QUESTION
Who will get my aunt's house when she passes away?
Asked on Dec 01st, 2014 on Estate Planning - Texas
More details to this question:
My mom purchased a house from a friend next door and pay them off, which is $12,000.00 for it and put it in her sister's name which is mentally retarded. This was done in 1994 and in April of 2004, my mom came home from the hospital and she needed help, because she had a stroke & alzheimer's. So my baby sister went and put the deed of the house in her own name. Can she do that if my aunt cannot even read or write? My mom have pass away in 2011. And my aunt don't know what day it is. This house should go to probate court when my aunt passes away, because there is no brothers or sister around but my aunt. And she is now 83 years old.
1 ANSWER
Wills and Estate Planning Attorney serving Sugar Land, TX
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Law Offices of Kimberly D. Moss, PLLC
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It's a bit unclear what happened, but I'm going to attempt to answer your question in either scenario. If your aunt signed the deed over to your sister, then it is no longer your aunt's house because she sold it to her (or gave it away) when she transferred the title to her. If, instead, your sister prepared a deed and forged your aunt's signature, this is an invalid transfer. You didn't say whether or not this new deed done by your sister was filed in the county deed records, but the best thing to be done is to contact a local attorney for a consultation about this matter. If your aunt is still alive, this matter can be resolved relatively quickly with either a correction deed or a title examination.
Answered on Dec 02nd, 2014 at 6:34 PM