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Don't Be Afraid to Use 'Bargaining Power'
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DEAR JAMES: Unless your father held title to his properties in his revocable living trust, or held title in joint tenancy with right of survivorship, probate of his estate in the local probate court where he was a resident will be required. There is an exception for small estates, but your dad's total assets seem to have been above that low limit, which is different in each state.
If your father left a written will, the probate court will distribute his assets according to that will. However, if he left no written will, then state law where he was a resident at the time of his death will determine who inherits his assets by the law of intestate succession.
Until the title to the real estate is transferred to the heirs, they cannot sell the properties.
For details, consult a probate lawyer where your father was a resident.
DEAR BOB: Before we bought our house in late 2005, we hired a professional home inspector. The $300 fee was well spent, as he found several significant defects that the seller agreed to have repaired before we closed our purchase.
However, in late 2006 we noticed a significant smell coming from the laundry room area. As it got worse, my wife could not go into that area because she started sneezing and coughing there.
One day I was talking with my neighbor about this unusual happening. He said our seller had noticed a similar smell but he didn't do anything about it before selling the house to us.
As the seller has moved out of state and probably has no liability to us, I'm wondering if our home inspector should have noticed this problem. My brother and I knocked out the laundry room wall on a weekend and discovered extensive mold, which was coming from a leak in the roof.
Because the roof was in bad shape, we replaced the entire roof and removed the mold-infested wallboard.
My out-of-pocket costs, excluding the new roof, were about $1,600. Do you think the home inspector should have discovered this mold and is liable to us for our costs? -- Alan W.
DEAR ALAN: Professional home inspectors are trained to discover defects that can be visually observed -- they can't see mold through walls. Even if you hire the world's greatest home inspector, he or she can't detect hidden defects.
Readers with questions should write Robert J. Bruss at 251 Park Rd., Burlingame, Calif. 94010, or contact him via his Web page, http:/
© 2007, Inman News Service
