That Piece of Land

Imagine this: someone comes into my office and explains to me that their mom has recently passed away, but everything should be easy because mom had everything taken care of…but before long everything has turned into a mess. Why? Because mom relied on a “do it yourself” Last Will and Testament. To illustrate how this can actually play out, let me introduce you to Emma.

Emma walked into my office one day and told me that her father, Bill, had passed away. Prior to his passing, Bill told Emma that she was to get a certain piece of land upon his passing. Emma then places her father’s Last Will and Testament on my desk and says, “See, it says I’m supposed to get it right here. But, my step-mom won’t give it to me and she’s using it for herself. Can you please help me get it?”

So, at this point, if you are like Emma, you believe that Sally, Emma’s step-mom, is illegally holding onto the land, and that Emma is legally entitled to it. Unfortunately, that assumption is wrong.

When Bill, wrote the Will I’m sure that he thought he was doing all he needed to do to make sure that his daughter got this piece of land. He truly wanted Emma to get this piece of land and he thought that he was taking care of it by stating in the Last Will and Testament he printed from the internet that Emma was to get that piece of land. However, Bill made an unfortunate but common mistake. He failed to take into consideration what he legally had the right to transfer to someone else.

The land in question was owned by Bill and Sally, the step-mom, as Joint Tenants. That means that Bill and Sally both equally owned the whole of the land. Thus, when Bill died, whatever Bill and Sally equally owned, now Sally owned as the single owner of the whole of the land. This type of legal ownership trumps whatever Bill’s Will says. Title to the whole of the property automatically vested in Sally at Bill’s death. Therefore, there is no land for Bill to pass to his daughter through his Will.

This is unfortunately exactly what I had to tell Emma. That it did not matter what her Father’s Will said, that she has no legal redress, and that she is not legally entitled to any of the land. Sally can do whatever she wants with the land because she owns it and her Father’s Will has absolutely no effect on this.

Emma’s situation is not a unique one. In fact, it is very common. Do your family a favor and spend the time and money necessary to make sure that they don’t end up in a situation similar to Emma’s.