This question addresses a highly complicated legal situation.
In retrospect, the best way to effectuate the desires of the father in this situation would have been to change the property’s Deed to grant a ‘life estate’ to the stepmother, with a remainder interest to the children. That way, the mother was free to reside in the home for the duration of her life and upon her death the ownership would have passed to the children.
But even in the probate of the estate after the father’s death, such a situation can be created. If the father used a Will rather than a Deed to convey his wishes, the probate process itself can be utilized to create the same ‘life estate’ result, with a life interest being transferred from the probate estate to the stepmother while she is alive and a remainder interest to the children after she passes.
Either way, both of these process can be complicated and the use of a qualified attorney is highly recommended.
If neither a deed nor the probate process was utilized to achieve this ‘life estate’ result, it may be difficult for the children in this case to recoup any of the money generated from the sale. It may be difficult to determine who had true title to the real property at the time that it was sold. The questions after the fact would be, “Did the step mother hold only a life estate (if so, she can only sell her life estate to the third party purchaser, and the children would get the property upon the step mother\’s death, regardless of the sale)” OR “Did she hold a fee simple (meaning complete title) so that the real estate could be sold to a third party purchaser who would NOT be on notice of any restrictions imposed by the Will.”
Again, the best advice for resolving this type of situation is to review all of the circumstances with a local attorney. To find a local attorney for FREE, visit Standard Legal’s Attorney Finder page.