Hi, a few years ago my mother passed away and she had no will and I am an only child. My mother and grandmother owned a condo jointly. I went to NJ probabte court and got papers saying I was ex. Of my mother's estate. Also with my mothers insurance money I had paid off a loan that was on the condo. The deed has my mother and grandmother's name on and she had my mother's name taken off the tax bill so the taxes only came in her name.
Now my grandmother refuses to get a will done (she has one from 20 years ago from the old house she owned and listed my mother as her ben. And then my uncle which is now not valid since she no longer owns that property).
My question is can I put some kind of lien on the condo so I am assurred I get the 50% (my mother's half) if the condo is ever sold or my grandmother passes away?? My uncle is a snake and keeps trying to get her to sell her condo now that I paid it off and have her live with him since he controls all her money and I want to protect what I know is my half?
Thank you so much in advance

You shoud put your name on the deed. As executor of your mom's estate, you have the right to issue a quit claim deed from your mom's estate to your name as benficiary of her estate and grandma's.

Theorectically, if your uncle tried to sell the condo you, as executor would have to sign off on it. So its unlikely he can sell it out from under you. But it would be even better to get your name on the deed.

A lien is not applicable here. That's for protecting the interest of a creditor on the property.

Well?? How was the deed with your mom grandmother written, if it was written to both with right of survivial, then it does not go to probate and the grandmother automatically gets all of the property,

So before you took any insurance money and paid any taxes on any property, you needed to have an attorney review the deeds and see how they were written, it is very possible that you just paid the grandmothers taxes and are just out that money with no right to the property at all.

Next your grandmother can in her will, will the propety to anyone, she can leave it to me, I don't have to be on the deed, ( not sure why you though a person had to be on the deed to be left the property in a will)

So at this point, you did everything wrong, time to hire an attorney

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Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

Well???? how was the deed with your mom grandmother written, if it was written to both with right of survivial, then it does not go to probate and the grandmother automaticly gets all of the property,

So before you took any insurance money and paid any taxes on any property, you needed to have an attorney review the deeds and see how they were written, it is very possible that you just paid the grandmothers taxes and are just out that money with no right to the property at all.

Next your grandmother can in her will, will the propety to anyone, she can leave it to me, I don't have to be on the deed, ( not sure why you though a person had to be on the deed to be left the property in a will)

So at this point, you did everything wrong, time to hire an attorney

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I don't know how the deed was written. They paid cash and then they took out an equity loan on the property and that is what I paid off with the insurance money. At the time I was only 22 and I had no clue what I was doing and now I am starting to find out that I did everything wrong :( Is there a way I can get a copy of the deed from the county to see what it says on it?

Chuck makes a good point. If the deed was held jointly with right of survivorship, then the property passed to grandma outside of your mom's estate.

You should be able to go to the county and get a copy of the deed. The condo association may also have one.

You need to get an attorney to represent you.

Yes, you can go to the county clerk's office and get a copy of the deed but that won't tell you what you need to do next. You will need an attorney in this situation sooner or later so it is better to get one now before you let any of your rights slip away.

If your mother and grandmother owned the condo as joint tenants with rights of survivorship then your grandmother owns 100% of it now. But you still may be able to make a claim against her for the payoff of the loan. If your mother and grandmother owned the condo as tenants in common then you will have to file an executor's deed to insure that your interests are protected. Unless you feel that you are able to handle either of these situations on your own, you need an attorney. So don't wait. Get one to represent you (and the estate) now.

Hello Peanut:

LisaB IS an attorney IN New Jersey. I think providence is knocking...

excon

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Originally Posted by excon

Hello Peanut:

LisaB IS an attorney IN New Jersey. I think providence is knocking...

excon

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But Povidence is in Rhode Island??

Couldn't resist :D :D :D :D :D

Okay, I looked up the deed online and looked at it and it says right of survivorship on it. I also found out that there has been an equity loan taken out on the property (which I know my uncle had my grandma do) and now I am getting worried that all the money I paid into the condo with paying off the $95,000 equity loan is now sunk :( since I thought I was going to get the money back when ever the condo was sold or whenever my grandma passed away. Any advice as to what I should do now?

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Originally Posted by peanut6966

Any advice as to what I should do now?

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Hello again, Peanut:

Yes! PM LisaB and HIRE her!

excon

LOL! Thanks, excon!

To Peanut: How is your relationship with your grandmother? If she is cooperative then you should have her sign a mortgage which will give you a lien for the amount that you spent paying off the first loan. This way when the condo gets sold they will have to pay back that amount to you. Even though it will be a second mortgage it will still have to be paid to you when the condo is sold.

If your relationship with her is not that good then you will have to file a lawsuit against her for the amount that you spent to pay off the loan. There is a chance that you might not win this suit so it would be a very good idea to work something out with her instead of suing her.

Regardless of which option you choose you will still need an attorney to handle it for you. If you are able to get her to agree to placing a second mortgage on the property then you will need an attorney to prepare the mortgage and have it recorded. So I strongly recommend that you get an attorney to represent you and the estate RIGHT NOW.

Good luck!

I agree with excon. You will have to sue Grandma for the money. And that's not going to be easy. You are going to probably have to prove that it was not a gift but paid in anticipation of inheriting a share of the unit. Grandma may not have understood the legalities of her position. But since it was right of survivorship she owns the property.