Legal Question in Real Estate Law in New Jersey

My mother died in 1996 in Washington State. Before she passed, she quit claimed her share of a New Jersey House to her children (including myself) . My father had the house titled in his name alone. Our mother split her time between Washington State and New Jersey but was not formally separated or divorced. Subsequently, my father hired a "house keeper" or "companion". My father put her name on all his accounts and has willed the house (around 400K-500K ) to the companion/house keeper who also has some kind power of attorney. She refuses to show us the power of attorney but we believe it might be a joint power of attorney shared with my elder brother. Do we the children have any claim to the house given that New Jersey is not a community property state? Our mother also quit claimed other properties to us that she had titled soley in her name. We never made a fuss about it after we discovered this and let our father collect the rents without telling him that we owned it out right. I believe he signed a paper giving up his rights to those properties before my mother passed.


Asked on 3/01/14, 9:40 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert Gleaner Robert A. Gleaner, P.C.

You have a very complicated situation that needs more research and detail before it can be answered properly. To start off, a title search would need to be completed on each property to establish the current ownership as per deeds of record. Once that is done, and after you have a full consultation with an attorney experienced with real estate, estate and family law, you may begin to get some answers. You need to retain an attorney as quickly as possible to review this with you. Good luck! Rob Gleaner

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Answered on 3/02/14, 5:04 am


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