I have a real estate question, and I don’t know where to get the answer except from my FRiends here.
A friend of mine locally lost his mother in December, and the house was to go to the three sons. However, no will has been found, but the daughter of one of the sons wants the youngest, my friend, to sign a piece of paper that says she is his representative, since the house is in MA and he is in Nevada.
The question is this: If he gives her permission to be his representative, is this the same as Power of Attorney? The house is worth $240,000, with a mortgage of $79,000. The other two sons want to sell the house. The niece is not to be trusted, and the son here thinks she wants to be his representative so she can get his share.
Does he need an attorney? Is she really asking for Power of Attorney? (Do I make any sense?)
Without a Will, everything has to be done by agreement among the natural heirs (sons). Assuming they’re in agreement that the house should be sold, there will be a Realtor and probably an attorney involved at the location of the sale. Contact with the son in NV can be done by phone, email, Skype, Fax, etc.; it’s not as if they’d have to negotiate by U.S. Mail! I see no need for him to have a designated representative - “attorney-in-fact” - in MA, especially an interested party. He should communicate verbally and in writing with his brothers (a paper trail is always best), and sign documents only for the executor, Realtor, and/or closing agent. All these parties are government by state regulation and are bonded.
We have an attorney on the NC Forum. With permission, I’ll copy your question and see what he says.
Largely depends on the state...
She would have to have a documented power of attorney to do anything anyway. But is that something he wants to really do?
When people die intestate there are already laws in place as to how by law the estate gets distributed.
It is also quite common to see all the bank accounts frozen.
You can look up in the state how the estate would be broken down, it is not a mystery.
Yes, he needs an attorney. Please tell him to engage one if he hasn’t already. There are way too many ways for him to be burned if the estste isn’t handled properly.
As a side note, this is why people need to have a will-—to minimize this kind of family drama.