[ScottGem]

You still have an issue here. Is your brother and mother the only ones on the deed? Or is your father also on the deed. If your father was still on the deed, then his share of the house goes into the estate and you may be entitled to a share.

[twinkiedooter]

The details of any probated Will are not available online BUT available to you if you go to the courthouse in person and want to look at the Court file. And a copy of the Will should not be withheld from you by the attorney handling the estate if you are named as a beneficiary in it.

Probate attorneys are paid their attorney's fees by a set schedule in relation to the total amount of the assets of the estate. For the $650 it sounds like there is not much of an estate to probate.

[gcc]

The only names on the current Deed (2006) are my brother and Mother. My Father passed away in 2004. At the time of his death, he and my brother were on the Deed. Then my brother had only his name on the Deed after our father died.

[ScottGem]

The only names on the current Deed (2006) are my brother and Mother. My Father passed away in 2004. At the time of his death, he and my brother were on the Deed. Then my brother had only his name on the Deed after our father died.

Then you need to find out how the names were listed on the deed in effect when your father passed. That's the key. If it was Tenants in Common at that time, then your father's share should have passed to his estate.

[gcc]

The attorney my Aunt has retained said the current Deed is the Deed they go by, and any Deed before carries no weight. She also said there is a $625 fee that has to be paid so the Will can go to Probate court. She said that's not her fee; it's a fee the probate court charges. This whole thing is really a pain in the neck, and I'm not going to worry about it, actually. Why should I continue concerning myself with my Father's Will when I can't get the house anyway; which he in fact did bequeath me, and, it's not worth paying a $625 fee to get the Will probated when my two sons and nephew are supposed to get $1000 each; which was bequeathed to them, and there's a possibility that money is nowhere to be found. Why pay a fee ($625) that's 20% of what they're supposed to get ($3000)? That makes no sense to me.
(I could compare this to having a 20% interest rate on a $3000 loan, and I sure wouldn't accept that).

[ScottGem]

The attorney my Aunt has retained said the current Deed is the Deed they go by, and any Deed before carries no weight.

That part does not sound correct. The way the property was titled at the time of death should be the determination of how the property is treated by the estate. If what you are saying is correct, a person could file a new deed illegally and have that be treated as correct.

I can understand your feeling its not worth it for the 3K. But deopending on the value of the property, it could be significant.

[gcc]

At the time of my father's death the Deed was in his name, and my brother's name that also lived in the house. Then my brother had only his name on the Deed by the time my father had been dead for 2 months. (I looked up the Tax Map information on the property to look into the Deeds and the mortgage on the house). My brother has also mortgaged the house at least 5 times since our father died in 2004. My father and mother bought that house when I was 6 months old in 1954, and here we are in 2011 and that house still has a mortgage on it. My brother just re-finances and re-finances the house over and over. It's crazy.

[LisaB4657]

You're missing the important part of Scott's question. At the time your father died, was the deed in his and your brother's names as joint tenants or as tenants in common? That's what will determine if you have the right to have the deed reversed.

[gcc]

I don't know how the Deed was written at the time of my Father's death (2004). The attorney just told me how it's written up at present (my brother's name, and now our Mother's name are on the Deed as Tenants in Common). The attorney told me any Deed before the current Deed is not valid. Maybe she's wrong, I don't know. Is there a way I can look up any, and all Deeds on the Internet, or call the Record of Deeds office, or some place, to find out for myself? Thank you.

[LisaB4657]

I don't know if your area will have all prior deeds available for viewing online. If they have online access they may show only the current deed. The best method is to go to the county clerk or county register's office and look for yourself. If you can't go there you can try calling them but I doubt they'll be willing to look it up for you unless they're having a very slow day. Worth a try, though.

[gcc]

Thank you for this information. I will try and call the County Clerk's Office on Long Island NY where the property is located and see if they will help me find out about the Deed/s that have been written up since 2003 when my Father was alive, and my brother's name is on that Deed (2003). Then in 2004, two months after my Father passed away, only my brother's name is on the Deed. Then in 2006 my brother and our Mother's name appears on the Deed. (That is the Deed the attorney said was the most current Deed {2006}, and any Deeds before that is invalid. I don't think that's true, and maybe she don't know what she's talking about).

[gcc]

The Tax Map shows my Father's name and brother's name both on the Deed in 2003. So apparently my Father let my brother add his name to the Deed of his property; which always had been my father's house since 1954. For some reason my brother wanted his name added to the Deed. Then my father died in June 2004, and by August 2004 only my brother's name is on the Deed. Now my brother's name and our mother's names are on the Deed from 2006.
I just called the County Clerk's Office where the property is located, and the lady I spoke with was very nice, and told me I have to order any Deeds I want to see dating back as far as I want to go. She gave me 5 Deeds (liber numbers), the numbers, page numbers, and dates filed for each. She then said each Deed is approx $5-7, and to send enough money in a check to cover each Deed, and she said if I send a check for $35 that will cover the 5 Deeds I want. So I will do this, and hopefully see on the Deeds how each one is written up; be it Joint Tenants, or Tenants in Common.
(Now the attorney has already told me the most current Deed (2006) is written up as Tenants in Common with my brother and Mother's name on it, and any Deeds before the most current one (2006) is no good. Is she correct?). So I will just order all 5 Deeds so I can see them for myself.
Thank you so much for your help. I really appreciate this.

[ScottGem]

The attorney is correct that prior deeds are not valid from the point of ownership. But that's not the question here. The question is whether your father's share of the passed directly to your brother under right of survivorship or passed to his estate under tenant in common.

If it passed to the estate, then it was illegally transferred to your brother since there was a will governing distribution of the estate. Which mean the transfer can be reversed and your brother could subject to criminal charges.

[gcc]

I am so very hard trying to understand all this. The main issue here is whether the Deed from 2003 reads Joint Tenants, or Tenants in Common; then when my Father passed away in 2004 if the Deed from 2003 reads Joint Tenants, then my brother legally owns the house, and there is nothing I can do about it, right?
However, if the Deed from 2003 reads Tenants in Common, then when my father passed away in 2004, then his part of the house goes to whomever he Willed it to; who is me, right?
So when I receive the Deeds that I've ordered from the County Clerk's Office in NY, I need to hope the Deed from 2003 reads Tenants in Common, right? Then that means my father's part goes to me, right? Then me and my brother would own 50/50 of the house.

[LisaB4657]

I am so very hard trying to understand all this. The main issue here is whether the Deed from 2003 reads Joint Tenants, or Tenants in Common; then when my Father passed away in 2004 if the Deed from 2003 reads Joint Tenants, then my brother legally owns the house, and there is nothing I can do about it, right?.
However, if the Deed from 2003 reads Tenants in Common, then when my father passed away in 2004, then his part of the house goes to whomever he Willed it to; who is me, right?
So when I receive the Deeds that I've ordered from the County Clerk's Office in NY, I need to hope the Deed from 2003 reads Tenants in Common, right? Then that means my father's part goes to me, right? Then me and my brother would own 50/50 of the house.

Exactly! Now you understand. :)

Good luck!

[gcc]

Thanks for all the helpful information from everyone. I will patiently wait until I receive the copies of the Deeds that I've ordered to see how each one is written; especially the one from 2003. I really hope my father, at that time age 74, and on renal dialysis 3 days a week, and really not doing that good, was smart enough to have the Deed as Tenants in Common between he and my brother. (I now wonder if my brother was conniving enough to convince my father to have the Deed as Joint Tenants). I don't think my brother was smart enough to think about that on his own, and if it is that way, he was advised by someone (attorney, mortgage/Title company) to do it that way.

[gcc]

Well I've sent off the check and the letter to the County Clerk's Office requesting the 5 Deeds to my deceased father's house that my brother lives in, and claims the house belongs to him 100%. I will hopefully receive the Deeds; especially the one from 2003 where my Father's name and brother's name both appear on that Deed. I will hopefully see on the Deed if the Deed was written up as joint tenants, or tenants in common.
It all hangs in the balance now, and I hope and pray it reads tenants in common because that way the house is 50% mine. (My Aunt, who is my Father's only surviving sibling, told me that my father was in a nursing home in 2003, and probably had no idea what he was signing when my brother had that Deed written up). Hope for the best for me. I really appreciate everyone's advice. You have all been so helpful.

[gcc]

I've received those 5 Deeds in the mail from the County Clerk in the state of NY (Long Island); focusing mostly on the 1st Deed, since that's the one where my brother's name appears on it along with my Father, then my father passed away a year later (June 2004). The Deed is dated June 2003, and at the top it starts by naming my father as the party of the first part, with the address to (his) house/property, and my brother as the party of the second part, with his name and the same address (my brother lived in my father's house at that time, and still does at present. He claims Dad gave him the house, and he solely owns it. I don't see anywhere on any of these 5 Deeds any wording or anything about joint tenants, or tenancy in common).
The Deed reads:WITNESSETH, that the party of the first part, in consideration of Ten Dollars and other valuable consideration paid by the party of the second part, does hereby grant and release unto the party of the second part, the heirs or successors and assigns of the party of the second part forever, ALL that certain plot, piece of parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the SEE SCHEDULE A attached (which states where the property is located; Block A, at the north point, etc. etc. North 66 Degrees, 80 feet, etc. etc.
Then the next paragraph reads:SUBJECT TO a Life Tenancy of (my father's name) in and to said premises. It is the intention of the grantor to reserve unto himself during the full term of his natural life the right of possession and occupancy in and to the said real estate and the rents and profits arising therefrom, and to convey unto the grantee herein the full fee title and the said real estate subject only to a life estate herein reserved by grantor. (Then it reads Said premises known as: {address shows} under that).

What does all that mean? Please explain as simply as possible. Thank you.
GC

[cdad]

What it says in basic terms is that your brother bought his interest into the property and has sole right to it after your father has passed on. Before that point your father remained in care and control of the property. Had your brother had heirs and he had passed before your father then it would have went to his heirs as stated by law.

[ScottGem]

As CalifDad said, this make it even worse for you, sorry to say. Your dad didn't transfer a share of the property to your brother, he gave him FULL ownership of the property, subject to a life estate. The life estate meant that your father could live on and use the property until he died at which point your brother became full owner.

So your only hope here is in proving that the "consideration" paid by your brother was a fraud or that he used undue influence to steal your promised inheritance. Both of which would cost you time and money with no guarantee of getting anything.

So I think, at this point, you tell your brother want you think of him and sever ties.