What happens to the house if one of the owners dies?
In case of the 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 the use of housing credit, or if it is rented. We clarify in this article.
If you have any doubts related to real estate or loans, you can count on the free and specialized support from Poupança no Minuto's credit intermediaries.
In case of ownership
In the case of the property being acquired without financing, if one of the owners dies, the part of the house they owned will go to the closest relatives. This also applies if there is no will.
Therefore, the law stipulated in the Civil Code is used and the inheritance of the property is divided among the legitimate heirs. In this case, the legislation determines the following hierarchy among 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 real estate property in the first place. In the absence of children, the right goes to the parents.
If there are no relatives up to the 4th degree to claim the right to property, it is delivered to the State.
In case of mortgage loan
If the other property owner dies, in the case of a mortgage, they are protected by life insurance.
When hiring a home loan, banks always require you to take out life insurance in order to approve the loan and ensure themselves in these cases. Therefore, in case of default due to the death or disability of the policyholder, the insurer guarantees the repayment of the debt to the bank.
For this, banks require this insurance to have certain basic coverages, 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). Afterward, you can opt for Total and Permanent Disability coverage - TPD (degree of disability equal to or greater than 60%, due to illness or accident). The latter is more comprehensive in that 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, the repayment of the loan is assured due to the mandatory life insurance coverage.
In case of lease agreement
But what if the property in which the owner lived was leased? 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 together with the tenant at the time of death, has the right to transfer the lease.
To do this, you must send the landlord, within a period of three months, a copy of the supporting documents for the transfer, such as the death certificate, marriage certificate for the spouse, and birth certificate for children.
If you fail to do so within the established deadline, you may incur losses, but are not prevented from proceeding with 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 without complications.