Legalities hold site captive (Scott Peterson cannot sell Laci's home)

modbee ^ | 11-20-04

[LouAvul]

It was where she planned to start a family, and where prosecutors say he killed her.

And now that a jury has convicted Scott Peterson of murdering his pregnant wife and unborn son, questions swirl around what will become of the couple's Covena Avenue home in Modesto.

Once the site of media stakeouts, 24-hour police surveillance and impromptu shrines for Laci Peterson and the son the couple planned to name Conner, the house now lies at the heart of a legal morass involving criminal convictions, lawsuits and a loan.

The single-story 1,770-square-foot home in the La Loma neighborhood was the joint property of two people once described as the perfect couple.

It normally would have gone to Scott Peterson after his wife's death. But under the state law, someone who murders a co-owner "has no rights by survivorship."

Following his murder convictions, Peterson retains his stake in the home, but his wife's half transfers to her mother, Sharon Rocha, attorneys specializing in probate and real estate law said. Last year, a judge appointed her administrator of Laci Peterson's estate.

[wizardoz]

About twenty seconds later, a little white Bible that stood in the bookcase came shooting straight out and landed on the floor about eighteen inches away. It didn't drop out. It literally leaped out, as if someone had tied a string to it, and given the string a yank.

And by about twenty seconds after that, I'd be in the next county.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

And by about twenty seconds after that, I'd be in the next county.

I immediately crawled into bed with my wife. However, I don't think I had anything to fear from that particular ghost--supposing he was my old school friend. We always got along fairly well. He got in with a bad crowd after high school, which led to his death, so perhaps he was trying to tell me something!

[SunnySide]

I like my houses boring, personally. Quiet. Boring. No gruesome history. No weird noises or smells. No one driving by and pointing

---

amen, life is filled with enough horror stories.

[El Gran Salseron]

He retains his stake in the house but has no survivorship rights, i.e. he doesn't inherit his deceased wife's half.

[twinzmommy]

Hehheh sure is :) Mine are 9. . girls. . .fraternal :)

[libstripper]

Simple. Scott and Lacy started out with equal, undivided interests in the house. If Scott had not murdered Lacy and she'd died in childbirth, her undivided half interest would have passed to him and he'd have title to the entire house, subject to any encumbrances (mortgages, etc.) that had been put on the house. Since he murdered her, the law prohibits him from receiving that undivided half interest and it passes to her heirs, in this case, her parents.