Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Massachusetts

probate and wills - taking control over estate property.

You should be entitled to search the property to see if there are any wills.

If there are no wills, the state law rules how the her property is distributed.

If there is property, you should petition the probate court to have one of the siblings appointed to be an executor and then take control over the property.

You should do this right away.

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Re: probate and wills

First, rest assured that (1) no one can have an interest in real estate without a deed and (2) it is always possible to have a deed revoked if you can show that a transfer for less than fair-market value was made under fraud or undue influence.

If there is no will, then the property passes to the nearest living relatives. Visualize a tree -- the property rights pass first down to the children. If your aunt never had children, it passes to the decendents of your grandparents. You will need to file a Petition for Administration no sooner than 30 days after her death. There is a procedure called Special Administration to appoint someone to manage the assets while the Petition for Administration is pending. Once you are appointed as special administrator, you can begin evicting the daughter.

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Re: probate and wills

It would depend upon who is on the deed. Do you think it would have been your aunt's intention to leave it to the couple in gratitude for their assistance?

If so, it is conceivable that she may have added them to the deed, e.g. joint tenants with right of survivorship, which would determine ownership upon your aunt's death.

You apparently understand that if she left it to them in her will, the will, once probated, would direct what happens to the property. Of course, if she was somehow forced to change her will, or if she was not competent to make a will, that might pose a problem for the friends.

Otherwise, if the property was solely in your aunt's name at the time of her death, and she left no will, it would pass according to the laws of intestate succession. Since she left no children, and no surviving spouse, one next looks up the family tree to see if her parents (your grandparents) are living. If not, one looks for the nearest living relatives, assumedly you and your siblings/cousins, if any.

However, before anyone "gets" anything, her debts and last medical expenses would have to be paid, (did she receive Medical Assistance from the commonwealth?) the costs of administration paid, etcetera. If there are insufficient liquid assets, the house could be sold to cover unpaid expenses, with cash left over paid to those who would have inherited the real estate. This also assumes that estate taxes (for estates in excess of $1,000,000) are not at issue.