Legal Question in Real Estate Law in North Carolina
I was raised by my aunt and uncle. My uncle was the only dad I've ever known. They got divorced and in 1989 he bought a house and got married again. He paid for half of the house and his wife paid the other half. I put $2,000.00 in a CD account so they would not have to refinance the house. I was told that it would be my house and that a $20,000.00 life insurance policy would be mine. I don't know if a will was made and I don't know if anything was changed on the deed. After my uncle died in 2004 I found out that there was a new life insurance policy and it was in his wife's name. His wife told some lies about the insurance policy and I was probably lied to about the deed being lost and then found when my uncle didn't care to do anything about it. I stayed in the house for another year because I didn't have much money and I liked the location, being close to stores and possible jobs. In 2005 I was evicted from the house and when my stepmother died her daughters got the house. Their parents left them money,land and property and now they have what was supposed to be left for me. They were able to do this because I wasn't legally adopted. I don't know if the house has been sold or if they still have it. Can anything be done?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Doubtful after the lapse of this much time. Why didn't you do anything when your uncle died? You can't just sit on your hands for over 8 years and then one day decide that you are entitled to something.
First, you are not the biological child of your aunt and uncle. To be clear, your uncle needed to make a will. He didn't do that. I'm sorry, but that does not give you any rights to inherit anything.
Second, deeds cannot be "lost." They are recorded at the register of deeds so it would have been a simple matter for you or anyone else to go to the register of deeds in the county where the land was located and see how the property was titled. If the land was owned by your uncle and new wife as a tenancy by the entirety (as husband and wife) then the land automatically passed to the wife at the time of your uncle's death in 2004. You are not part of the equation and would have no rights to the land even if you were a biological child.
The daughters of your stepmother were entitled to inherit from their mother (your stepmother) as they were her biological children. Again, the remedy was for your uncle to have made a will.
NC is one of the few states that recognizes something called equitable adoption. Basically, it occurs or exists where parties intended to adopt but just never got around to finalizing the paperwork. I do not know if that existed here. Assuming that it did, it does not entitle you to a share of the home, as I explained, because the home would be a non-probate asset if it was jointly owned by your uncle and his wife. Nor would it entitle you to life insurance proceeds. Your uncle would have had to name you as the designated beneficiary of the proceeds and he did not do that either. If he named his wife, then that money would have gone to her outside of probate. So equitable adoption would only help you if (a) there was some kind of intent to actually adopt you; and (b) if so, it would only apply to any probate assets owned by your uncle at the time of his death. If neither of these circumstances exist, then there is nothing you can do.
To put your mind at ease, it would still be worthwhile to consult with a probate attorney to review what happened with the probate of your uncle's estate. If you cannot afford an attorney, estate files are a matter of public record. You can view it yourself. You can also view the deed to the property; if the land is in NC, most register of deeds are online. It should not be hard to put in the name of your uncle as grantee to see how the land was owned.
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
