Can i get a little free legal advice and/or opinions on a small problem? (page 2)

jamiebowers

I think most agreements where a husband wills that the wife may live in the house until her death but leaves the house to his children usually includes a stipulation that she may reside in the house until her death if she remains unmarried and doesn't co-habitate with aother man.

Robdar

Any legal advice you receive that isn't from an attorney is worth exactly what you paid for it: nothing.

Probate laws differ from state to state and it doesnt cost that much to get an hour of an attorney's time. You could wind up spending much more time and money by trying to do it on your own.

Band on the Run

Legal advice cannot be given. First, only lawyers may give legal advice. While a college student, I thought I knew it all. During the first few days of law school, I slinked in my chair as I realized the havoc I caused. No lawyer will give advice. Facts are crucial. They change. No case is the same. Facts of you are not aware or think not important may determine the outcome. Legal services are expensive b/c of this complexity. I casually gave advice in college. Now I grew up b.c my assets may be seized.

Get a list of local lawyers from your local bar association. This question contains property and family law elements. Try to see a specialist. Somewhere down the line a lawyer will give you an idea. An idea is not the answer. Interviewing clients carefully is crucial. Although people do it on the Internet, it is not appropriate.

betterdaze

No lawyer here. I am only taking a stab at this because my family was wracked by a "lifelong tenancy" clause, and not in a good way. I also have deep resentment for those who marry for money, exploiting the widows and fatherless boys that Jesus spoke about for good reason.

So thats my problem.

No, that is not YOUR problem. Newsflash: You are not in the will!

Neither is the son's wife, apparently. Yet being married to the rightful heir to real property, she has more rights to that property than some, need I say it? Greedy "outlander."

If your wife has voluntarily vacated the house and it can be proved in court she has no need of it, she may have forfeited the tenancy provision. Probably not. Lifelong tenancy means exactly what it says whether she chooses to live there or not. The son cannot legally rent it out. He cannot sell it as long as she lives. He's still stuck paying taxes and upkeep on a property he can't make personal use of no matter what. It could be 20 or 30 years until he finally "comes into" his true inheritance. Until then, it can become a burden of sorts.

One thing is crystal clear: Your wife is not going realize a profit from the sale of the property. The son is the rightful heir, she was granted mere tenancy (which is actually a pretty sweet deal for her). Technically the property is already part of HIS estate.

Of course you can live there with her as her husband. When she passes on, you are out on your own. Best not to screw-up your relationship with the son and his wife so early on, because as it stands, he owes you NOTHING. Not a thin dime and no tenancy.

Although it looks like I am going to have to go to the Courthouse and see a copy of the will.

Uh-huh. The will that provides for the widow and her son. Not YOU.

Just one week after the wedding and your whinging: How can I exploit this widow's rights that she earned through a former marriage? How can I prevent her son from his rightful inheritance? What's in it for ME? Me, me!

Honestly, I don't see this (cough, cough) "marriage" getting off on a good footing. Learn your place and your wife and her family may feel obliged, through the sheer kindness of their hearts, to cut you a few in the end.

The very manner in which you handle yourself up front, please don't bet on it.

~Sue

outlander

For Betterdaze: No, I am not whining or trying to see whats in it for me! You know nothing of the situation besides a few paragraphs that i posted. From your comments it seems your looking at my question with a predetermined negative viewpoint based on something that happened to you in the past. The reason I said that I would have to check out the Will is BECAUSE SHE CANNOT READ AND THEREFORE HAS NO WAY TO UNDERSTAND WHATS IN LEGAL PAPERS UNLESS SOMEONE IS THERE TO HELP HER! So please keep keep the negative comments and snide remarks to yourself- JERK!

Finally-Free

I don't know, but will find out ASAP.

Maybe you won't. Since you're not in the will, you may have no actual "right" to see its contents. When my parents died my sisters and I, the executers, dealt with the lawyers. Our spouses had to wait outside. I suggest your wife see a lawyer while you go out for a coffee and wait for her. The lawyer can explain it better to her than you can.

I don't know where you live, but here in Ontario you would have no rights to anything she inheirited from anyone. In the event of a divorce it would be "excluded property" and not subject to division under the family law act. The only exception I'm aware of is the "matrimonial home". You didn't mention how her former husband acquired the property. If he inheirited it he may not have been obligated to leave it to her. In Ontario he would have been required to leave her 50% of it, and only if it was the matrimonial home. That still would not entitle you to any of it.

Personally, I find it suspect that you're so worked up about this after only a week of marriage. It's not exactly typical behaviour for a newlywed.

W

P.S. It was inquiries like this (about my parents' money and property) that was the straw that broke the camels back in my marriage. That's when I decided to end it.

thetrueone

Is the home being rented or is it vacant ?

Sounds to me like she has the right to live in the home either if she remarried or not unless its otherwise stipulated in the will.

It also sounds like she would have some holding equitiy in the home because she was the wife of the now deceased husband.

I'm no lawyer but even if the will by her husband doesn't specifically state her name as being one that would receive his assets Home, Land etc.,

I think by law she would legally entitled to some of assets in the value of the property........just guessing

Band on the Run

I can't emphasize how very dangerous relying on casual advice from nonlawyer is. You are only doing it because you are ignorant of the complexity and the full repurcussions of your action. The very legal fields at issue here, family law, real estate, and trusts and estates are the hardest in law. The malpractice rates for trust and estates and property are the highest of any field. It is very hard. I would not trust a general lawyer. This is one area where expertise counts. I fulfilled my moral and ethical responsibility by posting this message.

Only a fool would proceed if they understood what they were doing. Why would people spend seven years of their lives in intensive, competitive and hard study and then pass an arduous bar exam if it were so easy. A lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client. Multiply that by a client who represents themselves off the internet.

I don't think jailhouse lawyers could master these areas. Beware.

thetrueone

GET SOME PROFESSIONAL LEGAL ADVISE

GLTirebiter

Get a list of local lawyers from your local bar association. This question contains property and family law elements. Try to see a specialist.

What BOTR said! All I would add is that estate law enters into this picture, too. Without knowing what is in the will and what the law was in that place at the time he died, saying any more is pointless speculation.

Can i get a little free legal advice and/or opinions on a small problem?

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