Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in North Carolina

Since the house is mobile, is it attached to the land or does it still have a certificate of title? You indicate that your son owns the land so I am guessing that you just have a certificate of title for the mobile home. Mobile homes are treated like cars in that they have a certificate of title. When the mobile home gets attached to the land, the certificate of title is cancelled and the home can then be treated like a regular home and is on the deed. If you had a deed, then you could simply deed the home and land to you and your son reserving a life estate in the home to yourself. The problem here is that there is no deed and people do not have life estates in mobile homes/cars that are not attached to land. If you wanted to sign the mobile home over to him you would sign over the certificate of title but there is no way to retain a life estate in it. Possibly you could do some other kind of document with it - maybe a will or something else, like a lease agreement so that your son cannot kick you out. I don't know - I have never seen a life estate in personal property like this.

If I were you, I would have you and your husband make a will. I would not sign the title to the mobile home over to your son because once you do, its gone and if your son decides to kick you out he can. If you do sign the title over, I would make a lease with your son (do everything together) and state in the lease that you have the right to stay in the home for the remaining years of your life rent free as long as you pay for the maintenance and upkeep or something like that.

How old are you and your husband? Are either of you going to need to be in a nursing home in the next 5 years? You do not want to just give the mobile home to your son if so because this might disqualify you from getting Medicaid to pay for the nursing home. Its just a possible concern. So if you are elderly, you might want to consult an estate planing lawyer who specializes in Medicaid planning just to make sure that you do not run afoul of any Medicaid rules.