Community Property

[jtata]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA. My Aunt has been with a man for 30+ years. They never married but lived together & accumulated property, cars & household items.(In his name only) He recently died suddenly & unexpectedly. His brother has stepped in & is making plans to auction off all of his possessions & keep any profits. Can he do this? Does she have any legal rights?
Thank you

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA. My Aunt has been with a man for 30+ years. They never married but lived together & accumulated property, cars & household items.(In his name only) He recently died suddenly & unexpectedly. His brother has stepped in & is making plans to auction off all of his possessions & keep any profits. Can he do this? Does she have any legal rights?
Thank you

If nothing was in her name, the only legal rights she has is to her own personal property...and she may have some difficulty proving what is her own personal property.

 

[tranquility]

While strictly true, see an attorney. There are arguments.

 

[latigo]

If nothing was in her name, the only legal rights she has is to her own personal property...and she may have some difficulty proving what is her own personal property.

So, the OP's auntie will have difficulty proving what personal property belongs to her, but the voracious brother will have no trouble proving what belonged to the deceased; whether in his name or not. Right?

Plus, in the "World According to Ld" there is no such thing as joint ownership of personal property and the laws of California that make provision for the partition of jointly owned personal property (California Code of Civil Procedure Part 2 Title 10.5 et seq.) are for naught.

Brilliant bit of legal sleuthing, Holmes!

 

[latigo]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA. My Aunt has been with a man for 30+ years. They never married but lived together & accumulated property, cars & household items.(In his name only) He recently died suddenly & unexpectedly. His brother has stepped in & is making plans to auction off all of his possessions & keep any profits. Can he do this? Does she have any legal rights?
Thank you

Yes, your auntie has "legal rights" to any jointly acquired personal property.

But she will need an attorney to establish them. And pronto! Because if she snoozes she loses.

 

[jtata]

Thank you to everyone that replied. Hopefully this will get her going in the right direction. One last question: what type of attorney? Family law?

 

[tranquility]

Thank you to everyone that replied. Hopefully this will get her going in the right direction. One last question: what type of attorney? Family law?

Most any attorney can do the work. But, in addition to any partition based on joint ownership (which seems the majority of the issue), there could be some contractual arguments in a relationship that is so long. For any of those type of issues, a family law attorney would probably be most up-to-date on current decisions regarding implied or express "contracts" in such a relationship. Sure, there is no palimony. But...

 

[latigo]

. . . . . Sure, there is no palimony. But...

There is also no "pal"!

 

[LdiJ]

So, the OP's auntie will have difficulty proving what personal property belongs to her, but the voracious brother will have no trouble proving what belonged to the deceased; whether in his name or not. Right?

Plus, in the "World According to Ld" there is no such thing as joint ownership of personal property and the laws of California that make provision for the partition of jointly owned personal property (California Code of Civil Procedure Part 2 Title 10.5 et seq.) are for naught.

Brilliant bit of legal sleuthing, Holmes!

Latigo...you really come up with the strangest things...

Example: Dsceased owns the house...therefore the contents of the house other than the personal property of others living there. OP bought the fridge so she wants to claim it as her personal property, but she bought it 5 years ago and the receipt is somewhere in never never land....

Yeah, that kind of stuff really does become an issue in the real world.

 

[Ohiogal]

Latigo...you really come up with the strangest things...

Example: Dsceased owns the house...therefore the contents of the house other than the personal property of others living there. OP bought the fridge so she wants to claim it as her personal property, but she bought it 5 years ago and the receipt is somewhere in never never land....

Yeah, that kind of stuff really does become an issue in the real world.

Wrong. The deceased may own the house but that doesn't mean the contents of the house are also his. If the deceased family is disputing her ownership, it is their burden to prove. Latigo is right legally speaking.

 

[LdiJ]

Wrong. The deceased may own the house but that doesn't mean the contents of the house are also his. If the deceased family is disputing her ownership, it is their burden to prove. Latigo is right legally speaking.

I will have to tell that to the judge who handled my aunts probate case then...hmmm...he who ruled that the contents of the house belonged to the homeowner unless proof could be provided otherwise.

And yeah..there was that time when my house got robbed in the middle of the night and the strangers who robbed me tried to claim that they were just moving out and taking their "stuff"...in that case shouldn't the cops have made me prove it was my stuff before they brought it back into my house?

While I appreciate what you are trying to do, there is the whole "burden of proof" issue. If you tell me that in the case of a deceased that the burden of proof that the contents of their house belongs to them is on the estate, rather than other claimants, then I have to believe you even if my experience is to the contrary, but its certainly not logical at all.

 

[Ohiogal]

I will have to tell that to the judge who handled my aunts probate case then...hmmm...he who ruled that the contents of the house belonged to the homeowner unless proof could be provided otherwise.

And yeah..there was that time when my house got robbed in the middle of the night and the strangers who robbed me tried to claim that they were just moving out and taking their "stuff"...in that case shouldn't the cops have made me prove it was my stuff before they brought it back into my house?

While I appreciate what you are trying to do, there is the whole "burden of proof" issue. If you tell me that in the case of a deceased that the burden of proof that the contents of their house belongs to them is on the estate, rather than other claimants, then I have to believe you even if my experience is to the contrary, but its certainly not logical at all.

Did anyone else live with your aunt? Oh and in what state did your aunt reside? Did the strangers have proof that they lived in your house? There is a difference here -- OP's relative LIVES in the house in CALIFORNIA and that is her residence. It was not the residence of the strangers robbing your house. But good for you for really stretching the point so that there is NO SIMILARITY to the instant case.

 

[Silverplum]

I will have to tell that to the judge who handled my aunts probate case then...hmmm...he who ruled that the contents of the house belonged to the homeowner unless proof could be provided otherwise.

Indiana? California?

And yeah..there was that time when my house got robbed in the middle of the night and the strangers who robbed me tried to claim that they were just moving out and taking their "stuff"...in that case shouldn't the cops have made me prove it was my stuff before they brought it back into my house?

In Indiana?

While I appreciate what you are trying to do, there is the whole "burden of proof" issue. If you tell me that in the case of a deceased that the burden of proof that the contents of their house belongs to them is on the estate, rather than other claimants, then I have to believe you even if my experience is to the contrary, but its certainly not logical at all.

It's a California thread. Latigo provided a California cite.