Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Georgia

Re: Selling mom's house and dividing assets

It depends on where the money came from for the addition. She may have done things properly, maybe not. Consult with a local attorney.

Re: Selling mom's house and dividing assets

In theory, your sister is doing this exactly as it should be done. The only thing I can see to question is the one-half of the addition: this would only have been an obligation of your mother if her husband had paid for it entirely out of his own pocket, with *no* intention of making a gift of any sort to your mother, which is usually *not* the case between husband and wife. If the expense was paid from a joint account, this is a joint asset. If paid from his separate funds, the Usual expense sharing arrangement between husband and wife has each spouse paying some portion of the joint debts, and property acquired is joint. In particular, if money was borrowed to build the addition, did your mother sign the note? This would indicate that the addition was joint property, and negate any inference that it was the husband's separate property, or that his paying the mortgage gave him any right to reimbursement.

final advice--consult a lawyer immediately.