Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New Jersey

Father and Son Estate

If we were to remove my father in law from the deed and have wills drawn up to secure the house as being ours in the future, what agreements should we make with our in-laws now. They stopped paying the mortg when my f.i.l retired about 2 years ago. They do not pay utilities. They have been giving us $700 a m. We are willing to reduce this to $500 and offer them a buy-out amount if we ever needed to move. They original house price was 207,500K. We refinanced it a bunch of times to make improvements but never raised their mortg. payment. We owe 390K now and my father is no longer on the mortgage decree. What kind of documents besides wills do we need to created, that would spell out the contingencies of our arrangement. They stay hear as long as we do, for $500 a month and if we need to move they would receive a buy-out amount of X dollars. How do we decide what that amount is and should we be offering anything eles to them? My husband offered to pay for the wills/contracts ect.

We will also be receiving an inheritence from my mom for about 150K soon. I wanted to take this time to be proactive. They have been procrastinating about making these decisions because they want guarantees that we wont throw them out.


Asked on 7/21/08, 10:11 am

2 Answers from Attorneys
Bernard J. Berkowitz Berkowitz & Raiken

Re: Father and Son Estate

You need a face to face consultation with an attorney. Call one near your home and bring a copy of the Deed, closing statement and current mortgage with you. If my office is near you, you can call me.

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Answered on 7/21/08, 10:35 am
Walter LeVine Walter D. LeVine, Esq.

Re: Father and Son Estate

I am a little confused about the living arrangements. It appears you all are living together. Is that accurate? You talk about buying them out if you decide to move, but what happens to them? Does your payment close the door and leave them on their own? How much is the mortgage payment a month? If they are paying less than their "fair share" of all costs (mortgage, utilities, taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc.) how does this impact on a buy-out? Does the buy-out get reduced each month, or is the amount fixed? More facts are needed to properly respond. The paperwork is easy (Deed and Wills) once all the facts and agreements have been resolved. If you need assistance or more information, contact me directly.

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Answered on 7/21/08, 3:04 pm


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