What are my rights if my name is on a deed? My father put my name on the deed to his home but when he died his widow sold the house without me, now what?
Q: Before my father died he added my name to the deed on his house which was mortgage free. He and his wife were already on title. After he died, his widow sold the house without my knowledge and kept the money.
Am I entitled to part of the money from the sale? She kept it all and moved to another state.
What Are My Rights If My Name Is on a Deed?
A: Well, your question poses some intriguing questions. Your stepmother was able to sell the home without your signature so the question is whether your name was really on the title to the home or not.
We see that quite often. Parents say they added a child’s name but they don’t file the right papers or never actually do it. Sometimes the documents really do get prepared and are even shown to a child but nothing is ever done with that document that formalizes it or makes it legal. After your dad showed you that document, the deed should have been filed or recorded in the office that handles the filing or recording of land documents.
Was the New Deed Filed After You Signed It?
Now if your father showed you the document but never filed the deed, it’s questionable whether you became an actual owner of the home. Say he changed his mind and decided not to file the deed. If this happened, you were never an owner and were never entitled to any money from the sale of the home.
It becomes a trickier situation if your dad showed you the document and filed it. Once filed, any buyer, title company and settlement agent should have known that you were an owner and would have wanted to see your signature on the deed conveying ownership to the new buyer. We’ve had readers tell us that relatives have forged their names on the documents. If your name was forged, we wonder who the notary was that put their name on the deed to show that you had signed the document.
Obviously, if your name was forged, that’s fraud. And, you should have a right to go after the person that forged your signature and for any rights you had in the home. As we said, if your name was not forged and your name did not show up on the title to the home, you may be out of luck. In some states, you could be an owner even if the deed was not recorded. The problem is that you have various obstacles to overcome in proving your ownership, in proving that your stepmother knew of your ownership and that the buyers likewise knew you were an owner.
What Should You Do Now?
Given all of this, you need to get more information to determine the facts. Saying that your father put you on the title is not enough. You’ll need to find the deed that put you on the title and know that the deed was recorded. Once you have that information, then you need to figure out how the title to the property passed to a new buyer without your knowledge.
You may be able to find many of these documents on your own, but you need some knowledge of real estate, how documents get recorded and to know what you are looking for. You might need help. You can hire a real estate attorney to help you out or someone else with sufficient knowledge to get to the bottom of your situation. Once you get the facts, you can decide what to do and whether there is anything you can do.
Good luck. It’s a lousy thing to go through after the death of your dad.
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What if a family member has the house and renting it but the house is left for me? What am I suppose to do?
my mother passed away seven years ago. In her will she gave (deeded) the “HOUSE” to me. There was a statement in her will that gave her material items to her four children. The question is after the deed is placed into my name and items remain in the buildings on the property do those items belong to me? Siblings have been entering the house and buildings at will removing items they decided they wanted. Even after all this time is that legal option. Thank you in advance for your assistance
Gary Artz [PHONE NUMBER EDITED FOR SECURITY]
\P.S. Can you cite a ruling that can explain the answer?
I am putting up most of the money to Buy a home. What are my rights? My ex spouse is going in on it with me.. he is only putting up a smal, amount to buy it with me.
What are my rights if I die first?
Kim:
You need to work with an attorney to draft up a partnership agreement and to figure out how best to hold title. You may want to hold title as tenants in common, sharing the correct percentage (say, 90% for you and 10% for him, if that’s how it plays out) but it may also be in your best interest to hold title in a trust. Work with an attorney ASAP so you don’t make a mistake that could really cost you down the line.
We have a lot of information on the site about various ways to hold title.
Best,
Ilyce
I purchased a home three months ago and I found out today that my home and two of my neighbor homes are registered with the County on my deed. According to the surveyor, the three properties are separate. However, the County only has record of my property. Can you suggest how I should research this matter?
7 months ago have a family member singed a general warranty deed to me for land and home had the deed noterized it o disnt have the money due to my work is seasonal and the the Corona virus come and I was not able to do file it we a week or so ago the man down the road came here with the cops and tole me he had a deed and it was singed last July 2019 and filed it after he had a notery notrize anyplace on the deed dor a persone to sing it when they was ready with out seeing them sing it and there is alot more what can I do
My father left a deed of trust granting some land to my brother. My brother’s estranged wife fraudulently had the land deed transferred to her. She filed for divorce and pressed child sexual assault charges against my brother. What can we do to reverse the deed and have it back under the rightful grantee?
my sister had me put my name of a deed to a condo that was bought with her trust fund money. i have owned it for seven years and she has lived in it rent free. she did not want it in her name as it would interfer with govenment assistance she was receiveing. two years ago she walked away from the condo…did not want to live there anymore so i sold it. now she is saying i stole it and that because it was bought with her trust fund money that it is legally hers. she insisted i put it in my name. i have paid taxes, hos, utilities etc. on the condo since 2013? what recourse do i have and what type lawyer do i need to get to work with me
What if the courts gave me my ex husband’s interest in land that we own. And his name is no longer on the deed and he had a lien against him the land against him not myself. Could a lender redo the lien if his name isn’t on the deed
My Partner and I purchased a home together 15 years ago my credit was enough so the lender went with him because he had no credit we got the house no money down both our names is on the Deed and his name is on the mortgage
and he keeps threatening to put me out
I help pay the majority of the bill
Can he throw me out in the streets?
MY COUSIN AND I BOUGHT A HOUSE TOGETHER AND MY NAME IS ON THE DEED, NOW I AM NO LONGER LIVING THERE BECAUSE SHE THROW ME OUT AND I WANT MY NAME OFF THE DEED AND HOW I CAN GET MY SHARE OF THE HOUSE. HOW DO I GO ABOUT DOING THAT.
Bought a house putting my ex on the deed Quit Claim in Leesburg/The Villages. I am the sole mortgagee 🙁
After 17 Months he finally came up with 50% of the down payment to reimburse me his share for 50% ownership since we broke up.
We had a MA atty draw up an agreement for the terms of the home, wherein we would agree to rent the home, placing funds in joint names and a joint bank account allowing him also time to buy me out with 50% of the proceeds being split for the current market value of the home.
Since then, he has decided to control the months the home is rented for his personal use (voiding the Agreement) and only let it rent from January through April. The Agreement was the checks would be payable to joint and placed in a joint bank account for the use of the home.
Since that time, he has prevented me from perspective renters for September and November through December, because he wanted personally to stay in the home. At a loss of rental income for the home.
Now I found out that he took the Jan-April rental checks over $10k and had the renters make the checks payable solely to him and placed them in his own bank account, NOT joint.
He says he now has an attorney, but both Attorney and ex will not respond to my texts and calls to find out what is going on and my request that the checks be placed in a proper account.
He tells me that he is working on financing the home, but has yet to give me any appraisal amount, since the house value is up over 100k more than what we paid and refuses to give me a date or any other information.
He is also telling people that it is “his home” and on the renter’s website he only listed himself as the “owner”
He voided our agreement in more ways and now need help asap.
We are not married, just ex boyfriend/girlfriend and now I am being played and worried he is stealing the money.
Note to self NEVER TRUST ANYONE for their word. If they don’t have the money for the deposit to purchase the house, do NOT put their name on YOUR property!
Kymberly – thank you for sharing your story. What a nightmare. Please find yourself a good attorney who can help you figure out next steps and protect your investment.
2 of my uncles and 2 my aunts inherited a house from their mother and father – However my father and my uncles pass away, the will mention that in case of death their part will be distributed to their kids (and their name was mention on it) but one my aunts sold the house, she did not contact any of us what should we do. We just saw the realtor sign and contacted him and he mention that was sold.
Marilyse:
If you know that there was a will and the will states that certain people were supposed to inherit a share of the estate, and that didn’t happen, those individuals should contact an estate attorney who can help them figure out next steps. They may need to file in court to contest the actions of the executor of that estate. Hopefully the proceeds of the sale haven’t been distributed fully yet. Good luck.
I bought a home with a friend in 2012….
Ronaldo, we answered your question here. Take a look: https://www.thinkglink.com/2022/05/20/buying-a-home-with-family/
I have been told by the tax assessor I own property (my name is on the deed and Title Company say this also) in addition to property I bought through court from a probate estate. Once I found this information, I went to the title company and they agreed my name was on the deed and they tried to get me to sign a quit claim deed. I wouldn’t do it. I am thinking the estate was sold to me, both properties. Now the attorney is in contact with the Title company to “fix things”. I am going to the tax assessors office early next week to see the deeds. What advice do you have for me?