Legal question - transferring property

[UTCzech III 2934]

Won't go into the whole backstory (fir for my family is a shit-show thread), in a nutshell:

Wife's dad died in 1992, no will, so property went to his estate, fun by my wife's mom.  Mom lived in house with my wife's 2 brothers, they lived like hermits, hoarders, house deteriorated, yadda yadda.

Wife's mom died 6 years ago, again no will, so house is still owned by estate, still run down, since brothers live like hermits and don't even see the sun and eat shit junk food and cokes, younger brother passed out 5 weeks ago and has been in ICU with total kidney failure and pancreatitis.  Older brother is freaking out at medical bills, etc. said if it comes down to it he will just abandon house and allow county/whoever to foreclose on it.  To which I say, the fuck you will.  1/3 of that belongs to my wife, shitty as the house is, the land itself is still worth 30-40 thousand.  So as simply as possible, can someone please explain how to transfer the house/land from an estate to my wife & her brothers, where it would at least be a lot easier if they wanted to sell it?  We talked to an attorney a couple of years ago, he said it would cost about ten thousand for all the p/work and fees.  Trying to see if he was right or just a shitty bloodsucking lawyer (present company excepted of course).

Thanks, I'll hang up and listen.

[TwiceHorn 32071]

About the only thing to do at this point is an "affidavit of heirship."  To do it correctly, you get a lawyer to help figure out who the various heirs at law were at the death of each owner and then get the surviving heirs to execute an affidavit to that effect, which is then recorded at the county courthouse in lieu of proper deeds.  $10k sounds like a lot for that.

 

Also, because no will, the laws of intestate succession apply, which probably means that there are more co-owners than you initially think.  That is when wife's Dad passed, it didn't actually all go to her, it went 1/2 or 1/3 to her with a life estate, and the other part to other surviving heirs.  It's a clusterfuck.

 

The title to the property will be permanently contaminated and uninsurable. so future sale will be at a reduced price.

[Reagan1k 3042]

Is the house insured?

1)Match

2) ?????

3) Profit

[Hank Scorpio 17924]

It should be super easy and simple to sort this out. And by coming to a UT message board for advice, you have shown that you are ready to take this problem seriously. Good job. I'm proud of you. 

[zork 629]

wulaw used to run a title company.  see if you can find him and ask his advice.(haven't seen him on the surly but maybe he is under a new name ?)

[closetojumping 65379]

25 minutes ago, zork said:

wulaw used to run a title company.  see if you can find him and ask his advice.(haven't seen him on the surly but maybe he is under a new name ?)

I believe wulaw posts on Surly as “UTCzech III”.

 

[52-80 19377]

14 hours ago, UTCzech III said:

Won't go into the whole backstory (fir for my family is a shit-show thread), in a nutshell:

Wife's dad died in 1992, no will, so property went to his estate, fun by my wife's mom.  Mom lived in house with my wife's 2 brothers, they lived like hermits, hoarders, house deteriorated, yadda yadda.

Wife's mom died 6 years ago, again no will, so house is still owned by estate, still run down, since brothers live like hermits and don't even see the sun and eat shit junk food and cokes, younger brother passed out 5 weeks ago and has been in ICU with total kidney failure and pancreatitis.  Older brother is freaking out at medical bills, etc. said if it comes down to it he will just abandon house and allow county/whoever to foreclose on it.  To which I say, the fuck you will.  1/3 of that belongs to my wife, shitty as the house is, the land itself is still worth 30-40 thousand.  So as simply as possible, can someone please explain how to transfer the house/land from an estate to my wife & her brothers, where it would at least be a lot easier if they wanted to sell it?  We talked to an attorney a couple of years ago, he said it would cost about ten thousand for all the p/work and fees.  Trying to see if he was right or just a shitty bloodsucking lawyer (present company excepted of course).

Thanks, I'll hang up and listen.

Spend 2k to get the kid hooked on black tar heroin.

Wait a few weeks.  Profit.

[SquishMitten 10496]

Assuming you’re in Texas, this is relatively simple. I handle this stuff on a daily basis, and I’ve done it for a handful of folks on here. You need an Affidavit of Heirship for the dad and for the mom. That will essentially vest the property in the three children. (The lawyers here can refrain from clarifying this as I’m just putting it in layman’s terms for him.) Then if the brother(s) really want to wash their hands of it, they can deed their interest to your wife. Alternatively, the property remains owned in equals shares by the kids. Some title companies can be a little hesitant to rely on AOHs, especially if done very recently, but if you think it’ll be a while before y’all go to sell it then you shouldn’t have any problems.

I’d have a few questions, but if the facts are exactly as stated then my fees would be around $500.