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ccstar1313 · Nov 7, 2013, 11:18 AM

My mom is 82 years old. Some 8 years ago, she purchased a small house next to her property from the owner, now deceased. My mom wants to get her estate planning done early, and she wanted to transfer that small house to my sister.

We both went to the county clerks office and discovered the deed contains two individuals who are also listed on it. We were directed to the Probate Office. It seems the previous owner had willed, the same property he sold to my mom, to his two children. He had not updated his will to reflect the sale of that small house to my mom.

The Probate office & Clerks office content we must contact these individuals & take it up with them? Who knows where they are! Obviously, this deed can corrected. Your solutions are appreciated.

We are in Augusta, GA (Richmond County)

ebaines · Nov 7, 2013, 11:56 AM

When your mom bought the property did she get title insurance for it? If so she should contact the title insurance company and have them straighten this mess out. You say that there are two individuals on the deed - is your mother also listed as a third person, or does the deed not mention her at all? Finally, does your mother have proof that she actually bought the property? For example a signed contract and has she been paying taxes on it?

ScottGem · Nov 7, 2013, 01:03 PM

You stated; "the deed contains two individuals who are also listed on it". Are these two individual in addition to your mother or in addition to the party she purchased it from? It sounds to me like your mom purchased the property. Received a warranty deed from the owner, but never changed the will. When the previous owner died, the will was probated and whomever was executor managed to add the two heirs names to the deed. If that is what happened, then whoever executed that deed adding the heirs, did so illegally. As soon as it was determined that the deceased no longer owned the property, the property should have been removed from the estate.

If the names on the deed are the deceased and the 2 heirs, then your mom never registered her purchase. So you need to go back to whoever handled the sale to determine why the deed was never recorded to your mom.

As ebaines suggested, if there was title insurance taken out with the purchase, then they should handle clearing title.