Missouri property inheritance question.

March 21, 2015 3:58 PM

My mother and her sister each inherited 50% of their childhood home when their parents died. Both sisters are divorced, so there are no spouses. If either sister dies intestate, who inherits their half? Is it the surviving sister or the descendants (in this case children) of the departed sister?

My sister and I are trying to get this loose end tied up before anybody dies. Ideally they would just sell it and split the money while they both live.

posted by jeffamaphone to Law & Government (10 answers total)

You need to talk to a lawyer, because it varies state to state --- and heck yes they both need to get wills ASAP.

Their wills both need to specify who gets their share, and if the survivor has first right of purchase if the other one's heirs (if thats not the survivor) want to sell. They also need a formal plan in case either of them want to dump the house now: does the other one get first right of purchase; and who decides what that half interest is worth?
posted by easily confused at 4:27 PM on March 21, 2015

It depends on jurisdiction, but generally speaking the children would take via intestacy; by and large, siblings only inherit when there are no direct descendants, no surviving spouse, and no surviving parents. The fact that they co-inherited the house and co-own it would not generally be taken into consideration by intestacy laws, unless there was something specified in the will under which they originally inherited the property.
But as easily confused says, a lawyer is needed here because situations like this have the potential to go very bad very fast. You need someone who is well-versed in the laws of the jurisdiction and how they play out in court.
posted by katemonster at 4:35 PM on March 21, 2015

Both sisters are divorced, so there are no spouses. If either sister dies intestate, who inherits their half?

Varies state to state. Also depends how they hold the house. There are two major ways: tenants in common and joint tenancy. In joint tenancy your share passes to the other owner(s) if you die. In tenants in common, you can deed your share to someone else abd that makes it more complicated.
posted by jessamyn at 4:35 PM on March 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Asking specifically about Missouri.

The need for wills is obvious; I'm asking what happens if there is no will so I can explain why wills are needed.

Unfortunately I don't know much at all about how the house is currently held, or what the original will from their parents looked like. I seriously doubt anyone has an actual title or a formal agreement.

Thanks all.
posted by jeffamaphone at 5:24 PM on March 21, 2015

If they are going to sell it, they'll need to track down the title. It sounds like you have a number of issues that need to be wrapped up.

I'm asking what happens if there is no will so I can explain why wills are needed.

Here is a page on the Nolo.com website talking about intestate succession in Missouri. If a person dies with children but no spouse, generally the children inherit. However, without knowing how the house is currently owned, you can't answer any other questions about what will happen to it because the two types of ownership will determine inheritance. It's also possibly (though unlikely) that there are terms in the divorce that come in to play on this.

The original (grandparents') will is a public document that can be tracked down in the county (I think) where your last grandparent died. The title to the house is likewise a public document and can be obtained from the county recorder of deeds in the county where the house is for a small fee. Here's the Jackson County MO Recorder of Deeds page, as an example.

There are probably easier ways to convince people to make a will, but having these two pieces of information will allow you to actually answer the question you asked.
posted by jessamyn at 5:46 PM on March 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

Estate planning can help make sure that there aren't financial surprises, avoidable taxes, etc. An elder law attorney can likely help explain why wills, tax planning, and other related documents are helpful. An attorney may also be able to conduct a title search to help clarify the current ownership of the property.

General information about how to find an attorney (including links to state-specific resources) is available at the MeFi wiki Get a Lawyer page. There may be free or low-cost elder law resources available in your community.
posted by Little Dawn at 5:50 PM on March 21, 2015

If the home is in fact jointly owned, as in joint title, in Missouri then full ownership passes to the the surviving owner automatically, no will required.
posted by Zedcaster at 5:51 PM on March 21, 2015

Helpful website
posted by Zedcaster at 5:52 PM on March 21, 2015

As others have said, it depends on how the house was left them. Generally, for non-spouses the default is tenancy in common unless it was left expressly as a joint tenancy. Interests in a tenancy in common can be devised and bequeathed to heirs, joint tenancy passes automatically to the survivor. That's quite a difference, so I'd think the prospect of accidental disinheritance would be reason enough for more investigation. If it is joint tenancy, a will won't help. The joint tenancy would have to be severed and converted to tenancy in common.
posted by jpe at 7:29 PM on March 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

Nthing the advice to speak with a Missouri lawyer. This sort of thing is worth getting right up front, it's a headache to sort it out later if done improperly. (My family is just finishing up a two year long non-probate administration of my grandma's estate that was made much more complicated than intended by conveyancing mistakes that were made decades ago during trust setup.)
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:50 AM on March 22, 2015