Husband sadly died and his daughters might want to take ownership of the house we both bought

[Jairo Martinez]

Jurisdiction

Florida

Hello and thanks for your help.

Let me give some context.

I arrived at United States some years ago and married my beloved husband who already had two daughters in his previous marriage. We bought a house but since I was new in United States I did not have enough credit build up.

Having that into account we decided it was for the best, that we will buy the house under his name and I will pay from my money the 20% down payment. Since it is required for the loan company to make sure the money has being given as a gift, I signed a document stating that I was giving the money to my husband as a gift.

Various years past and the majority of the mortgage monthly payments were paid by me and sadly my husband recently died of cancer.

My concern is that now, it seems their daughters will own have of the property and since I am not part owner on paper, they will be able to have half of the house.

I don't much source of income, nowhere else to live. This house is everything I have and was counting on renting the extra rooms to maintain the house. In other words, the idea was to make the house a source of income while living there and working part time jobs.

Is there a way to get full ownership of the house considering I paid the downpayment and most of monthly payments, even though I signed a document signing the money was a gift?

I know looks bad thinking on this while my beloved husband just died, but I don't want the stress of not having nowhere to live.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[adjusterjack]

Condolences on the recent death of your husband.

Did your husband leave a will?

I'm guessing not, or you would have said so.

That means he died intestate. And you're right, the daughters inherit half the estate and you inherit half the estate.

They don't "own" anything yet. The estate has to be probated.

As surviving spouse you are a likely candidate to become appointed representative of the estate by the probate court.

I suggest you get that done ASAP. Here's a link to the Probate Court's self help page.

Probate - Florida Courts Help (flcourts.org)

Meantime, stay put. Nobody except a judge can make you leave the house. Even if that's destined to happen, it would be many, many months.

I suggest you consult an attorney. But if you don't have the money, you'll have to figure this out by yourself.

Oh, if you have joint bank accounts with your late husband, the money is yours. Clean them out and open accounts in your own name.

How about a car, or cars? Where they in his name too? Or both your names. If you owned them jointly they are yours. Get to the DMV and have the titles transferred into your name.

Go through all of your late husband's paperwork. Look for life insurance policies, IRA's, 401(k) plans, anything where you might be listed as a beneficiary. If you find anything like that, it's yours, no probate.

Contact your local social security office and see if there are any benefits available to you based on his work history. See:

If You Are The Survivor | SSA

The best advice I can give you is don't wait for something to happen, make it happen while you have some control over things.

 

[zddoodah]

I don't much source of income

Then how is it that you were able to pay the 20% down payment and "the majority of the mortgage monthly payments"?

My concern is that now, it seems their daughters will own have of the property and since I am not part owner on paper, they will be able to have half of the house.

Did your husband have a will or a trust? If so, what does the will/trust say about the disposition of this house?

This house is everything I have and was counting on renting the extra rooms to maintain the house. In other words, the idea was to make the house a source of income while living there and working part time jobs.

Nothing much to say about this except that, if this was, in fact, the plan, something should have been done to make sure it would be possible to execute the plan.

Is there a way to get full ownership of the house considering I paid the downpayment and most of monthly payments, even though I signed a document signing the money was a gift?

I'm sure you didn't intend it this way, but you're basically asking if there's a way to commit fraud.

I don't want the stress of not having nowhere to live.

As soon as possible make an appointment with a local probate attorney. Worst case scenario is that the house will have to be sold, with the net value of the estate being divided between you (50%) and your husband's children (50%).