Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Rights to property upon death

Under Indiana law, assuming the divorce decree did not split up your ownership interest in the land, you would own a 1/4 interest if your rights were as a tenancy in common, if your 1/2 and mother's 1/2 were as joint tenants with the right of survivorship, then you now own 1/2, assuming again that the divorce decree did not state otherwise. Generally in Indiana, you are not liable for the lien already on the land at the time you took title.

However, and this is a really big however in your case, your rights are going to depend upon the state in which this land is located and what the laws in that state say your ownership interests are. And if your divorce decree specified how the land was to be divided at the time of the divorce, that controls as to the right you had at the time of the divorce. If your property is located in a community property state, the laws may be quite different than those in Indiana which is a tenancy by the entireties state.

I would recommend that you contact a lawyer in the state where the land is located.

Re: Rights to property upon death

If the property is located in California, it would depend on how title was vested in the deed. If you took title as community property, you would own an undivided 1/2 jointly with your ex-husband. If you took title as tenants in common, or some other form of ownership, you would likely own an undivided 1/4 of the property. Of course, if your divorce dealt with this issue, then whatever judgment the divorce court entered would control.

In California, if your ex-mother-in-law "willed" the property to her three children, those children would only be entitled to receive an undivided portion of your ex-mother-in-law's undivided 1/2 interest. The remaining undivided 1/2 would likely not be affected by her death. If however, the property was owned with your mother-in-law as "joint tenants," you and your husband would be entitled to the entire property.

With respect to the debt on the property, that too would depend upon when it was obtained. If the loan was obtained before or during your marriage, and you lived in California at the time, you generally will be jointly liable on the debt until it is paid in full.

The first thing you should do is find the judgment entered in your divorce case and review it to determine whether this property, and the debt related to it, was dealt with. Regardless of where you were divorced, this matter should have been dealt with during your divorce.

You should also take whatever documents you have relating to this property to an attorney, who can review them and tell you how title is held, and perhaps where the "loan" was obtained. Then you can determine how to proceed.