What happens to the house if one of the owners dies?
In case of death of one of the residents of a house, what happens to the property? The answer to this question depends on whether it was purchased with or without a housing credit, or if it is rented. We clarify in this article.
If you have any doubts related to real estate or credits, you can rely on the free and specialized support of Poupança no Minuto credit intermediaries.
In case of ownership
In case the property was acquired without resorting to financing, and one of the owners deceases, the portion of the house of which they had ownership will go to the closest family members. This also applies if there is no will.
Thus, the law stipulated in the Civil Code is used to divide the property inheritance among legitimate heirs. In this case, the legislation determines the following hierarchy concerning the heirs:
- Spouse and descendants (children);
- Spouse and ascendants (parents);
- Brothers and their descendants;
- Other relatives up to 4th degree;
- State.
In other words, if the deceased is married and/or has children, they are the ones entitled to the property first. In the case of no children, the right goes to the parents.
If there are no relatives up to the 4th degree to claim the right to the property, it is delivered to the State.
In case of mortgage loan
If the other property owner dies, in the case of a housing loan, they are safeguarded by life insurance.
When hiring a home loan, banks always require you to take out life insurance in order to approve the loan and secure themselves in these cases. Thus, in case of non-compliance due to the death or disability of the policyholder, the insurer guarantees the repayment of the debt to the bank.
For this, banks require that this insurance have certain basic coverage, such as death coverage due to accident or illness and coverage for Absolute and Permanent Disability - IAD (disability equal to or greater than 80% resulting from illness or accident). Then, you can choose the Total and Permanent Disability coverage - ITP (degree of disability equal to or greater than 60%, due to illness or accident). The latter is more comprehensive in that the IAD coverage implies a more extreme disability.
In any case, in the event of the death of one of the holders of the home loan, due to the mandatory life insurance coverage, the repayment of the loan is guaranteed.
In case of leasing
But what if the property in which the owner lived was rented? In this case, the lease expires and the property must be returned to the owner.
However, know that, as a spouse or descendant who also lived in the property along with the tenant at the time of death, they have the right to continue the lease agreement.
To do this, you must send the landlord, within a period of three months, a copy of the documents proving the transfer, such as the death certificate, marriage certificate for the spouse, and birth certificate, in case of children.
If you do not do it within the established deadline, you may have to bear losses, but you are not prevented from making the transmission.
If you need help dealing with real estate or credit issues, count on Poupança no Minuto. We guarantee a free, professional service tailored to your situation. We are here to help, at no cost and no complications.