Help me think out the pros and cons of a quite claim deed.
In 2003, my mother purchased a house for my brother to live in to the tune of $30K cash. The house is in her name. He has never worked or in any supported himself and she has made all significant repairs and pays most utilities. He has let the house deteriorate and I estimate it now has a value of $15-25K.
In 2006, mom changed her will to leave him the house plus 1/4 of the remaining estate (there are four of us kids)
I am about to notify him that Mom can't keep paying his utilities nor provide him with any other money.
He has always had an air of entitlement - thinking that Mom needs to make the house livable since she owns it. mom has always had a feeling of obligation to take care of him. (she put a $8,000 roof on in 2014 and about $15K in windows a few years ago)
I am considering executing a Quit Claim Deed over to him.
Pros: He would now be responsible for property taxes, utilities and repairs and he is going to end up with the house anyway so what the heck.
Cons: Although I don't think Mom will outlive her money and end up on Medicare, the possibility does exist. I would never get the money back from the brother so either I would have to provide for my mother or seek out a comfy park bench for her.
Also, another brother is shacking up there for now. Eldest can't do anything about it because it is Mom's house but if he owns it, he could kick other brother out.
Please chime in.
2 Answers
Popular Questions
- I'm afraid my sister is trying to steal all of my mom’s money by being on joint accounts with her. What can I do to protect my mom?
- What is the reasonable amount for a child to receive as payment for caring for their elderly parent?
- How to tell my sister that I should be paid or get more than 1/2 of the inheritance for taking care of mom?
One never knows if later down the road Mom might need Medicaid and that Quit Claim deed will play havoc. That was one worry I had with my Dad, I knew he had saved big time for those "rainy days" so he had a lot of rainy days he could use. But what if he lived to be 105?
Oh why does getting old have to be so complicated not only for the elder, but for the adult child caregiver?.... [sigh].
I mention all this 'cause I'd be concerned that bro may have done things that have placed clouds on the property. Maybe he has said that he owns it and borrowed against it. Or had mom put it up as collateral. Yeah I think mom should sell to him but I'd do a couple of things as a CYA as DPOA on all this.
Here's my suggestions:
- get the house appraised. Maybe $ 200 - 300. So IF mom should run out of money before 2022, you have a documented figure of property value. Really you don't want it to come in at 45K Dec, 2021 when mom applies for Medicaid. 5 years is a long time, stuff changes. Also gives a hard figure if siblings or better yet their spouses gripe years from now.
- he buys it for "$ 75". Other siblings pay $25 to make this happen. So everybody in & ok on "sale".
- have a title search done. And have title company do all the work, transfer & recording on "sale". They will have real estate attys they work with. Plus everything all done by a 3rd party. I'd bet under $ 500 to do all. If no clouds, then QCD or better yet do it as a Warranty Deed. WD just keeps bro from having to come to mom years from now complaining that he has to get Quiet Title Action to get past the QCD that she did for him to now to sell the house.
Also remember that mom only should pay for her share of her lower property taxes from January to the date of the sale.
Hope you can get house off your plate soon!