only way it would be "automatic" would be if you hold title as joint tenants or tenants by the entirety. Since he owned the property before your marriage, unless he changed the title after the marriage, it seems unlikely that you would be on the title at all.

also if I die, will my property become his unless otherwise requested in writing?

Depends on whether you have a will and, if so, what it says. If you don't have a will and die before your husband, your estate will be divided between him and your children.

My second question is that before my father in law passed, he and my mother in law transferred all the property to their one of four children in case my mothe in law would need to be in a nursing home but giving her full rights to the home and land and contents while living but there is a will which divides up the property and home to all 4 children.

In other words, they made a will with the intent to defraud medicare/medicaid so that they could obtain nursing care at the public's expense rather than use their own assets for that purpose.

My mother in law states . . . that the will overrides the one sibling owning the land and property. Is this true[?]

No. A will only controls the disposition of property that the maker of the will owns at the time of his/her death. It is not uncommon for a will to mention a specific item of property that the maker owned at the time the will was made but did not still own at the time of death. When this happens, the gift is said to "lapse." Whether the stated beneficiary of such a specific gift still gets anything depends on a number of factors. It is possible that your mother-in-law set up some sort of elaborate mechanism that would effectively transfer ownership back to her estate at the time of her death, but that would be at least a little unusual (and it doesn't really sound like your in-laws have/had that sort of savviness).

does the land and propetty in NC divert back to the state automatically to fulfill the will?

Why would you think the property might "divert" [sic?] "back to the state"? That doesn't make any sense.

or does there have to be a signed agreement with my mother in law and her daughter to divert the property back to fulfill the will?

Let's put it this way: if, at the time of your mother-in-law's death, she no longer owns a piece of property that is specifically mentioned in her will, it will take more than the will "to divert the property back to fulfill the will."

[pg1067]

Every time you put the letter b in parentheses, the smiley face turns up.

What's up with that?

It's completely stupid, and the moderators don't see fit to change it. However, if, after you have composed your response, you click the "more reply options" button rather than the "post" button, you will be taken to a page where you can unclick a box that "enable[s] emoticons" so that this doesn't happen.

[FindLaw_AHK]

I understand the users frustration regarding emoticons appearing, but there is only limited functions that the forum software allows to make changes. As PG stated, you may click on the "More Reply Options" button and un-check the box labeled "emoticons."

Hope that helps.

[pg1067]

I understand the users frustration regarding emoticons appearing, but there is only limited functions that the forum software allows to make changes. As PG stated, you may click on the "More Reply Options" button and un-check the box labeled "emoticons."

Software can be written to do almost anything one wants, and there are myriad Internet message boards that don't automatically convert statutory citations (or "Bs" and "Cs" in parentheses) into emoticons -- as the software here does. Considering that citing things like, e.g., "California Code of Civil Procedure Section 128.7(b)(3)" or "17 U.S.C. Section 504©(3)(B)" can be reasonably expected to be commonplace on a legal message board, setting up the board software to automatically convert these things into emoticons other symbols and requiring specific, affirmative actions to prevent it seems particularly shortsighted (and, while a copyright symbol has some utility in a forum such as this, I think most folks would prefer it not be the default when posting a reference to a statute that contains a subsection "©").

Perhaps, rather than blowing this off as a software limitation that cannot possibly be changed, you could raise this issue with the persons who handle IT for these boards.


P.S. As this post demonstrates, it appears that, while unchecking the "enable emoticons" box will prevent "(b)" from turning into an emoticon, it will not prevent a "c" in parentheses from turning into a copyright symbol.

[love2beach]

I want to first state that I did not mean the property being reverted to the state, don't know why I wrote that, proofreading is amazing lol. But thanks to everyone who answered my inquiry! You have definately enlightened me and my husband about everything and we are planning a trip to add me to the title of the house and to an estate attorney to set up our wills. Also, in a round about way, we informed my MIL that things aren't going to go like she thinks after her death, and she was quite shocked, better now than her rolling over in her grave later.

I think that this is a great way to get useful legal information, and again appreciate all of your answers and comments. God Bless all of you!