Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Georgia
Complicated real estate and divorce question for the state of Georgia.
My mother paid over $100K to convert my brother-in-law (BIL) and my sister's garage into an apartment three years ago. My BIL and sister have just divorced. My BIL retained the house. The property is deeded to my BIL's mother and the mortgage loan is in my BIL and his mother's names. My mother still lives in the garage apartment out back that she paid for in cash. Now BIL wants my mother out of her home. QUESTION: does my mother have any right to her investment? Does she technically have a vested interest in this property , or can he legally kick her out with nowhere to go?
3 Answers from Attorneys
Presumably, unless your mother was very foolish to a point where she is incompetent to handle her affairs and needs a guardian, she would not loan (or give) $100,000 to anyone without hiring a lawyer to do extensive paperwork to protect her interests. You have not told us what that paperwork says and ALL the answers should be there.
People don't just hand over money like that without good paperwork. See what evidence there is as to whether the $100,000 was a gift, or a loan, or was in exchange for the right to live there. She has the burden of proof, so hopefully she left a very good paper trail. And I hope she wasn't too cheap (or foolish) to use a lawyer.
Remember, to have an interest in realty there needs to be documents/evidence. Hopefully she did that, but the fact you made no mention of that is what creates concern that she may have flushed $100,000 down the toilet.
Because so much is at stake, this is a situation where you and she immediately need to get of the computer, into a lawyer's office and get excellent representation. Yes, it will cost money to do this (far more than to do things right on day one). Pray that things are fixable. They may or may not be.
Good luck!
Your post does not indicate she has any interest at all in the real estate. She took the risk of this very situation when she spent $100,000 to improve someone else's property. Anyone spending that much money should at least have a contract to protect themselves, such as a lease to cover a certain number of years or a refund of some of the improvements, but if there is one you didn't mention it.
It sounds like your mother would not have a legal claim to ownership of the property, but she may have a contract and/or an equity claim to the money. See a local attorney immediately.
If you would like to discuss any issues further, please feel free to contact my office. The link to my contact information is below. Thank you.
The foregoing is general information only, not specific legal advice. No attorney/client relation has been created or should be implied.
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