Affadavit of Heirship - House in Tennessee

Tennessee. My mother inherited a house about 15 years ago from our grandparents. The house was paid for but she got a loan against it. 6 years ago she re-married. 4 years ago they refinanced the loan and she added his name to the house. I had keys to the house and my husband and I lived with them for 8 months to take care of her when she was diagnosed with cancer.On march 17th, 2010 my mom passed away and left no will. While she was in the hospital, her husband changed the locks on the house. We had moved out 4 months prior. Now he won't let us take possession of her personal items and family heirlooms owned years before she married him. My sister and I filed an affadavit of heirship and are now are added to the house. To protect my family heirlooms, I am planning on moving in next weekend. Do I need my stepfathers consent now that my sister and i own 66% of the house?

[AFFA]

I wish to inform you that being having ownership of 66% is different and having possession is different. If your step father is having possession then you cannot enter without his permission. You will require an order from court before entering in the house. A person is deemed to have constructive possession when he is having his lock and keys on the house. When you have moved out of house then at that time your right of possession is lost. Hence, you and your sister may not enter the house without your step father's permission or court order.

AFF

Hold on!! Yes. You do. Possession of her personal belongings is one matter entirely separate from her home.

Since she added his name to the deed, (assuming nobody else's name is on the deed beside hers and his), he is now the SOLE OWNER of the house and you CANNOT move in, UNLESS he allows you to. That property is his now. It's unclear how you had your name "added" to the deed, unless he permitted it. If their deed was worded JOINT TENANTS or JOINT TENANCY, then your name should not have been added even with the affidavit of heirship.

If the deed is worded that way, he needs to consult an attorney, quickly.

My father in law passed away in 2000. My mother in law passed away in Dec 09'. My husband's took "immediate" control of the house (paid for) and kicked out a granddaughter who was residing there without anything from the court. The sister does not have any court documents allowing her to be personal representative or executor but has had family sign and have notarized "Affidavit of Heirship" papers and filed them knowing there was a Will. The sister also got rid of a vehicle that payments were being made on without any court papers. The sister is spending money out of her mother's checking account to remodel the house without providing any siblings where the money is coming from. The sister has not set up any checking account for proceeds that are to go to the Estate from funds collected by renting out the house. The sister immediately removed all financial documents, bank statements, hospital statements, etc. after my father in law died and proceeded to advise the bank not to tell her how much money she had in her account after she got her name put on the account (only to write checks in case her mother was not able to), put her mother on a budget and allowance, looked through every box, every drawer, etc. since her mother died. Now, she has filed documents that basically states there is not a Will although she admitted that her mother did consult with an attorney to discuss changing her Will. If it weren't for the mother giving another child their copies of their Wills she would have continued to get away with numerous illegal activities. Now, we are left to use the copies since the Law Firm refuses to forward an original or a certified copy (our guess is the sister destroyed any originals that she found while prowling) someone can file to open the estate. Guess What? It will be soon and I only hope that the courts make them pay back every dime and give up their interest in the house or strip them of their rights to the estate. The sister has also violated numerous Probate Rules that any Judge would deem her "unfit" and "dishonest" to handle the Estate should her name be listed in the Will as Executor or Personal Representative. We will see.

I'm not sure of the Probate Laws in Tennessee, but I'm well aware of what they are here in Texas.

Here, (WITHOUT A WILL)
if your mother had passed away before September 3, 1993, the house title would have had to be signed off as to each child and the surviving spouse.

After September 3, 1993, the house title automatically goes to the surviving spouse, UNLESS (BIG UNLESS), the children of the deceased spouse are NOT the natural children of the surviving spouse.

In which case, the surviving spouse would retain HIS 1/2 interest (50%) in the title to the property. The 1/2 interest owned by the deceased spouse is divided amongst HER children, in other words the children would divide 50% ownership between them (2 children would mean each would have 25% ownership). The surviving spouse retains HOMESTEAD INTEREST only in the deceased spouses 50% interest. Which means he has the right to live in the home until he dies without fear that her children will put him out of the home.

Are you absolutely certain that your stepfather's name was added to the Deed to the property? It could be that he joined on the mortgage due to the fact that his income was needed for the refinance, but that he was not added to the Deed. You can contact a title company in your area and have the title ran just to see what was filed for record. When I worked in a title company here in Texas, the fee was like $200.00 to run title and like $10.00 for every instrument found, so you might be looking at around $250.00 to $300.00 just to run the title, but that would help you to know exactly where you stand in ownership.

You could also do a google search for probate laws in Tennessee just to see where you stand legally in your State.

thanks