Tenancy question in Minnesota
May 10, 2019 5:53 PM Subscribe
A neighbor lady's long-time boyfriend died. He told her the place was in both their names, there were insurance policies for her, etc. He seems to have lied. How soon can his heirs demand she leave?
These people lived together longer than we've been in our house, and we've been here thirty years. He had serious and finally terminal medical issues and she's really frazzled from caring for him. He "never wanted to get married" and always handled finances himself, but he said that the house and vehicles were "in both their names." However, apparently only the house and car insurance policies mentioned that, and the supposed "lots of life insurance" he was carrying: nothing. I'm hoping when she checks with the county clerk she'll find better news, but the absence of insurance policies makes me suspect he was just using her ... for forty years. Sigh.
So the immediate question is, does she have some kind of tenancy rights? She seems to think if the boyfriend's son says "get out," she has to do so immediately. The longer-term question is, can anyone recommend a way for her to get some free legal advice in Minnesota? I found several agencies but any advice would be welcome.
These people lived together longer than we've been in our house, and we've been here thirty years. He had serious and finally terminal medical issues and she's really frazzled from caring for him. He "never wanted to get married" and always handled finances himself, but he said that the house and vehicles were "in both their names." However, apparently only the house and car insurance policies mentioned that, and the supposed "lots of life insurance" he was carrying: nothing. I'm hoping when she checks with the county clerk she'll find better news, but the absence of insurance policies makes me suspect he was just using her ... for forty years. Sigh.
So the immediate question is, does she have some kind of tenancy rights? She seems to think if the boyfriend's son says "get out," she has to do so immediately. The longer-term question is, can anyone recommend a way for her to get some free legal advice in Minnesota? I found several agencies but any advice would be welcome.
She absolutely should consult some form of formal legal assistance.
posted by k8t at 6:08 PM on May 10, 2019
posted by k8t at 6:08 PM on May 10, 2019
Only the executor of the estate has the authority to act, and only after he or she has been properly named as such, and as DarlingBri notes, proper legal proceedings have to be started. She has some time to sort things out.
She needs to think of herself as a tenant, just like a rent-paying lessee.
A five-second Google search discloses:
Central Minnesota Legal Services
430 N 1st Ave #359 · (612) 332-8151
Legal Rights Center
1611 Park Ave, Minneapolis
(612) 337-0030
Legal Aid Society
(612) 334-5970
posted by megatherium at 7:04 PM on May 10, 2019
She needs to think of herself as a tenant, just like a rent-paying lessee.
A five-second Google search discloses:
Central Minnesota Legal Services
430 N 1st Ave #359 · (612) 332-8151
Legal Rights Center
1611 Park Ave, Minneapolis
(612) 337-0030
Legal Aid Society
(612) 334-5970
posted by megatherium at 7:04 PM on May 10, 2019
Best answer: The MeFi Wiki Get a Lawyer page includes links to free and low-cost legal resources, and the Minnesota State Bar Association offers an online lawyer referral service that includes the option to select free consultations and unbundled (low-cost) legal services.
A consultation with an attorney who has experience with estates (i.e. the rights of heirs) and/or an attorney who has experience with tenant rights in Minnesota could be helpful. This is a sympathetic, if not appalling story, so she may be able to find pro bono assistance from private attorneys who may offer their services for free due to the circumstances, if a Minnesota legal aid organization can't provide direct assistance.
Legal aid priorities vary across the country, but the imminent risk of homelessness of a vulnerable adult due to likely illegal bullying tactics seems like a case that legal aid organizations will at least review and possibly offer referrals to private attorneys who may be able to help, if legal aid cannot.
She maybe could also contact local services for seniors (e.g. MN Board on Aging), because based on your question, it sounds like she may qualify for assistance with advocacy and/or other resources. She could let support services know about her situation, due to the potential risks to her housing, health and safety, and see what kind of services may be available. I hope that it is only her anxiety and grief making her worry that her boyfriend's son could possibly be so cruel, but there may be a variety of services available to help support her during this difficult time, especially if she is bullied out of her home without notice by someone who may have no legal right to do so.
If she feels threatened by her boyfriend's son, she may also want to consult with a legal aid or family law attorney about options she may have for a protection order (which may include special protections for vulnerable adults), and temporary possession of the home.
There is no legal information on the internet that can serve as legal advice for what to do in this particular situation, but I hope she is able to find a local lawyer and community resources as quickly as possible.
posted by Little Dawn at 7:07 PM on May 10, 2019 [4 favorites]
A consultation with an attorney who has experience with estates (i.e. the rights of heirs) and/or an attorney who has experience with tenant rights in Minnesota could be helpful. This is a sympathetic, if not appalling story, so she may be able to find pro bono assistance from private attorneys who may offer their services for free due to the circumstances, if a Minnesota legal aid organization can't provide direct assistance.
Legal aid priorities vary across the country, but the imminent risk of homelessness of a vulnerable adult due to likely illegal bullying tactics seems like a case that legal aid organizations will at least review and possibly offer referrals to private attorneys who may be able to help, if legal aid cannot.
She maybe could also contact local services for seniors (e.g. MN Board on Aging), because based on your question, it sounds like she may qualify for assistance with advocacy and/or other resources. She could let support services know about her situation, due to the potential risks to her housing, health and safety, and see what kind of services may be available. I hope that it is only her anxiety and grief making her worry that her boyfriend's son could possibly be so cruel, but there may be a variety of services available to help support her during this difficult time, especially if she is bullied out of her home without notice by someone who may have no legal right to do so.
If she feels threatened by her boyfriend's son, she may also want to consult with a legal aid or family law attorney about options she may have for a protection order (which may include special protections for vulnerable adults), and temporary possession of the home.
There is no legal information on the internet that can serve as legal advice for what to do in this particular situation, but I hope she is able to find a local lawyer and community resources as quickly as possible.
posted by Little Dawn at 7:07 PM on May 10, 2019 [4 favorites]
Best answer: She needs to think of herself as a tenant, just like a rent-paying lessee.
It's dangerous to say this. She really needs to get Minnesota-specific legal assistance, because this is an area of the law that is extremely jurisdiction-specific (and her situation implicates family as well as real estate law), but just from my quick research I can see that Minnesota requires a payment (in money or services) to establish a tenancy. It is pretty questionable (though certainly not impossible; it's a question of case law, which is what a MN lawyer will know or be able to research) that she meets that definition. Otherwise, she's a guest.
If you're a guest in MN, you've got no right to be there any longer than you have permission from the owner to be. The cops can simply remove you at the request of the owner. Sometimes cops won't do that (this does seem like a case where they might be reluctant to get involved, but at the same time that also sounds like it would be an exceptionally unpleasant experience for an older woman to go through). Then the new owner could sue for trespass or ejectment, and that might delay her departure for a while, but where does the money come from? That would be not only lawyers' bills, but quite possibly some form of damages as well.
Even if she is a tenant, she's a tenant-at-will (no lease), and if she doesn't "pay rent" (and she can't, as her services are no longer wanted), the new owner only needs to give her fourteen days' notice. Even the maximum possible notice period for a tenant-at-will is three months.
This is just me doing quick research to get the lie of the land, which, again, I really want to emphasize, can in no way substitute for actual legal advice, especially with the family law wrinkles. However, on the most basic level, in any state, if the boyfriend's son has indeed inherited the home without encumbrances, then she will have no right to stay there for very long. This is the kind of case where a sympathetic judge might well drag things out in an eviction proceeding for a while, but ultimately she has no right to stay there. I think a good friend would, in addition to referring her to a local lawyer who can be more definitive and (hopefully!) more effective in advocacy than any non-MN lawyer would be, help her focus on planning next steps, because those steps are going to have to be taken, and relatively soon. A woman who would allow herself to be put in this kind of position is by definition naive and extremely poor at looking after her own interests, and she can probably use kind, competent assistance in every aspect of establishing a new life going forward. Given the likely expense, the sooner she can start planning for her housing situation, the better. It's very good of you to help her.
(One side note: she may well start getting calls from his creditors, trying to make it seem like she has a financial or ethical obligation to pay bills that are his alone. She doesn't. That all goes through the estate. She shouldn't pay any of his creditors a dime, though obviously she would be well-advised to pay for utilities as long as she's in the house.)
posted by praemunire at 8:16 PM on May 10, 2019 [8 favorites]
It's dangerous to say this. She really needs to get Minnesota-specific legal assistance, because this is an area of the law that is extremely jurisdiction-specific (and her situation implicates family as well as real estate law), but just from my quick research I can see that Minnesota requires a payment (in money or services) to establish a tenancy. It is pretty questionable (though certainly not impossible; it's a question of case law, which is what a MN lawyer will know or be able to research) that she meets that definition. Otherwise, she's a guest.
If you're a guest in MN, you've got no right to be there any longer than you have permission from the owner to be. The cops can simply remove you at the request of the owner. Sometimes cops won't do that (this does seem like a case where they might be reluctant to get involved, but at the same time that also sounds like it would be an exceptionally unpleasant experience for an older woman to go through). Then the new owner could sue for trespass or ejectment, and that might delay her departure for a while, but where does the money come from? That would be not only lawyers' bills, but quite possibly some form of damages as well.
Even if she is a tenant, she's a tenant-at-will (no lease), and if she doesn't "pay rent" (and she can't, as her services are no longer wanted), the new owner only needs to give her fourteen days' notice. Even the maximum possible notice period for a tenant-at-will is three months.
This is just me doing quick research to get the lie of the land, which, again, I really want to emphasize, can in no way substitute for actual legal advice, especially with the family law wrinkles. However, on the most basic level, in any state, if the boyfriend's son has indeed inherited the home without encumbrances, then she will have no right to stay there for very long. This is the kind of case where a sympathetic judge might well drag things out in an eviction proceeding for a while, but ultimately she has no right to stay there. I think a good friend would, in addition to referring her to a local lawyer who can be more definitive and (hopefully!) more effective in advocacy than any non-MN lawyer would be, help her focus on planning next steps, because those steps are going to have to be taken, and relatively soon. A woman who would allow herself to be put in this kind of position is by definition naive and extremely poor at looking after her own interests, and she can probably use kind, competent assistance in every aspect of establishing a new life going forward. Given the likely expense, the sooner she can start planning for her housing situation, the better. It's very good of you to help her.
(One side note: she may well start getting calls from his creditors, trying to make it seem like she has a financial or ethical obligation to pay bills that are his alone. She doesn't. That all goes through the estate. She shouldn't pay any of his creditors a dime, though obviously she would be well-advised to pay for utilities as long as she's in the house.)
posted by praemunire at 8:16 PM on May 10, 2019 [8 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks for all suggestions. I have a collection of places for her to call now, at least. That MN Bar Association page has ... issues. Turns out if you put in our zip code (second-ring northern suburb) and “50 mile radius” it returns one result if you get everything else right, but if you put in a smaller radius and “55111” (a Minneapolis zip) you get a page full. Luckily, bad web pages I do understand.
I wish she were relative so I could insist she take some action, but since she’s just a neighbor I’m afraid she’ll just fret until she’s carried away by the flood. Hopefully I’m not violating the no-back-and-forth but since someone asked, yes, the heirs are making “get out” noises. We’ve seen these people there twice over the years and they explicitly turned down the opportunity to see their father during his final illness, so I don’t think they are heavily infused with mammalian characteristics.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 8:20 AM on May 11, 2019 [2 favorites]
I wish she were relative so I could insist she take some action, but since she’s just a neighbor I’m afraid she’ll just fret until she’s carried away by the flood. Hopefully I’m not violating the no-back-and-forth but since someone asked, yes, the heirs are making “get out” noises. We’ve seen these people there twice over the years and they explicitly turned down the opportunity to see their father during his final illness, so I don’t think they are heavily infused with mammalian characteristics.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 8:20 AM on May 11, 2019 [2 favorites]
We’ve seen these people there twice over the years and they explicitly turned down the opportunity to see their father during his final illness, so I don’t think they are heavily infused with mammalian characteristics.
Everything else we know about this guy doesn't reflect at all well on his character, so I wouldn't necessarily make that assumption.
Having a lawyer will at least allow her to refer any of them who approach her to him, which should spare her a lot of anxiety. They're also less likely to be aggro talking to a lawyer than to an older woman.
posted by praemunire at 4:15 PM on May 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
Everything else we know about this guy doesn't reflect at all well on his character, so I wouldn't necessarily make that assumption.
Having a lawyer will at least allow her to refer any of them who approach her to him, which should spare her a lot of anxiety. They're also less likely to be aggro talking to a lawyer than to an older woman.
posted by praemunire at 4:15 PM on May 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by DarlingBri at 6:07 PM on May 10, 2019 [2 favorites]