QUESTION
Is a sale of property legal if the deeded owners were divorced and remarried, they never split the property, then sold it without having spouse sign.
Asked on Mar 25th, 2012 on Real Estate - Pennsylvania
More details to this question:
My mother and father had a farm, they got divorced and both remarried. When they were divorced they never split the property so the deed remained in both names. Some time later after both were remarried, My father gave some property to his brother, and he got my mother to sign off on it. Now there are big problems with my uncle and I''m wondering if the sale is legal since the asset''s (all the land) should be shared amongst the new spouses (unless there was a prenup...which there wasn''t).
My real question is can we go back and claim the sale wasn''t legal since only two of four necessary signatures were on the bill of sale and remove my uncles junk from this property? what are my chances of success? What would the process be to follow through on this and how long would it take?
Other pertinent notes: the sale was never conducted through a lawyer, the deed was rewrote and drawn up by a notary
2 ANSWERS
Financial Markets and Services Attorney serving Blue Bell, PA
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Max L. Lieberman & Associates A Professional Corporation
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Initially, please consider this response to your inquiry general and preliminary guidance. You should consult with an experienced real estate lawyer who will need to review the deeds and other transfer documents to more properly advise you.
Based on the information you presented in your inquiry, upon your parents divorce, the property was legally held by your mother and father as joint tenants (as opposed to tenancy by the entireties during their marriage). Their new spouses would have had no interest in the property. Thus, either party would have been legally within their rights to sell or transfer their 1/2 interest in the property. To the extent it appears that upon transfer of title to your uncle both of your parents signed the deed, again, based on the information you provided, regardless of whether a lawyer or a notary prepared it, the transfer of title sounds like it was a legal transfer and your chances of declaring the deed to your uncle as null and void would not be likely.
Again, in order to properly advise you, a lawyer would need to review all of the relevant documents and I would suggest you do so.
Marla D. Sones
Answered on Apr 03rd, 2012 at 11:42 AM
Real Estate Law Attorney serving Anniston, AL
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Isom Stanko & Senter, LLC
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Ordinarily a "guest" is someone who is invited. Are these people relatives? Do you reside in the house? Do they reside in the house with you? If you do not reside there, did they break into the home? Are they strangers to you? You have not given me enough information to respond in any useful way.
Certainly, if you own a home and want to sell it, and if someone (even a relative) enters the home against your wishes and tries to thwart your attempts to sell, they are nothing more than trespassers and should be evicted. Go to see a good real estate attorney in your area.
Answered on Mar 27th, 2012 at 7:00 PM