My mother passed in December 14, 2014 she put the deed under my name but the mortgage was not notified. I've been paying on time but I'm not sure if I have to be paying it since she passed.. and when I call and make the payment I give her information ...
When I bought my house, since I had real estate experience with one of the top large law firms in Michigan, I of course treated my purchase as I would a clien't. So I compared the legal description in the title work to that in the listing and found a discrepancy in the legal description of the property. The listing and purchase agreement indicated a property almost twice the size of that described in the title work.
I queried my realtor but could tell she didn't understand the issue, nor did she feel I was right in my assessment. It was her opinion that there was no discrepancy.
So I mathematically sketched the two different properties from the legal description. I was right - there were 2 different sized properties.
I finally had to threaten not to close until the issue was resolved; then my realtor got busy and contacted the seller's attorney. I don't even remember now why I chose her, but that was not a good choice.
I was right - the owners had taken title via 1 separate deeds, one for the latter part of a long narrow lot. The wife said she hadn't even thought to mention the second deed to their realtor when the property was listed.
Had I allowed the realtor to prevail, I would have ended up with the frontal part of a property, the former owners would still have owned the back part, but couldn't access it to even maintain it.
Realtors have their specialties with a little knowledge of ancillary areas, but they aren't qualified to opine on legal issues.
If by "put the deed under [your] name" you mean (a) she executed either a warranty or quit claim deed to you, (b) if it was properly executed and recorded, (c) if you're now the title holder, and (d) if there was no will or trust or any provision made for selling and distributing the proceeds to any siblings or other heirs...well, then it would seem the house is yours.
However, there's likely a clause in the mortgage providing that an unauthorized transfer of title is an event of default. It was standard in commercial mortgages when I was in that field.
I think technically that you are not responsible because you didn't assume the liabilities under the mortgage, so you're not an assignee under the mortgage. That's just the legal issue as I understand it.
But as fee or title holder, you're responsible for the house.
If you don't pay the mortgage, it will go into default and be foreclosed.
Your question asks if you "can" pay on the mortgage - yes, you can. But there are other issues to be addressed as well.
And I am sorry for your loss - it must be especially hard to try to deal with the house and mortgage issues after losing your mother so recently.
If you stop paying the mortgage, the bank will repossess the home.
Talk to an attorney.
"If the deceased parent is married, the surviving spouse is typically responsible for satisfying the mortgage. When there is no spouse, the children are usually the next in line to inherit any assets. A parent can assign the property to a child in a will, entitling him to any equity in the home. Under federal law, the mortgage is allowed to remain in effect when passing to a beneficiary upon death. This means the beneficiary can continue making the mortgage payments until the loan is repaid. The child inheriting the home can also choose to sell the home and pay off the mortgage if she cannot afford to continue paying the house payment." [source: finance.zacks]
(Hanging head with red face in shame...)
It could in fact be that the law was enacted after I worked in commercial real estate.
It could also be that attorneys specifically didn't include that provision because the mortgagees may not have wanted to give an heirs an opportunity to assume a loan at the same rate.
And perhaps more importantly, an heir who assumed a mortgage wouldn't have gone through the same financial scrutiny to which the original mortgagor was subject. The new heir might not be someone to whom a mortgagee may otherwise grant a mortgage.
It's an interesting subject to explore. The statutes used to provide background on amendments, so that would help clarify when this provision was enacted. But it would involve more than a little research, especially since from what I've seen, on line legal research is somewhat different in that it appears the statutes are updated as amendments are made, whereas before that practice we had to research a statute then check the periodic inserts and updates for any changes.
1. In whose name was any tax benefit taken on the interest part of the mortgage payments taken while your mom was alive?
2. With the mortgage payments set up in agreement with her, can you claim such tax benefits now that she is due without the mortgage as well as the deed having your name on it?
OR did mom die intestate?
It's good that you have paid, as would have gone to foreclosure by now. But if you are not heir, you need to do stuff to be reinburse for all the payments made on anything on the house.
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