Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Virginia
Property Rights
My mother owned and lived with my sister in a home for 10 years when she remarried. They were married for 1 year when she passed away suddenly. He lived in the house for a short while and now his sister is living in it. When my sister and her husband needed a place to stay, they asked if they could rent the basement for a month or two. They were told ''no''. Now he has met another women and plans to put my mom's house on the market in a few days. The only will my mother had was from many years before, when my father was alive, and before she had bought the house. Do my sisters and I have any legal rights to this property? This is in Virginia.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Property Rights
It depends on how the home was titled. If your mother and her husband held the property in survivorship form (tenants by the entireties or joint tenants with right of survivorship)the property belongs to him by operation of law upon her death. He does not need any disignation in her will or otherwise. If they owned as tenants in common, he cannot sell the property without court approval, since one half of it would be in your mother's estate. The earlier will is probably still valid, though your step father would have the right to take a portion of her estate outside the will. Even if the earlier will is not valid, you and your sister have certain rights to your mother's estate. All those questions need to be addressed by an attorney.
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