Legal Question in Family Law in Texas

Our parents' will did not leave their home to anyone so it was a family home divided in a sense by 6 siblings. However, oldest sibling asked to use the home to get a loan for an emergency. The 5 siblings signed the house to the one sibling with an oral agreement that the house would return to all siblings once loan was paid. Loan has been paid however the oldest sibling does not want to return the house to all names. The property is listed as oldest sibling name /5 (LE). Only 2 of the (LE) are contesting the issue, what legal grounds do these two have concerning the property


Asked on 10/20/11, 1:34 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Thomas Daley KoonsFuller PC

An oral agreement of this nature was just a horrible mistake.

An oral agreement concerning title to real estate is not enforceable under the Texas Statute of Frauds. And even if it was enforceable, it's nearly impossible to prove. I guess you would argue that the siblings had no reason to sign over their interest in the land without some form of consideration UNLESS they believed they were going to get it back.

If there's no chance to get title restored, maybe the other siblings can sue under an equitable theory and force the oldest sibling to pay them each 1/6 of the value of the land. They wouldn't get any land, but they could collect money.

Good luck and watch out for dishonest siblings.

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Answered on 10/23/11, 8:29 pm


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