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No Will? No Way!

By Lorrie Semler, REALTOR® in the Dallas area. Call/text 972-416-3417

Real Estate Agent with HomeSmart Stars TX #0552717

April 28, 2010 01:52 PM

Don't let this happen to you!

One of my clients (let's call her Claire) asked me to list her father's home (we'll call him Bill). Bill, now in his 90s and mentally incapacitated, lives in a nursing home and Claire has his Power of Attorney. I listed the home and lo & behold, along comes a buyer. Smooth sailing, I think to myself. A cash buyer, no option period, quick close. Right? Wrong!

The title company discovers that Bill only owns half the house, the half he inherited from his father. Bill's stepmother died without a will and had no heirs. Guess who owns the other half of Bill's house? The state of Texas! Even though Bill lived in the house for the better part of 50 years, it's not wholly his.

Claire could sell the house, but she would have to share the proceeds of the sale with the state. This she does not want to do. Claire is going to kick the problem down the road and keep the house as rental property.

Please! If you do not have a will, get one! Call an attorney and set up an appointment soon.

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Wanda Thomas

Montana Homestead Brokers, Broker, CRS, GRI, SFR, RN - Billings, MT

Billings Montana Real Estate

Oh my, seems like a statute should have determined someone other than the State of Texas owns the home! Could this have been because of some bills that didn't get paid? I just posted today about beneficiary deeds in Montana, just an easy way to pass property on to whomever you would like. Doesn't sound like this will get better with the rental!

Apr 28, 2010 01:59 PM

Maria Weston

Fort Lauderdale, FL

Great, great post, Lorrie!

A Will is a MUST! My clients always have scary stories about people that don't have a Will and they left the family with pain and we many, many troubles.

We always have something to do first. Sometimes we don't realize about the importance of taking care of our properties in case we pass away, by leaving a will.

In the "Must list" we have to have the important things of life (like a Will) and in the "To Do List" just the urgent things that we can solve next day

Thank you for sharing!

Maria

www .flippingpad.com

Apr 28, 2010 02:03 PM

Charles Stallions

Charles Stallions Real Estate Services - Pensacola, FL

850-476-4494 - Pensacola, Pace or Gulf Breeze, Fl.

What a deal, I am fortunate to not have had that happen but I order the title work the day I list the home partlyso there are no surprises.

Apr 28, 2010 03:18 PM

Lorrie Semler, REALTOR® in the Dallas area. Call/text 972-416-3417

HomeSmart Stars - Addison, TX

Real Service. Real Results. Real Estate

Wanda: That's the law in Texas. If you die intestate and there are no heirs, the state gets it.

Maria: A will is so important. Even if there are no heirs.

Charles: The first title company (that's a blog post for another time) when we went under contract was selected by the buyer and she insisted that we use them. They dithered around with the file and did nothing constructive for the better part of 6 weeks. When the buyer finally relented and we tried to move to another title company, the first one dragged their heels and when they finally released the file, they did not turn over everything that they had. My preferred title company jumped on it right away (thanks, Kim) and finally found out how we could close the transaction by 2 different methods. By this time, the seller did not want to have to pay any upfront attorney fees to get to closing and didn't want to share proceeds with the state. I did give my preferred title co the POA papers when the home was first listed which they were checking on before ordering title. When the buyer put her foot down about using another title company, they stopped.

Apr 28, 2010 03:40 PM

Anonymous

Carlos Montalvo

Hopefully the state is paying their have of property taxes.

Apr 28, 2010 03:50 PM

carlos Montalvo

Their half!

Apr 28, 2010 03:51 PM

Steve Shatsky

Dallas, TX

Hi Lorrie... what an illuminating post! How frustrating that must have been for Claire!

Apr 28, 2010 04:04 PM

Karen Otto

Home Star Staging - Plano, TX

Plano Home Staging, Dallas Home Staging, www.homes

Oh good to know! What a quandry.

May 05, 2010 02:17 AM

No Will? No Way!

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Lorrie Semler, REALTOR® in the Dallas area. Call/text 972-416-3417

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