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You are here: Experts > Real Estate > Real Estate by Location > Real Estate: Connecticut > Death and deeds.
Expert: Karen August - 11/2/2009
Question
I hope you can help me. This is about a situation in Rhode Island but there are no RI experts on the list.
I have a friend who died last month. He had a will but it was not witnessed. In the will he left a garage on a corner lot to another friend of mine. (Call him Pete)
The property is assessed at $50,000.
The deed for the property has two names on it. My friends wish was that the co-owner of the property turn it over to Pete. If the co-owner agrees to this,(Very probable) what step would co-owner need to take to get control of the property?
The family is selling everything in the garage, even stuff that did not belong to my friend who died. Most of the items they are selling belonged to Pete.
They want it empty so they can rent out the garages.
It's a tricky situation because Pete rents an apartment from the one doing all the selling. The landlord does not know that my friend left Pete a copy of the will. I have a bad feeling that things are going to get very ugly, very fast and I want to make sure that my friends wishes are carried out. (From a distance. I'm not getting in the middle of this!!)
Thanks so much for your time. I really hope you can help.
Answer
Dear Joe,
I am using CT law, it may differ for Rhode Island. How the property is conveyed to the co-owner depends how the title is held. If they held title on the deed as Joint Tenants then the property will pass outside of the will directly to the surviving owner. If the co-owner agrees to give the property to your friend, this could be accomplished easily with a quit claim deed.
If you friend has an interest in this property he should look up the deed at town hall and see how it is held. He should go to the probate court and address his concerns before his personal property is sold off. At the very least- raising this claim should halt anymore selling. In some states a verbal will can be considered, you can find this out at the probate court.
I hope this helps. The best place to start is the town clerks office. Look up the address, get the volume and page where the deed is recorded. Look it up and print out a copy.
Good luck!
Karen August
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