Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Georgia

No one here has the deed to see what kind of deed it is, or how your mother fits in since you mentioned her. One thing we can tell you - His statements prior to dying have no legal effect at all. We also don't know what debts he had, which would be paid from his estate before anyone got anything.

His verbal statements are irrelevant. To answer I'd have to see the deed.

Verbal statements do not count. If your father wanted to express his wishes then he needed to make a will.

The person whose name is on the deed is not "disrespecting" your father's wishes. A person can only give away at death what they owned in life. So if your father did not entirely own the land then he can only give away his portion IF he is a tenant in common.

As noted, you first have to see the deed to the home to see who owned it besides your father and this person whom your father raised. If the home was owned as a tenancy in common, then your father's share of the land passes via intestacy to his spouse and his biological or adopted children. Just raising a child is not enough - he has to adopt unless the state recognizes something called equitable adoption.

If your father owned the land as a joint tenant with right of survivorship, the land passes to the surviving persons automatically as of the minute of death. In such case, the land would be owned by the person whose name is on the deed.

So you need to see what the deed says - look under the heading "grantees". If the deed just says the land is owned by "Person A and Person B" then they owned as tenants in common. If the deed says that the grantees are "Person A and Person B" as "joint tenants with right of survivorship" or similar language then it is a joint tenancy with right of suvivorship.

Why do you have to wait until your mother dies to see who owns the land? Did your mother have some kind of lifetime rights? If your parents had a life estate, then they don't own the land at all. Think of property ownership as having a bundle of 100 sticks. With a life estate, the owner of the land gives away 99 sticks and keeps one stick for himself. So, if your parents conveyed the land already to the other person whose name is on the deed and kept a life estate, then the land will pass completely to the person who your father raised and any other remaindermen when your mother passes. Again, you need to review the deed under the grantee section to see whether there was any life estate. If there is, it would read something like "Person B with lifetime rights for Person A" or words to that effect.

Read the deed or pay a real estate or probate lawyer in the county where the land is located to read the deed for you and see what it says. If you don't have a copy of the deed, then go to the register/recorder of deeds office in the county where the land is located or else see if they are online and look it up.

It is only in the event that the land is owned as a tenancy in common would your mother and the biological/adopted children own jointly with the other person. It is always a bad idea for this many people to own land together. In such case, somebody who wants the land will have to buy out the sharee of the person who does not want the land. If neither party will buy out the other, then in that case, either of the parties can ask the court to partition the land. In partition, the land is sold and the proceeds are divided, assuming there are no debts of the estate.