BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – When a homeowner dies without completing the proper estate documents, it can make it harder for a family to keep that home. Now there’s a Vermont nonprofit working to avoid potential missteps.
Vermont Legal Aid attorneys say inheritance can come with complicated legal and financial problems that may put a family home at risk.
Castleton resident Robert Murphy inherited his home when his mother died of COVID-19 in 2022.
“It is basically the only thing I have left of my mother and I wouldn’t know where else to go,” Murphy said.
For Murphy, the home is more than just a place to live. “Not only is my mother’s memories here, even though we haven’t been here that long that’s all we have left, there is no one else,” Murphy said.
When his mother fell ill, Murphy left his job to become her full-time caregiver. When she died, the financial support Murphy received from state programs disappeared.
“Her Social Security, pension and other income all dropped the day she died. It was Aug. 30 and I had to struggle to find jobs to get it back together,” Murphy said.
He continued to make mortgage payments after inheriting the property, but one month before he was set to pay off the mortgage, everything changed. Murphy became disabled, losing his right leg and his ability to work, putting the house at risk of foreclosure.
Before her passing, Murphy’s mother did not finalize her will. He had to go through the probate process to sort out ownership of the home. That’s when Greg Fox from Vermont Legal Aid stepped in.
“I had no clue what to do and he just walked me through it, telling me what to do and I did whatever he said and that’s just the way it went,” Murphy said.
Thanks to a grant from M&T Bank, Fox could step in and help Vermonters like Murphy navigate the legal process. He then resolved the probate issue, securing the home under Murphy’s name and getting a new mortgage payment plan.
“There are a lot of people facing situations like Rob who really need help to get through the process. I’ve been a lawyer for 20 years and some of the paperwork doesn’t make much sense to me. How is it going to make sense to working-class regular people,” Fox said.
Legal help such as the kind Fox provided for Murphy is becoming increasingly important.
“If they lose that home there’s no affordable option for them in the state of Vermont at this time. There’s a housing crisis and nowhere for people to go, so I’m helping clients like Rob keep their homes,” Fox said.
Another portion of the M&T Bank grant fosters outreach, teaching people the importance of creating a will to avoid the complicated probate process altogether.
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