Question by cherrykiss_x: I need some legal/ mortgage advice! please.?
my wife died about 6 years ago and our house was in her name, but she didn’t leave a will. We have 2 kids, both of whom are under 18. So we were appointed a guardian ad litem. 1/3 of the house will go to each of my kids when i sell it, but the guardian ad litem won’t let me sell it until they are 18. My younger one is still only 16, but my oldest is turning 18 this month so I will be losing her social security and there is no way I can afford our mortgage w/o that. I’ve been through some steps none of them have helped. All I want to do is sell the house or even be able to refinance to get my payments down. He will not allow me to do either b/c the house is still in my late wife’s name. Please give me some advice, I don’t have long until my daughter turns 18 and the last thing I want is to lose my house. If you have any experience in this and have a solution please let me know. or email me at broll@yahoo.com . thanks
Best answer:
Answer by VolunteerJim
Did you and your wife buy the house together or did she own if before you were married?
Are the 2 children your natural children or are you a steparent?
I don’t understand why you have a guardian appointed for your children, step or otherwise; can you shed some light on that.
If your oldest daughter is still in school she can get social security benefits until she is 19 or disabled. You may need to approach an attorney to bring this to court since you will no longer have the funds to make the mortgage payments. A refi loan with cash out would be the ideal situation if you could borrow against the house. The executor of the estate could sell the house and divide the proceeds in most states. The home ownership is now probably listed as, Estate of …….
The bank or attorney who is the guardian is not acting as a fiduciary in your children’s interest if the house is foreclosed. Do they realize how serious this loss of income means to your family?
I am sorry you did not become the guardian ad litem and did not have to deal with this. This is unusual unless they are your step children. I hope you have a will and life insurance to protect your family’s interests in the future.
talk to your lawyer. You can open a trust (not a bank trust account, but a legal and managed trust–it is similar to a corporation) and sell the house and put the proceeds from the sale into the trust.
As each child turns 18, their share of the trust will be made available and you need not worry about who what and when or a will……..the trust takes care of this for you so the property does not go through probate or foreclosure.
With a trust, your income and taxes won’t be effected, but your children will need to pay taxes on the proceeds upon withdrawal
You need a GOOD lawyer that will work with you……..
For all your mortgage questions
Try
http://www.platinumquestmortgage.com
or
http://www.mortgagerefinancingatlowrate.blogspot.com