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Legal question (for Pit Attorney's and anyone else)

HeltonCreek

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My aunt's husband passed away Friday at the age of 87 near their home in Boone, NC. My Aunt was his second wife and they were married for 26 years. She was never added to the deed of their house and property as I'm sure it was paid off well before they got married. He did have a will and the house and land is left to my Aunt. Does she have anything to worry about since she was never listed on the deed?

I had a mortgage license in NC several years ago and I seem to remember something from the training class about situations like this and think she should be fine since she's the spouse and next of kin, especially with a will. I don't think any of his kids would contest the will. Thanks.
 
I'm not a probate lawyer or a tax attorney, but if her name isn't on the deed, wouldn't she have to pay some inheritance tax on the home ?



eta: ask biff do opposite
 
My aunt's husband passed away Friday at the age of 87 near their home in Boone, NC. My Aunt was his second wife and they were married for 26 years. She was never added to the deed of their house and property as I'm sure it was paid off well before they got married. He did have a will and the house and land is left to my Aunt. Does she have anything to worry about since she was never listed on the deed?

I had a mortgage license in NC several years ago and I seem to remember something from the training class about situations like this and think she should be fine since she's the spouse and next of kin, especially with a will. I don't think any of his kids would contest the will. Thanks.

Disclaimer: I am not providing legal advice.

There is something missing in your question - you say she was not "added to the deed" but an attorney analyzing this needs to know who is on the deed. If your uncle is listed as sole owner of the property, then his will should control and it will go to 2d wife. As long as the will is otherwise valid, pretty simple, although the will must be probated so that the deed can be transferred to her.

On the other hand, if first wife is still on the deed alongside uncle, things could be more complicated. In that case, 2d wife would have to probate the will, and also show the probate court that the land was awarded to your uncle in the divorce settlement documentation (whether a settlement agreement or equitable division order) in order to get an order to transfer the deed.

Unless this piece of land is worth a whole giant truckload of money, I seriously doubt there is an estate tax issue here. There will be a cost to opening a probate case but I don't think there is a transfer tax on these kinds of real estate transfers. Maybe a recording fee.

She should consult a real estates lawyer, of course.
 
Isn’t N.C. a marital interest state?

If so, she gets 50%

Assuming the kids aren’t getting the property in the will, she should get the entire double wide
 
Isn’t N.C. a marital interest state?

If so, she gets 50%

Assuming the kids aren’t getting the property in the will, she should get the entire double wide

Some people have the gift of being offensive even when least expected.
 
Should have wrote this in the initial post, the first wife died in like 1986. I think the will states she gets the house and 6 acres around the house, the rest of the land and other assets is divided between the kids.
 
Should have wrote this in the initial post, the first wife died in like 1986. I think the will states she gets the house and 6 acres around the house, the rest of the land and other assets is divided between the kids.

I hope they're not actually subdividing the rest of the land but holding it as tenants in common.
 
This thread is a pretty good example of why you shouldn't ask for legal advice on the internet.
 
I know. She will talk to an attorney this week, I was just curious and thought someone here might know.

From what you have told me I think it will be no problem. Since first wife died, even if she is on the deed presumably the land passed to her husband at her death - unless there was something funky in HER will. This stuff gets complicated.
 
Obvious non-lawyer disclaimer, but I'm closing on our house tomorrow that got tied up in exactly this limbo (in N.C.)...

In my seller's case... his wife (and my friend that was renting the house to us) passed away last year.

She had many assets rather sloppily spread around (which made sense because of her prior-health history and young age) & not specifically mentioned in her will.

The house (and actually, there were 3) was specifically willed, but there was some contention within the estate as a whole.

She (the deceased) married relatively recently and things like her retirement accounts & 401k had not been updated to show her husband as her heir. The will indicated that the husband should be the sole executor, though.

In fact, when some of those accounts were set up (pre-marraige)... She listed two distant family members as her beneficiaries. It took a few months for the legal process to play out and to confirm that there were no waivers/documents filed to leave the original beneficiaries in place after the marriage took place. NC is apparently very generous to the new spouse, in this regard.

If the distant family members had been awarded the more-liquid assets, the husband's ability to hold the deceased's mortgage/sell the house to us would have come into serious question.

It was more complicated than met the eye, but it wasn't ridiculously drawn out. Your situation sounds a little more cut & dry.

I've worked on an estate from a great-aunt that died in 2015 that we're still waiting on the IRS to settle. That one deals with assets in >5 states & was being divided into ~10 different trusts (including some GSTs).
 
This thread is a pretty good example of why you shouldn't ask for legal advice on the internet.

I think posing questions like this one is good solely from a "vetting issues" point of view. I wouldn't want to meet with an attorney without having at least some understanding of what it is I'm asking him to do. With as many shitty attorneys as there are, knowing potential issues ahead of time will help that attorney understand that you're vested in the outcome and might catch him fucking around if he doesn't put some effort in.

Also, it's a bit like pre-DMV shit, in that now Helton knows that he needs copies of the deed and other bits of information to bring to the lawyer. Rather than meeting with the lawyer to have the lawyer tell him, "hey, you also need X, Y, and Z before we go any further."
 
FYI, deeds for Watauga County are online and free and it should take about one minute to get a copy of the deed in question, assuming it was recorded since 1985. Older deeds are still available, it's probably just a little trickier searching.
 
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