My mom and stepdad set up a living trust with my brother and I being the beneficiaries. They included a couple of lots that they acquired jointly (property that joins the house) and the house that was deeded solely in my mom’s name (from her marriage with my dad). The trust gave permission for my stepdad to live in the house until his death, but he was never on the deed nor was it intended for him to have the house, only the ability to live there until his passing. He ended up in a nursing home and Medicaid recovery is coming after all of the property in the trust including the home. Do they have access to the house even if he was never on the deed, but the house is included in the life estate?
This is not a DIY project. But your having an understanding on what’s what helps….. so:
What precisely is the current ownership?
Do you have hard copy of all ALL the chain of filings on all 3 properties since before mom married him to now?
Were properties moved to a single parcel OR just “companionized”?
What was late mom’s husbands position for how all the paperwork reads? Like is he a remainderman? or he is beneficiary of a usufruct?
That “trust”, was it irrevocable? or revocable? “living trusts” - I think - are usually done as revocable. Huge difference as Revocable - in my understanding- do not protect from recovery as irrevocable does.
or…
Was this actually a “life estate” that she was the sole grantor of and you & bro were / are the remainderman and he has a usufruct? Or is he also a remainderman?
If you have kinda no idea on the answers on the above, or unfamiliar with the words / terms, you & bro. have to have all the property documents reviewed by an attorney, so a clear understanding of the situation. ASAP. None of this a DIY. To me, the issue will be that you will likely need more than 1 attorney. The Estate Planning attorney who did the trust is who you should contact first as a solid firm will have atty who deal with the post death assets process. And realize that they may bring in a Real Estate attorney who can unspool what’s needed to determine remainderman share (can have tax implications) or heirs responsibilities to the usafructs occupancy of property.
Out of curiosity, on annual tax bill, is it 1 bill or 2? Or 3? And how exactly does the bill(s) read?
It is important when setting up these Trusts where the spouse can live in the home for a lifetime that it is set up so they get all assets, rentals, whatever from the home if they must be placed in care. So that the home is theirs until DEATH, not just until they leave it. In the case of reverse mortgages everything ends when you leave the home, even to a nursing home. That's what often causes great problems.
This is dependent now on EXACTLY how that trust is worded. And this is not Do-It-Yourself. None of these things are in these times, when there are large amounts of assets at stake.
Whomever is the Trustee of this Trust now takes it to an attorney and that attorney manages it with the Trustee. Expensive? Sure. But also can save the day. AND the home.