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My father in-law took out a reverse mortgage several years ago. He later passed away. It wasn't until after his death that we learned about the reverse mortgage. He died approx. 4 years ago this coming December. Had my wife and his son known about him doing this we likely would have stopped him...and since he has passed there is no way for us to know if he was taken advantage of or coerced, etc.

Is there anything that can be done to see about getting his wife out of this reverse mortgage?

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    The usual way to get out of a reverse mortgage is to pay back the loan, possibly by selling the house. Is that not an option?
    – Michael Seifert
    Commented Sep 13, 2019 at 16:22
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it's a question about finance rather than law.
    – Tim Lymington
    Commented Sep 13, 2019 at 16:51
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    @TimLymington Coercion, elder abuse, and contract law are not exactly topics of finance, but true legal matters.
    – Iñaki Viggers
    Commented Sep 13, 2019 at 17:03
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    Where they exist, certainly they are. According to OP, there is no reason to believe they apply here.
    – Tim Lymington
    Commented Sep 13, 2019 at 17:16
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    Follow the money. If the father in law actually received money from the loan and used it to his benefit, the chances it was fraud or undue pressure are less. If the father in law never received any money, the chances of fraud or undue pressure are greater.
    – Gerard Ashton
    Commented Sep 13, 2019 at 18:16

2 Answers 2

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I assume that the loan was legal, in light of rule changes pertaining to non-borrowing spouses. If so, there is really no recourse other than to repay the loan. This article explains the current options / restrictions in an understandable manner, but of course it is too late to do anything about it.

If there was actually fraud or coercion in the loan, or if the elder party was mentally incompetent, there might be some legal recourse, but we don't have any evidence of fraud, coercion or incompetence here.

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    Why do you provide an answer about the US jurisdiction 1) Without mentioning so; 2) Without the OP specifying that US jurisdiction applies?
    – Greendrake
    Commented Sep 14, 2019 at 0:28
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    @Greendrake, when someone doesn't specify their location, it's a near-certainty that they're interested in the United States.
    – Mark
    Commented Sep 14, 2019 at 0:30
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    @Mark I agree. It's just the fact that many people here deny that there factually is a default country on this site that makes me ask the question.
    – Greendrake
    Commented Sep 14, 2019 at 0:32
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    The OP hails from NY, and his previous questions have been about US law. You can answer for NZ or the US if you want. Dale could give an Australian answer.
    – user6726
    Commented Sep 14, 2019 at 0:45
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    @Greendrake even if there's a "default country" we still need to know the location, there's no "default state", or "default city", knowing the location the law applies to can change what the answer is.
    – User37849012643
    Commented Sep 14, 2019 at 6:00
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Since the wife is on the loan as your suggestion of her being responsible now implies, she remains in the home without making any payments for the rest of her life! The loan can be amended to cover the son if living there also. Your father protected his wife by choosing the loan. Even if the home is under water or the loan balance is higher than the home value now, the point of the reverse is your father was able to use the equity cash out and still remain in the home. The only one who this doesn't work for is a child who thought he was going to inherit the house. If your father failed to list your mother the newest laws now allow the loan to still be adjusted to include her as a borrowing spouse.

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    There's no evidence that she is on the loan. She probably has to deal with the consequences of there existing such a loan. Maintaining the ability to continue living in the house isn't the same as "getting out of" the loan: she cannot freely sell or will the property to someone else.
    – user6726
    Commented Sep 15, 2019 at 16:59
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    "wife" in the question refers to the asker's wife. The father-in-law of the asker is the father of the asker's wife.
    – Acccumulation
    Commented Sep 16, 2019 at 18:30

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