Family disputes over the title to property often become an issue only when it has to,--when someone passes away and a title issue needs to be resolved. At this point the dispute can get ugly and expensive for everyone. But like most matters, the solution to the dispute usually can be reached if the problem is addressed BEFORE a court is involved.

For example, say a mother or father, or both, are on title with a child, but not all the children. The other kids are, well, o.k. with this, because they're supposed to receive money from the family business or from some other source.

Problem is, child #1 isn't sure that this arrangement is what everyone else thinks it is, and the written agreement (usually there isn't one) doesn't spell out the entire arrangement very well. If and when something happens to the parent(s), the children have to deal with this issue. An issue they knew about when their folks were around and they could have resolved this around the table.

I'll post more about the possible solutions later, but needless to say, it's much easier to pull the grant deed out and get the family together now. Even if different attorneys are needed to negotiate the whole thing.