ShortSale with married couple on dead but one spouse is deceased

hey ,how is everybody i have a situation where i have a married couple on a deed and/or title on a short sale property that i thinking im of working on the only problem is one of the spouses is deceased. There was no will and/or power of attorney in place.

How can i structure this deal ? what paper work is needed ?if get the living spouse to sign is that doable ?

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 12:00PM

Scott Hubbard

Rehabber · Tucson, Arizona

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Icon_minipost Mar 10 '10, 11:42 PM

Originally posted by Terrence Thomas, Jr.

hey ,how is everybody i have a situation where i have a married couple on a deed and/or title on a short sale property that i thinking im of working on the only problem is one of the spouses is deceased. There was no will and/or power of attorney in place.

How can i structure this deal ? what paper work is needed ?if get the living spouse to sign is that doable ?

You need to check your state's intestacy or succession laws. The spouse may not have the right to sell to you. When someone dies intestate, usually any direct descendant can make a claim to their property. Even though the property has no equity, it might take a probate hearing to determine that.

I am not familiar enough with Florida laws, but in my experience you need to make sure she has the right to sell. Secondarily, the lender may also request some additional documents for the short sale like a death certificate, will, or probate courts decision.

Another thing to look into is right of survivorship. Get a copy of the warrant deed to see if the wife as rights of surviorship. Meaning, in case of death, she can sell the property. A title company can usually help answer these questions for you too.

Good luck!

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 12:00PM

Steve Babiak

Real Estate Investor · Audubon, Pennsylvania

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Icon_minipost Mar 11 '10, 12:32 AM

Originally posted by Scott Hubbard

... Another thing to look into is right of survivorship. Get a copy of the warrant deed to see if the wife as rights of surviorship. Meaning, in case of death, she can sell the property. A title company can usually help answer these questions for you too.

Good luck!

I agree with Scott's post; I would start by looking at the bit that I extracted and quoted from Scott's post. If the deed is "tenants by the entirety" or "joint tenants with rights of survivorship" or something similar, then the surviving spouse should get to do as they please with the property. If the deed is "tenants in common", then you get the whole succession and probate thing to deal with. Then there are other ways of holding title to property that need to be considered, such as a trust.

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 12:00PM

Audley Humes

Real Estate Investor · Jacksonville, Florida

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Icon_minipost Mar 11 '10, 01:46 AM

I'm in Florida and have a similar situation. Pretty much, in our situation, we will just need to provide documents that prove the wife is deceased to our title company. At this point the lender, Aurora, has not said anything and they are aware that the wife is deceased

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 12:00PM

Maryann L.

Real Estate Investor · Methuen, Massachusetts

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Icon_minipost Mar 11 '10, 07:05 AM

If the surviving spouse agrees to the short sale, then you should only need a copy of the death certificate. I just did one like this. The surviving spouse wrote the situation into the hardship letter and provided the death cert. No problems.

Good luck.

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 12:01PM

Doug Heise

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Icon_minipost Mar 14 '10, 05:06 PM

I just closed a short sale like this and it was not a problem. Just include a certified copy of the death certificate in your closing doc's when you go to close. In fact I used Express Title right there in Tampa. Ask for Shawn or Stephanie and tell them Doug mentioned them.

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 12:03PM

Terrence Thomas, Jr.

Real Estate Investor · Tampa, Florida

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Icon_minipost Mar 14 '10, 05:26 PM

thanks for all the feed back

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 12:03PM