My mother-in-law is wanting to quick claim deed her land to us but my father-in-law Who just passed away and her name is not on the orginial title but she is on the mortgages how do we fix this?

Answer 1

Answered by Reid Breitman. This is for information only and you should consult a lawyer before relying on anything on the internet.

First, it is "quit claim" not quick claim.

If I understand this correctly, the property is vested in the name of your father-in-law, who died, but the mortgage was in your mother-in-law's name or both your mother-in-law and father-in-law.

It does not matter who is on the mortgage. That just governs who is legally liable to pay the mortgage, and one does not need to be on title to be obligated on the mortgage. One spouse will often sign the mortgage, but not be on title, for a variety of reasons.

So, the answer about how to transfer the title to the property: if the father-in-law died, the property will go to his heirs. If he had a will, then the will must be probated. If he had a trust, and the property was in a trust, then the trustee can transfer the property. That's why trusts are such good things to have...avoids probate and can provide legal tax advantages. If he nad no trust and no will, then it still has to be probated, and it is a big pain to figure out who the heirs are, but it will be done through the probate court and will take time.

Now, there may be other issues, and you should definitely consult an attorney on these important issues. For example, there may be facts that might support a claim that the mother-in-law, or someone else, has a claim to the property. Those claims will have to be brought soon, before some applicable statute of limitations might apply to bar the claim. The mother-in-law may have community property rights in the property, which should be thoroughly explored by appropriate counsel.