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FiveStarLaw, Lawyer
Category: Real Estate Law
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My mother-in-law has a life estate on a condo in Florida.

Customer Question

My mother-in-law has a life estate on a condo in Florida. My wife and brother-in-law were tenants-in common on the deed. my brother-in-law died last year.

What needs to be done now so that if my Mother-in-law dies,my wife and the other tenant in common(I assume my brother-in law's wife would replace my brother-in law on the quit claim deed) can sell the property.

Neither my wife nor my brother-in-law nor my brother-in-law's wife are Florida residents.

Submitted: 12 months ago.
Category: Real Estate Law
Expert:  FiveStarLaw replied 12 months ago.

*This chat is not intended as legal advice. It is general information that may or may not apply to your situation and should not be relied upon.*


Welcome,


It is my goal to deliver information in five-star manner.


I am a licensed Florida attorney but I am not your attorney. The law does not allow me to provide legal advice or form an attorney-client relationship on this public forum.


If at any time the information which I provide is not clear to you or does not fully answer your question, please ask me for clarification by using the reply button.

Your brother in law's interest in the property would be part of your brother-in-law's probate estate. If an estate has been opened for your brother-in-law in his State of residence then an ancillary probate would be required in Florida. If a probate was not opened in your brother-in-law State of residence, it will be necessary to open a probate in that state and then open an ancillary probate in Florida.


I think this is what you wanted to know. Please let me know if I have answered your question

Customer: replied 12 months ago.

Not really. His estate passes to his wife and he has no probate in his state of residence(NY) nor does he seem to need one in NY that I am aware of.


So how can we do Florida without NY being involved?

Expert:  FiveStarLaw replied 12 months ago.

I am licensed in both New York and Florida. Unfortunately you cannot simply open a probate in Florida since your brother-in-law was not a resident of Florida. The probate must be opened in the state of the decedent's residence. Thus it is necessary to open a probate in New York and then open an ancillary probate in Florida.

This is a very unfortunate result as additional time and money will be required in transferring the property. Had the property been held jointly between your wife and your brother-in-law, the property would've passed by operation of law to your wife without any court involvement

Customer: replied 12 months ago.

Can a probate in NY be opened strictly for this property and nothing else involving the estate and would the same be true in FL once something was done in NY-or will FL just rely on whatever NY does?

Expert:  FiveStarLaw replied 12 months ago.

A probate can be opened in New York just for the purpose of the property in question. Once the probate is opened in New York, a 2nd probate known as an ancillary probate needs to be opened in Florida. Unfortunately this will require you to retain an attorney in both New York and in Florida.Here is a link to a free site that may assist you in locating competent legal counsel: www.Martindale.com

FiveStarLaw, Lawyer
Category: Real Estate Law
Positive Feedback: 97.9 %
Satisfied Customers: 35216
Experience: 25 years of experience helping people like you.
FiveStarLaw and other Real Estate Law Specialists are ready to help you
Customer: replied 12 months ago.

I still dont understand how my sister-in-law can open just a probate for this particular property(in NY) without having to account for the disposition of the entire estate. Is there a form she fills out? If so, what is it?


You say you are licenses in both NY and FL. If we need an attorney to do this, would you do it? what would your charge be?

Expert:  FiveStarLaw replied 12 months ago.

Thank you but I cannot represent customers of the site.

Your sister-in-law will require local counsel in New York to open the probate for her.

Only assets subject to probate would be listed in the estate. Items that are held jointly with right of survivorship, transfer on death properties and life insurance to a beneficiary pass by operation of law to the survivor and therefore are not considered assets subject to probate.

Here is a link to a free site that may assist you in locating competent legal counsel: www.Martindale.com

Customer: replied 12 months ago.

I already rated your service as good-so you can get paid even though I did not really learn anything of value from your answers and am not yet satisfied. Basically, you said I needed attorneys in both FL and NY. I could have learned that for free by asking an attorney in NY the same question.


You recent answer is confusing as you now are saying I have to open a probate in NY for more than just the property(earlier you said I could do so for just the property). So, for example, if my brother-in-law had a car only in his name, then that would be something for probate along with the property(as well as non document items like gold rings, etc.)?


Additionally, you have not told me, as requested, what documents would need to be filed, etc. in either venue(FL or NY)


And it would be nice,if you cant do it, to recommend a Lawyer licensed to both venues to avoid duplication and excess fees.

Expert:  rvlaw replied 12 months ago.

Hi

 

 

 

Will you allow me a few minutes to review the facts? I believe I can help I'm revewing the case now

 

 

 

rich

41091.7532356829

Expert:  rvlaw replied 12 months ago.

Oak

Since your wife (let's use W) and brother in law (B) are tenant's in common, each's half pass on his or her death to whomever that person designates by will or the laws of intestacy if there is no will.

When B died, the WB deed has to be changed so that subsequent purchasers will

have valid title.

 

 

 

I agree with the former expert's statement:

"...................Your brother in law's interest in the property would be part of your brother-in-law's probate estate. If an estate has been opened for your brother-in-law in his State of residence then an ancillary probate would be required in Florida. If a probate was not opened in your brother-in-law State of residence, it will be necessary to open a probate in that state and then open an ancillary probate in Florida."

 

 

 

 

What has to happen is this: Assuming that B has an executor (E) if there's a will or an administrator (A) if there was no will. TWO NEW DEEDS MUST BE GENERATED:

1. A deed executed by W and E or A transferring W's 1/2 to W alone. The deed should refer to the old WB deed.

2. A deed executed bu W and E or A transferring B's 1/2 to the Estate of B, the deed once again referring to the old WB deed.

 

 

 

 

NOTE THAT YOUR MOTHER'S LIFE ESTATE REAMAINS THROUGH ALL OF THIS...............

 

 

 

 

TO BE CONTINUED ON NEXT ANSWER BOX

41091.7737841088

Expert:  rvlaw replied 12 months ago.

At this point, W or B's estate (or whoever B left his 1/2 to) an sell their 1/2 to anyone. Another common solution based on the needs or wants of the parties, is that W buys out B's interest and gets full title or B's estate (etc.) buys out W's interest and takes full title.

BotXXXXX XXXXXne.......W mother's life estate remains until she dies

ALL DEEDS MENTIONED ABOVE MUST SPECIFY THAT THEY ARE SUBJECT TO YOUR MOTHER'S LIFE ESTATE

 

 

 

 

 

Please press 3 or 4 or 5 below so that I may get credit for assisting you.
Please do NOT press 1 or 2 since that will result in a negative rating for me
which you may not have intended. If you want further information or
clarification, just ask before you give a rating.

I ask you to be fair in your rating. For instance, in these actual examples , the expert should not have received a negative rating:
a. A customer says "I ALREADY KNEW THAT".....but the expert didn't know what the customer knew or didn't know.
b. A customer wants to hear "YES YOU CAN".....but the certified legal expert says "LEGALLY NO YOU CAN'T".
c. The answer is short, but ACCURATE. A customer simply wants a longer answer.

Thank you for reading this and for your consideration. I'm always ready to help further.

rich

41091.7901196759

Expert:  rvlaw replied 12 months ago.

Lawyers will be needed

To find an attorney, go online to Martindale.com. This is a nationwide directory we lawyers use ourselves to find highly qualified legal specialists in various fields of law. These lawyers are NOT in Martindale because they paid to be included. They are there because they are rated as QUALIFIED by other lawyers in their field of expertise and geographic area as it applies to your kind of case. The process is this: other lawyers are asked to fill out questionnaires giving their opinion of the quality of the work of the law firm that ultimately appears in Martindale.

The site is organized geographically and by legal specialty. Consult with two or three and select the one you are most comfortable with. The Martindale listing will have the names of current or past clients. Contact those clients as references for the firm.

They will have all the forms for the filing of estate documents and deeds

Rich

Customer: replied 12 months ago.

This is for RVLAW. Isent you a prior email. on this topic. I already paid once for answers to my questions and I did not agree to pay again If my rating you does NOT result in a second payment of $39, then I would be happy to rate you. Let me know.

Expert:  rvlaw replied 12 months ago.

You should only be paying once and giving me a (hopefully positive) rating. I am going to sent a note to the moderators to make sure this is what happened. IF they took two payments from you, let me know and we'll straighten it out.

rich

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