What part of property is my inheritance?
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What part of property is my inheritance?
My mother passed away without a will. She owned a house with
my stepdad in Albany NY. He still lives there. What portion
of the estate value do I get add a result?
Asked on November 28, 2017 under Estate Planning, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
Since your stepfather is not your father, then your would stepfather inherit a half interest in the house (and 1/2 of anything else) and you get the other half (and 1/2 of anything else), with one very significant exception:
Anything owned jointly by your mother and stepfather will likely become his solely when she passed away. For example, you write that "she owned a house with my stepdad." If they owned the home as "joint tenants with right of survivorship," or JTROS (which is the most common way for a married couple to own real estate), then when one of the joint owners (a "tenant") dies, the other tenant or owner becomes the sole owner immediately, without the property becoming part of the deceased's estate or going through probate. So if they owned the home this way, it became his immediately on her death.
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