Leaving kids house upon death and spouse is alive

[Anonymous]

Under what circumstances would you, if at all, agree to this? I know a couple who had a house, sold it, and bought a new one. The second house is in his name only but upon his death, the house goes to the kids with her having the right to live in it for as long as she wants to. He has not been married before and neither one have kids other than the three they share. When she told me she agreed to not owning the house after his death, I thought i would never agree to it. But maybe there's a circumstance where someone would agree. If so, can you please share? I didn't ask her because it's really none of my business.




have three children together.

[Anonymous]

Sorry for the extra line!

[Anonymous]

I assume kids are not minors? Because minors cannot convey real estate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Under what circumstances would you, if at all, agree to this? I know a couple who had a house, sold it, and bought a new one. The second house is in his name only but upon his death, the house goes to the kids with her having the right to live in it for as long as she wants to. He has not been married before and neither one have kids other than the three they share. When she told me she agreed to not owning the house after his death, I thought i would never agree to it. But maybe there's a circumstance where someone would agree. If so, can you please share? I didn't ask her because it's really none of my business.




have three children together.

So the wife would have a life estate in the house. My mother set this up after my father died, so I owned her house but she had a life estate, meaning she could live there as long as she wanted and she would be responsible for all bills, taxes etc as long as she lived there.

She has a friend who was remarried to a man who had adult children, and he had reworked his will etc to reflect that my mom's friend had a life estate in the house. His kids were very, very unhappy with this and wanted her out so they could sell the house. She agreed to move out, but got a lawyer to draft a buyout based on value of the house, value of the life estate, etc. And they did it.

What is your specific concern, OP? That the wife won't own the house?

[Anonymous]

Probably tax reasons. Otherwise it's husband->spouse, then spouse->kids at a later date. There will be a tax hit on the spouse->kids bit so maybe he wants that to happen at the time of his death, so there is money on-hand to pay those taxes for them. I believe husband->wife is tax-free.

[Anonymous]

I'm 18:11. Also, did the husband entirely pay for the house? This might be why he did this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Under what circumstances would you, if at all, agree to this? I know a couple who had a house, sold it, and bought a new one. The second house is in his name only but upon his death, the house goes to the kids with her having the right to live in it for as long as she wants to. He has not been married before and neither one have kids other than the three they share. When she told me she agreed to not owning the house after his death, I thought i would never agree to it. But maybe there's a circumstance where someone would agree. If so, can you please share? I didn't ask her because it's really none of my business.




have three children together.

He wants to make sure the house goes to their children in case she rematries and the new husband gets it and does what he wants with it. Bottom line, he doesn't trust his wife with financial planning issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Under what circumstances would you, if at all, agree to this? I know a couple who had a house, sold it, and bought a new one. The second house is in his name only but upon his death, the house goes to the kids with her having the right to live in it for as long as she wants to. He has not been married before and neither one have kids other than the three they share. When she told me she agreed to not owning the house after his death, I thought i would never agree to it. But maybe there's a circumstance where someone would agree. If so, can you please share? I didn't ask her because it's really none of my business.




have three children together.

He wants to make sure the house goes to their children in case she rematries and the new husband gets it and does what he wants with it. Bottom line, he doesn't trust his wife with financial planning issues.

I'm 18:11 and 18:21, and this is interesting. I didn't think of it. It makes sense, but really only if he paid for the whole house, or she paid a small percentage which would then cancel out what she gains from the life trust.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Probably tax reasons. Otherwise it's husband->spouse, then spouse->kids at a later date. There will be a tax hit on the spouse->kids bit so maybe he wants that to happen at the time of his death, so there is money on-hand to pay those taxes for them. I believe husband->wife is tax-free.

+1

Of course it won't help if the wife dies first.

[Anonymous]

If they weren't married when the house was purchased, and only he owns the house, then the house automatically goes to his children upon his death. I'm not even sure a will can override that if the children are minors.

I actually know someone whose husband died while their children were toddlers. They had bought the house together right before they were married and then he suddenly died without a will. Because the house was purchased before the marriage, the wife was only allowed to keep her half of the house and his half was given to the two minor children. In that case, the house could not even be sold until the children both reached 18. She managed to fight this ruling in court and won the other half of the house - mostly because they were married so soon after the purchase of the house. It was a sad case because his death was so unexpected.

[Anonymous]

It may also be a long term care issue. If it is in the children's name, she may be eligible for benefits such as long term care/medicaid that has a 5 year old back of transferring money/assets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I assume kids are not minors? Because minors cannot convey real estate.

One adult two minor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Under what circumstances would you, if at all, agree to this? I know a couple who had a house, sold it, and bought a new one. The second house is in his name only but upon his death, the house goes to the kids with her having the right to live in it for as long as she wants to. He has not been married before and neither one have kids other than the three they share. When she told me she agreed to not owning the house after his death, I thought i would never agree to it. But maybe there's a circumstance where someone would agree. If so, can you please share? I didn't ask her because it's really none of my business.




have three children together.

So the wife would have a life estate in the house. My mother set this up after my father died, so I owned her house but she had a life estate, meaning she could live there as long as she wanted and she would be responsible for all bills, taxes etc as long as she lived there.

She has a friend who was remarried to a man who had adult children, and he had reworked his will etc to reflect that my mom's friend had a life estate in the house. His kids were very, very unhappy with this and wanted her out so they could sell the house. She agreed to move out, but got a lawyer to draft a buyout based on value of the house, value of the life estate, etc. And they did it.

What is your specific concern, OP? That the wife won't own the house?

I guess I'm trying to figure out if she gains anything from taking that deal. Because I don't see it. They bought the second house as a married couple. Not sure of the first house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm 18:11. Also, did the husband entirely pay for the house? This might be why he did this.

Would it matter if they bought the second house as a married couple?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Under what circumstances would you, if at all, agree to this? I know a couple who had a house, sold it, and bought a new one. The second house is in his name only but upon his death, the house goes to the kids with her having the right to live in it for as long as she wants to. He has not been married before and neither one have kids other than the three they share. When she told me she agreed to not owning the house after his death, I thought i would never agree to it. But maybe there's a circumstance where someone would agree. If so, can you please share? I didn't ask her because it's really none of my business.




have three children together.

He wants to make sure the house goes to their children in case she rematries and the new husband gets it and does what he wants with it. Bottom line, he doesn't trust his wife with financial planning issues.

I can see that so why would she accept the deal? Seems bizarre.