Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New York
My mother died when I was an infant. I am an only child. My father died some time ago and named me as the joint tenant on the deed of the house. Before my father died, however, he got married to a woman who is mentally ill (schizophrenic). She is often hostile and combative and I have learned that the best way to maintain any peace is to have as little as possible to do with her. This is most often fine because she is very anti-social and doesn't want anything to do with anyone. The problem is that my father put on the deed that she could live in the house for "the remainder of her natural life." My father's intentions, as he put them to me were: that she would either kill herself or be put into an institution after he died and that I would be free to either live in the house (the one I grew up in) or sell it and buy a house wherever I wanted. Well, she hasn't killed herself, and she remains just functional enough to avoid institutionalization. I would like to either sell the house or at least get some rent from it (it is a 2 family house and she collects rent from the other family). My question is: Do I have any rights to sell the house or to be able to charge rent for it? This house is located in New York State. It was paid off long ago when my father was still alive. As joint tenant, do I have any other rights that might inform me of other options or ideas? Thank you for any help in this matter.
2 Answers from Attorneys
I would need to examine the deed in order to give you a complete answer.
If your father granted your stepmother a life estate, your interest is that of a remainderman and would only come into being upon your stepmother's death.
In examining this response, please note that we are not entering into an attorney/client relationship, that this is to be taken as informative, and not as legal advice, that it is always best to speak to a lawyer in your area and/or in the area where the transaction and/or events occurred, and that my answer is necessarily limited by the fact that I have not seen the documentation or had an opportunity to go over the matters with you in detail.
I agree with Arnold that a review of the Will and Deed is necessary for a complete response. If all your step-mother has is a life estate, she has the right to live there. Collection of the rents is a separate issue as the life tenant may not have the right to collect them, but this might have been covered by the Deed or the Will. There may also be issues of payment of the bills for the property, like taxes, insurance, rep[airs and maintenance, etc. More information is needed. This is a response to an Internet question, and the response is not intended to be legal advice or as creating an attorney-client relationship.
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