Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Georgia
Transfer of property
My mother (executor of my father's estate, holding only life estate) transferred in clerk's office 100 acres of land she doesn't own to my nephew. What is the legal term for ''you can't give or sell what you don't own?'' and what should I do. I and my brother are next in line for the property upon her death. She has been incensed since learning of the life estate my father left her, realizing she would remarry and squander everything if he didn't. She has remarried and squandered what she could. It has been a battle, but I feel my daughters (lineal descendants) are as entitled to the land as is my nephew, a whiner with no other means of support. They're being punished for leaving, going to college to get degrees and pursue their dreams, not to plant cotton and develop ulcers praying for rain, then praying for it to stop when it comes. My mother doesn't -- or cannot -- respect their desires and see it as ''having no interest in the farmland.'' HELP!
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Transfer of property
You need legal counsel. Probate may be necessary. An action to set aside a phantom deed may be necessary.
Re: Transfer of property
You can't handle this yourself. You should contact a local attorney ASAP. The longer you allow the situation to exist without taking action, the more the argument can be made that you approved it.