MY DAD IS IN A COVID COMA, CAN WE SELL HIS HOUSE?
MY DAD IS IN A COVID COMA, CAN WE SELL HIS HOUSE?
A close friend and real estate attorney called today to ask me this question. Her clients, the adult children, called to ask if they could sell their father’s house while he was in a coma due to complications from the Covid virus. Their father is married and lives in the house with his wife, who is not their mother. The short answer is no, the house cannot be sold by the adult kids, nor the wife.
WHAT SHOULD WE DO NOW? WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS?
Sadly, now they are all better off waiting than taking any action. The situation is more difficult because the adult children and their father’s wife are not in agreement. Because the father has no health care documents, no power of attorney, no last will and testament, and no revocable trust, and no documentation of his wishes, his choices are unknown. Hopefully, their father will come out of the coma and be okay. If the father dies, the adult kids and the wife will have to come together to hire an attorney and go to probate court in Miami-Dade County to initiate a probate action and because there is no prior estate planning, the intestacy statute will prevail.
HOW COULD WE HAVE PREVENTED THIS MESS?
Probate can be prevented by doing a proper estate plan with a revocable trust and properly funding that trust with the house and the father’s other assets held in his name alone. In the alternative, a joint deed could be done. Any planning would be better than this mess.
WHY SHOULD YOU USE ALLY M. GLASER, PA TO HANDLE YOUR WILLS AND TRUSTS, ESTATE PLANNING IN MIAMI BEACH AND MIAMI-DADE AND BROWARD PROBATE MATTERS?As a Miami Beach Estate Planning, Wills and Trusts and Probate Attorney in Miami Beach with over twenty-five years of experience and both a Psychology and Law degree, I handle these matters with care and sensitivity. I am familiar and comfortable with both the Broward County and Miami-Dade probate court system and know how to get things done. Call or email me today to discuss your Estate Planning, Wills and Trusts and Broward or Miami-Dade County Probate matters. I am happy to help you and your loved ones