Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Ohio
wills and joint property
My father died recently leaving a very simple will leaving everything to my mother. All assets were jointly owned. She has been to a probate lawyer who has told her that she will need to come back to his office several times, that the house (no mortgage) will need to be appraised, all of her 5 children need to sign affidavits and this will all take around 90 days. Is all of that really necessary? With few assets, a will and a living beneficiary, I assumed the process would be much simpler. Thank you so much in advance for any guidance in this matter.
4 Answers from Attorneys
Re: wills and joint property
What state are the assets located in. Most likely the property is titled in deed that is NOT a Surivorship deed, thus even though they were husband and wife, they owned the property as Tenants in Common. Therefore, this will require the appraisal, etc. This is but one of many key reasons people should ensure their estate affairs are in order. Prior to death, this could have been inexpensively taken care of with a Quit Claim Deed.
Re: wills and joint property
Your mother's circumstance, if it's the way you describe, is simpler than this. It depends on how whether the house is titled in survivorship or joint ownership.
Re: wills and joint property
Sorry to hear about your father..
The best I can answer is: perhaps it is, perhaps it isnt? If when you say "jointly held" you mean both your father and mother were named on bank, brokerage and other accounts - those would turn over to your mother by operation of law. Thus, they would avoid the probate process.
As for the house, if it is owned as tenants in common, the house would operate to transfer in the same manner as the bank accounts. Can i assume that perhaps your father was the only one on the deed? You can find this out very easily by finding the most recent property tax bill.
Not counting joint accounts and perhaps the house, how much in assets are left? Was the will valid? Apologies for all the questions, there are few moving parts here and I want to be sure.
Please feel free to email me for further insight. [email protected]
Re: wills and joint property
This sounds a little bit off, I would consult another attorney before submitting yourself to this type of procedure. Does the will provide for an executor of the estate?
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