minor child listed on deed as a buyer

Brooklyn, NY Viewed 69 times. Posted 3 months ago in Real Estate

it appears that my son(without our knowledge) was listed as a grantee on a residential deed .The grantors are his dad & stepmom, & the grantees are my son & the stepmom as joint tenants w/ rights of survivorship.i went to boro hall & also pulled up the real property transfer report, showing my son as a buyer. this was all just done before he turned 18, & i suspect something underhanded (tax savings?)& am concerned this can be a problem w/college financial aid,etc.there is no conact w/ the dad so how do my son & i prove this is in fact him listed on the paperwork as the buyer. in other words,all i have is the name on the deed (i am not aware of anybody w/ the same name as my son) how do we prove it is in fact my son? are there addit'l documents that are public record that can help?

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Answers (2)

Paula Jeanette Mcgill

This attorney is licensed in New York and 3 other states. Posted 3 months ago.

It appears that your son was simply given his faither's interest in the property. He wasn't the buyer. The father may have decided to transfer the property now to protect his son's inheritance just in the case he dies before his wife. It is not necessarily a bad thing that his father appears to have protected him. If there is a mortgage on the property, your son isn't responsible for the mortgage. If the transfer falls below the gift tax limit, there aren't federal tax consequences.

However, if you are truly concerned about the matter, take the documents to a low cost real estate lawyer and accountant. It shouldn't cost that much to have a local lawyer review the documents (deed and mortgage) and explain them to you.