Reddick, FL Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

A quitclaim deed cannot transfer title.  The only thing it can do is note that the signer quits making a claim to ownership.  That is why it is best used with disputed easements and rights of way. The owner of a life estate (your mother, since a quitclaim deed cannot transfer title) cannot do anything which would damage the rights of the remaindermen.  (Note that the situation is different if this is not a simple life estate but a general warranty deed reserving extended life estate a/k/a Lady Bird Deed.  Your mother could revoke that at any time before her death.) On your mother's death (which terminates the life estate), your brother could file a claim against her estate for "loans" for improvements -- but would have to show tbey were not gifts.   Show the actual documents to a local real estate lawyer so that she can advise you based on the facts.    

Typically judgments that are properly filed with the County Clerk create a lien against any property owned by the Defendant in the county where the judgment was filed. This typically means that if the Defendant's property is homestead then the lien just sits there and unenforceable until the Defendant tries to sell or refinance the property; at which time, the lien must be paid. However the transfer of the property by rights of survivorship (and not by transfer of deeds) creates a loophole for this situation; therefore, as long as the property only transfers through the rights of survivorship you should be fine. Here's your other problem, if you titled the property to you, your husband and your son as joint tenants with right of survivorship (and your son is a minor), then you created a situation where you can't transfer the property (i.e. quit claim deed or warranty deed or sale) without everybody signing the deed and if your son is a minor he cannot sign the deed and you can't sign the deed for him without going to Court and getting a guardianship for the property of a minor (you should consult legal counsel to go over the one exception to this rule). If your son is not a minor, then you still need everyone to sign the deed in the order to transfer the property. It is typically not a good idea to put real property in a child's name.

Your rights will vary depending on what the will states and whether it is valid, you should discuss it with a Florida Estate Planning Lawyer to see what your rights and options are.