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maipapi · Jan 25, 2012, 06:06 PM

My father solely owned a property in the Florida Keys. He transferred to me via quit claim deed in 2010. He and his wife (not my mother) were not living in the property (only occasionally visiting) and upon his recent death she listed her daughters home as his legal residence. She was not pleased to learn that his will left me the property (she was left his gold coin collection in his safety deposit box) and I informed her of the Quit Claim Deed. She did not want to file the will. I filed the deed and the property is now in my name (with a sale date of 6/2010 recorded). Can she establish survivor rights? Can she move in now?

ScottGem · Jan 25, 2012, 06:21 PM

Why didn't you record the deed when it was issued? But once the deed was issued, he no longer owned the property. She has no rights to it.

However, by not recording it immediately AND by it still being mentioned in his will, could give question to the validity of the deed. But then you force probate of the will and you get the property anyway.

maipapi · Jan 25, 2012, 06:44 PM

The will was signed in April, the deed in June of same year.

AK lawyer · Jan 25, 2012, 07:10 PM

Originally Posted by maipapi

The will was signed in April, the deed in June of same year.

The will is only effective upon his death. If he died after the June 2010 date of the deed, it would have been yours at the time he died. A will only is effective as to property owned by the testator at the time of his death. So, evidently, he was still alive at the time of the deed, and so the property doesn't pass through the will & probate estate.

ScottGem suggested that a delay in your recording of the deed may be significant. I don't necessarily agree, but for the sake of discussion, when did you record the deed? And when did your father die?

maipapi · Jan 25, 2012, 07:42 PM

He didn't want to cause an argument with his wife so he asked me to file it after his death which I did on December 30th. He died on December 20th. The property now reflects under my name in the property appraisers office.

Fr_Chuck · Jan 25, 2012, 09:57 PM

You at this point legally own the property and may since no one lives there, change the locks to your new key, perhaps add a alarm system, to keep anyone from just "moving in"

But she can also file a suit against you making the suggestion that the deed you filed was not valid and perhaps even a fraud. The reason being, had it been done earlier, you would have filed it early but filed it after death only because the father did not ever know about it.
** we know it is not true, so the notary that witnessed it, may be called to testify, And others who were there when signed, or who knew he signed may have to testify to it.

I doubt she could win a case but by delay in filing your deed, she may have some case, since at the time of the death, at the court house, dad still owned property, and at his death, property he owned would have went to estate but if she was the heir, it was hers. So property legally hers at that time, I can see an interesting case with lawyers on it.

AK lawyer · Jan 25, 2012, 10:33 PM

Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

... The reason being, had it been done earlier, you would have filed it early but filed it after death only because the father did not ever know about it. ...

The flaw in this argument would be that, even had you filed it the day he signed the deed, there is really no reason anyway, for him to have known about it at any time between then and the time of his death. Normally the grantor is not notified when a deed he has signed is recorded.

ScottGem · Jan 26, 2012, 04:11 AM

Originally Posted by AK lawyer

Normally the grantor is not notified when a deed he has signed is recorded.

Which actually supports the position Chuck and I are making. Since he wouldn't have known about the recording and neither would the wife, unless she checked, there was little reason to not record the deed.

I think what Chuck and I are saying is that the 2 facts, that the will was not changed even though the property was no longer his to bequeath and the late filing are suspicious. So, if the wife wanted to contest the transfer, she MIGHT be listened to enough for a court to hear the case. At least this is how it looks based on the facts presented here.

Whether she could win is another story that would depend on other facts, like, if the signing of the deed was witnessed and other issues. Again, we aren't saying anything was wrong, just that the two facts raise questions. Obviously the wife is not happy about losing the property so she is more likely to make a stink about it.

maipapi · Jan 26, 2012, 11:48 AM

Thank you all very much!