Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Massachusetts

quitclaim deed

In March of 1995 my fiance and his mom did a quitclaim deed signing him the property for 100.00. It was registered with the courts along with a homestead in his name the same month. His mom passed in Jan. of 1996 and now in 2006 his sister is seeking money from the house. Is this possible? We moved in in 1999 and redid the whole house and now she wants money for the house. If his name is solely on the deed and was before his mother passed can she do this? She got cd's and some money when she passed from her brother, but now she wants more.The mother did a will the same day as the quitclaim deed, but since she did the quitclaim deed there was no real estate to split. Is this correct? We just want to know if she can come after half the property after all these years, especially if he is and has been the only one on the deed since march of 1995. Thank you for your attention to this matter.


Asked on 2/23/06, 12:41 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
John Postl Burkinshaw Law Offices, P.C.

Re: quitclaim deed

The sister has no claim. You did not indicate whether the mother deeded the property to her and the son as tenants in common or joint tenants. Assuming they were joint tenants, the son would take title to the house upon the mother's death. I assume this is what happened since you said the real estate did not go through the will probate process. If the property had been held as tenants in common, half the interest in the house would have gone into the mother's estate and been probated. However, creditors have one year to make claims agianst the estate, so any claim the sister made would be time barred. I'm curious as to why the sister would wait ten years to start making noise about the house?

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Answered on 2/23/06, 12:51 pm
Joseph Murray Joseph M. Murray, Esq.

Re: quitclaim deed

Your fiancee should retain an attorney to review his sister's claims as it sounds like she may be alleging that he obtained title to the realty by fraud or undue influence upon his mother, which if proven, may be grounds to reopen his mother's estate, notwithstanding the one year statute of limitations. Good Luck!

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Answered on 2/23/06, 2:06 pm


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