Property of unwed parents

We are my dad's second family. My parents are not married, because my dad is still married to his first wife (he has 3 kids with the first wife). He and the first wife separated and lived with my mom and started a family with her. They were together 23 years till they separated around 2007-2008 when my mom experienced physical, verbal, sexual and psychological abuse from my dad. During the time they were together, they acquired our house and lot (property named after my dad "married" to my mom. both their names are in the title but indicates married even though they're not). They also adopted my kid brother in 1997. Since they separated, my dad moved out of the house and made many efforts of convincing my mom to sell the house and just spilt the money. But my mom fought for the house because she is concerned about us (the children) and where we will stay. I know they shared in purchasing the property, but for the longest time, my dad has not been supporting us financially so my mom shouldered all expenses including the real estate tax of the property.

Now that my mom is gone, my dad wants to return to the house to live with us. When I told him that I am not comfortable with that option because we do not feel safe with him anymore and he doesn't support us financially anyway, he suggests selling the house and splitting the money with us so we can get a condo unit for me and my 13-year-old brother. I need legal advice whether there is a way to keep my dad from selling the house. I am only 26 and it would be very difficult for me to raise my brother and pay for a new place just because my dad wants his share of the property. Isn't he the one who has financial obligations to us, especially to my brother who is a minor instead of us having to pay/suffer for his financial whims?

I desperately need your help. I hope I was able to give enough details for you to analyse our case.

Thank you so much.

how could they have adopted your kid brother if they are not married? do your birth certificates indicate that they are married?

i like the idea of selling the house because this will disentangle him from you.

you have no rights to the property except for what your mother owned and actually paid for. if he starts claiming that he paid for the whole thing, or worse the wife starts claiming the property, they you would be left out. would you be able to prove how much your mother actually contributed?

a condo in your and your brother's name will at least be safer.

from the proceeds of the house, you can get a little premium for the years he disappeared.

if you try claiming the whole thing, you may find yourself in a legal disadvantage.

Sorry for replying this late. I lost my account details and I wasn't able to log in. Good thing I was able to find it.

Thank you so much for your reply. I really appreciate you taking time to hear my case.

My parents are declared NOT MARRIED on both me and my brother's birth certificates. I have no idea how they went through with the adoption. After my mom died, I was able to go through her documents and found a letter signed by my brother's birth mom saying she is letting us have her child. There's also a birth certificate of my brother bearing our surname. I know my mom has a copy of his original birth certificate (bearing his original name) but I couldn't find it. Will we encounter any problem regarding the legality of the adoption later on?

As for the property, I do not have any proof of my mother’s actual contribution in buying the house. Even when she was alive, she couldn’t produce any document to support her claims either.

I was recently told that my father has started bringing potential buyers to the house to see the property while I was in the office. If he pushes through with selling the house, how much of the proceeds can my brother and I claim (legally speaking)? I understand that I do not have any legal claims to the property but I’d like to know what we have claims on, especially me being his daughter. How much is the “little premium for the years he disappeared” exactly? I’m just worried that we wouldn’t be left with enough money to get ourselves a new place to live.

Also, can we demand that he couldn’t sell the house until we find ourselves a new home?

Again, thank you so much for your time.

on the title, who is listed as the registered owner? who has possession of the title?

The title says: "(The property) is owned by (Name of my father) married to (Name of my mother)..."

Is this simply saying that my father IS married to my mother? Or does this declare the property as conjugal? And even if it declares the property to be "conjugal", will it have any bearing knowing for a fact that they were never married?

Can my father now claim the whole of the proceeds of the house and lot? What happens to the share of my mom?

The original copy of the title is with me. I hid it because knowing my father, he'd use it right away to get money for himself.

if this goes to court to determine who is the owner, my guess it will be decided in favor of your father and his first wife, if there is no evidence that your mother contributed anything.

I understand. We'll just hope for the best and make do with what we have and what we'll be given.

Thank you so much for your time. You have been so helpful. God speed. And more power to your site.