Pennsylvania Estate Planning Legal Questions

Assuming your are talking about a deed held as joint tenants with right of survivorship? If so, the deceased's tenants share goes to the surviving tenants in equal shares. If the deed was held as tenants in common, the deceased's persons share goes to his heir in his or her will or to them via intestate succession law.... Read More

Have a lawyer look at the sales contract. I can tell you that the last time I had a similar case (not bats), the buyer needed to prove with clear and convincing evidence that the seller actively hid concealed a problem. On the other hand, you had the duty to have a home inspection which should have picked up on that. It is a tough situation, but I wouldn't let it go without having a real estate lawyer look at the disclosures, the sales agreement and document what evidence do you have that the seller knew of the bats and hid it from you.... Read More

I believe that the action, assuming a complaint was filed, would show up during the buyer's title search and therefore clear title could not be offered by the seller until the suit was settled and the docket marked as satisfied. You will also need to file inheritance tax returns on the aunt and sister and pay any inheritance tax in order to pass clear title as well. You need to review this with a lawyer.... Read More

He may be correct if his name is on the deed. Even though unfair, if the deed is titled as joint tenants, the survivor owns it house. If it is titled as tenants in common he inherits as share-one-third if the other tenants are mom and dad. He may have no obligation, legally, to share this house with anyone. You, or your parents, need to review this with a local lawyer all of the facts.... Read More

Ask your dad's doctor if he is competent to sign important documents, like a power of attorney. If he is, call a lawyer and get this done immediately. A general durable power of attorney would be good, as well as a medical power of attorney. If this is not possible, I can offer the following opinion. However, my opinion is based on what I know from this email. You really should seek an opinion from a lawyer after he sits down with you and hears all the facts. If this sister is such a trouble maker and doesn't even live there, and, you have lived there for 4 years, why don't you just lock her out. If she calls the police, you at least have a history of living there and she does not. I seriously doubt if the police will help her and will probably tell her to get a lawyer. If she has the money to do that, or even find a lawyer who will help her, I still don't think she has a good argument to just start entering the home.... Read More

I have seen it done and have handled estates where the heirs did not do a new deed as you describe. As a word of caution, if you are receiving any senior citizen discounts or other discounts from the taxing bodies that applied to your aged parents, the taxing bodies may seek reimbursement if they ultimately find out. Also, if the parents died and children or other heirs have inherited this house, inheritance tax is owed and an inheritance tax return should be filed promptly. In addition, if no estate has been opened for the surviving parent that has just passed, an estate will need to be opened in the future if title is to pass to the next buyer. It will really cause a delay and extra money for you if you go to sell the house 10 years from now and the title company requires you to hire an attorney and open an estate in a few days so you don't lose the buyer. You really should review the situation with an attorney.... Read More

It may effect her Medicaid eligibility if she ever needs to apply for Medicaid funding. As long as the sale is for fair market value, and not merely given to you or sold for a nominal amount, it will be ok. Document everything. You should really review such a move with an elder law attorney.... Read More

As both your sister and you are in Pennsylvania you should consider quickly obtaining a consult with a elder law attorney there for your options or an elder care attorney to represent your sister. There is probably the equivalent of adult protective services, someone who can step in for a vulnerable adult, and they may need to be contacted. Hope you can get it worked out.... Read More

The estate for the deceased is responsible for funeral costs. Based on your facts, the children are all entitled to equally inherit from the deceased parent's estate. Before the children can inherit though, there may need to be a probate as you do not indicate what the deceased owned and owed. I suggest that the 4 children get together and decide which of them is in the best position to administer the estate. By administering the estate, I mean figuring out what is owed and owned, paying the estate bills from estate assets and overseeing the orderly transfer of assets from the deceased to the children. Ideally, it should be a child who lives in the same state as the deceased or closest to the deceased or in the county where the estate will be probated. It should also be someone who is detail-oriented, good with paperwork and who is fiscally responsible. If the estate is overly complicated or large, then the personal representative should consider hiring a probate attorney to help him or her probate the estate. If nothing else, the chosen representative should consult with a probate attorney to get a better feel what is required. The estate will be probated in the county where the deceased lived at the time of death. Funeral expenses are paid out of the estate. If a family member pays for the funeral then that person should submit a claim to the estate to get reimbursed. If there are insufficient estate assets, claims are paid in order of priority as set forth in the statutes. Funeral expenses are not given priority for full payment. Why do you need a definition of next of kin? If there is no will and no spouse then all adult children inherit equally. If an adult child died before the parent, then the dead child's children, if any, would take their dead parent's share. If the children are already squabbling, that does not bode well. In such case, any of the children can contact a probate lawyer and file a probate petition. The others can object and if a written objection is filed then the court will decide which of the 4 children should be the personal representative.... Read More

You need to ask a lawyer in Texas. I am not licensed there. What you say does not make sense. If you and your sister owned the land as joint tenants with a right of survivorship, then the land automatically would have passed to you as of the moment of death and there would be no need to do anything by the executor. If your sister solely owned the land then your name could not have been on the deed at all in which case the land would be distributed as per your sister's will (I assume she had one as you mention an executor) or as per the Texas intestacy law. If you are a named beneficiary or an intestate heir, then the executor would have to issue a deed conveying the land to you if you are the sole heir/beneficiary. If you and your sister jointly owned the land but there was no right of survivorship, then 1/2 the land would pass as per your sister's will or via intestacy. If you were the only named beneficiary or heir, the executor could only deed your sister's share of the land to you. I do not understand what rights you are claiming and why you necessarily would need an attorney. Does your sister have a will? Was she married? Did she have any children? If she did not have a spouse and children, who else besides you is her heir? The answers to these questions will indicate whether you need an attorney. If you need one, it will be a probate attorney who practices in the state/county where your sister lived at the time of her death. If your sister had a will, the executor is doing his/her job properly and/or has an estate attorney, then you do not need an attorney. If you have questions then you need to consult with a probate attorney to review the estate file and make sure that things are done properly and to look out for your interests as a beneficiary of the estate.... Read More

In answer to your question there is no contract that PNC is in breach of. You did not handle this correctly. Financial powers of attorney are for the living, not the dead. Your mother obviously did not have a properly drafted power of attorney drafted by a lawyer. Even where a lawyer drafts a power of attorney, the financial power of attorney is to be used to benefit the principal, in this case your mother. It is not to be used to benefit you. There are limits in power of attorneys as to whether an agent can make gifts to him or herself and even where permitted there may be a dollar limitation. Since you chose to rely on the PNC bank forms, you should have reviewed the form to see whether any sort of gift was authorized. My guess is that it was not. In such case you could not use the power of attorney to change the beneficiary on any IRAs or other beneficiary designated asset. Your mother had to do that. Making her estate the beneficiary, even by default, of an IRA was really poor estate planning. You have taken a non-probate asset which would be exempt from creditor's claims, and changed it to a probate one, exposing it to potential claims. Since the estate is beneficiary, there is going to be tax liability too. You or the personal representative of your mother's estate will need a probate attorney who practices in the county where your mother lived prior to her death. Pay the attorney to review the bank forms, insurance forms, any will and anything else of relevance. Without looking at this, I don't know if there is any way to salvage this absent probating an estate.... Read More

I would ask the social worker if insurance policies with living beneficiaries are subject to the Medicaid claim. I really dont know the answer to that question but i am sure the people working for the PA DPW do. If the policy is subject to their claim, then they can just have a lien until she passes. You can also call a local elder law attorney.... Read More

All POA's have an underlying understanding that the agent is acting in the best interest of the principle. If the principle is clear headed and you are going around their back doing this, you are not fullfilling your duty. If they are incompetent and you are acting in their best interest, that is another matter. You really need to have a local lawyer look at the POA and assess the situation. Is it a standard general durable POA or is it a springing POA? Is the principle competent? is this move in the principal's best interest?... Read More

Assuming this estate is in NC, then there is no inheritance tax in NC on any amount of money. Where are you getting $300,000 from? There is an estate tax. However, the rules used to state that estates under $650,000 were exempt from the estate tax. This rule was changed in 2001 by Congress and the limits were gradually increased to $1 million then $3 million in 2009. The tax went away completely in 2010 but the limits were set to roll back to $1 million in 2011. However, in December of 2010, Congress changed the limits and made them permanent (nothing is permanent and Congress could will tinker with this again). They are now at about $5 million for single persons and $10 million for a married couple. What this means is that if you or someone single dies after 2010 with an estate under $5 million there is no estate tax for federal or NC estate tax purposes.... Read More

Nothing insofar as your personal liability is concerned. Did you seek to probate an estate for your mother? Did she have any assets justifying probate? How was the house titled? It sounds like the home is still in your mother's name and that no estate has been opened yet. When someone dies owing debts, there should be an estate probated if the estate has probate assets (which it does if the house is solely in your mother's name). If your mother lived in PA at the time of her death then the estate will be governed by PA law. If you are the sole heir and there is no spouse or other siblings, then this is for you to do. You file the petition for probate. You notify all the creditors and run an ad in the newspaper. You inventory all the assets. You pay all the claims against the estate from estate funds and if there is not enough money you pay the claims in order of priority. Claims get paid before the heirs get anything and if there is only the house, then you will have to sell the house and use the proceeds to pay the claims. When you run out of money, you stop paying claims and deny the balance of the claims. If there is little to no equity in the home AND no other probate assets, then I would tell the lender to foreclose and not seek to probate an estate because there are no funds. In that case, I would write to the creditors, tell that there are are no probate assets and that you are not personally liable for the debts and they can seek to probate an estate or not. Since you are unemployed, if you are living in the home, then I would stay there as long as you can rent free. I don't know if the house is mortgaged or not. If the house is mortgaged, you cannot deed the house into your name until the mortgage is satisfied and this would require you to get your own mortgage. I would just leave it be for now and pay the mortgage or home equity loan as you can. If you do not pay, the lender will foreclose on the home. The lender will not seek a deficiency from you but they will foreclose. You need to figure out what the home is worth and how much is owed. You also need to start making payments on the house to prevent a foreclosure. The house not being in your name is both a blessing and a curse - its a curse because you cannot file bankruptcy on the house debt or even get financial help from the housing agency because the house is not in your name. Its a blessing because you could just walk away from the whole mess without any financial liability on your part.... Read More

The name on the mortgage is not relevant here. Its who is on the deed. Adding the fiance to the deed was a huge mistake because you just gave him 1/2 of the equity in the house. Either you pay him money to get him to convey 1/2 the house back to you or he can bring what is called a partition action. In a partition action, either of the deed owners to the property can force a sale of the home. After the mortgage is paid, the equity is then divided between the parties. You can bid at the sale and can buy back the home but you will still have to pay him 1/2 the equity. How is it that you were able to add him to the deed without the consent of the lender and have him not be on the mortgage too? I would figure out how much equity is in the home and give him half of that. You will not get significant money at a partition sale and selling a home can be tricky depending on where it is located. Never ever buy anything with anybody to whom you are not married.... Read More

Contact the insurance company and ask for a change of beneficiary form. It would be better if she signs it, not the POA. Hopefully, she is mentally competent to sign a document. I think they will let you do it unless the policy is part of employee benefits. At least try, so call the insurance company.... Read More