Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Nebraska

Filing a deed after a death

A man left a will specifing that all of his real estate and personal property was to be divided between 2 of his sisters. Within 16 hours of his death, a nephew filed a deed dated 21 years earlier. The man had been talking with another his niece regarding her purchase of the farm. In addition he had someone else farming the land. A will was found in the safety deposit box, dated 16 years ago, after the deed was written. Does the will found 16 years ago take precedence over the deed? Many relatives of the man and many in the small community knew how he felt about the nephew and would attest to how he felt about him and did not hav anything to do with the nephew, and the nephew and his family had no contact with the man.

Question: is it legal to file a deed immediately after death?


Asked on 6/30/09, 2:01 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Monte Schatz Attorney at law

Re: Filing a deed after a death

You will need to seek legal counsel.

I assume it is the decedent who was the sole part deeding the property. If that is the case a strong argument could be made that at the moment of death the only person who would have authority to file the deed would be the personal representative/administrator of the uncle's estate. That property could only be deeded per the terms of the will.

This will be disputed, but without researching the law further there is a strong basis to argue that the transfer of the real estate by the nephew filing the deed is invalid.

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Answered on 6/30/09, 9:49 am


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