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Who Owns The House |
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Dear Edith: Before my father passed away he repeatedly told us we were to let his wife, my stepmother, live in the house as long as she wants. If she sells we are to split. She gets half and his children split the rest.
Is there a way to be sure our half is protected? The house was purchased by our grandparents and when they passed my father, the only son, took over the home. As far as we know no will was ever made.
I would never want to upset my stepmother so getting a lawyer is probably out of the question |
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It’s not clear from your question whether your father owned the house on his own. If so, and if there is no will, New York state decides what shares of the estate are due to “natural heirs”, in this case the children and the surviving spouse. Get this whole thing cleared up legally. Otherwise you’ll have real complications when you eventually want to sell the house and it may be much harder then.There must be some way to present the matter without alarming your stepmother. Talk to an attorney yourselves, for starters, to find out what needs doing. With or without a will, a lawyer should always be consulted for at least one session when someone dies. |
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Edith
Originally published on April 6, 2006 |
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