Dear Quentin, An interesting twist has befallen me. I’m 80 and live in a community-property state. I was married for over 50 years and have no children. My late husband has two grown children from a previous marriage. I bought a house in the 1990s, and I alone have paid the mortgage on the property for all of that time. The deed is joint tenancy with rights of survivorship.
Just before my husband died, my stepdaughter stepped into the picture and persuaded him to make a will, leaving his share of the house to her exclusively. My husband had dementia and was in failing health just before he died. We were not living together at the time due to unrelated problems in our relationship. Because I was still paying the mortgage on the house, I had the deed put into my name at both the mortgage company and at the county tax record