Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Arizona

Home ownership deal with our father

In regards to a home I live in, two things. What kind of evidence would hold up in Az court in regards to a verbal deal regarding a home. Also what is necessary in a litigation situation for someone to be awarded for ''emotional distress'' and to awarded ''reimbursement of legal fees''?

I ask because my brother and I had a verbal agreement about our home w/ our remaining parent (our father) which our father not only broke, but he broke it and made no attempt to tell us for years.

Also, we have our mothers will which dictates that all that was hers is ours. My parents had a divorce decree, that they both signed, that at the top dictates that our father has ''rights of survivorship.'' At the bottom of that same paragraph it states that if our mother still resided at the property when she passed away, or moves, the property has to be sold immediately and the equity split equally. Plus it dictates that if she moves then the mortgage payments have to be split equally between them.

Our father is pretty much ignoring everything but the ''rights of survivorship.'' I am wondering if we take him court for what documents say we are owed, if we win could we win ''emotional distress'' and ''reimbursement of legal fees''?

Thanks for the hel


Asked on 7/20/07, 6:50 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
James Jenkins Jenkins Law Center PLC

Re: Home ownership deal with our father

Your situation is somewhat complicated; not impossible to analyze, just a lot of documents to look at (divorce decrees, deeds, wills, etc.) and therefore cannot be fully answered in this limited forum, where we do not have all the facts and do not see all the pertinent documents.

Generally, oral agreements are not enforceable for real estate ownership. It depends upon what the agreement was. Wills only govern property that does not pass by automatic succession (such as joint tenancy with right of survivorship, or designated beneficiaries, etc.) and is in the name of the deceased person.

See an attorney to present all the facts and documents for a proper opinion. We offer free, no obligation consultations at 480.835.1500 for this purpose. If I were to guess at the answers to your questions without all the facts or the documents in front of me, It would be unwise. The language you describe in the divorce decree is inconsistent with a right of survivorship. I do not know if the decree was recorded or not. There are many questions raised by your information that need to be looked at with the documents.

Good luck and best regards,

James D. Jenkins

Read more
Answered on 7/21/07, 11:13 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Probate, Trusts, Wills & Estates questions and answers in Arizona