will, real estate, siblings

California. My mother died almost 12 years ago and left a will. I have three blood siblings. In the will, my mother divided her house equally amongst the four of us – 25% each. After her death, one of my siblings, my mother’s daughter, needed somewhere to live and we (my brothers and I) decided it might be best to allow her to remain on the property until her children were old enough to move out. After her children were old enough and moved out, the dispute arose – she would not transfer the property equally to us. To compound this, nobody seems able to find a copy of the will, including the executor. Perhaps to further compound the issue, during the past years she has taken out a 2nd on the property, but well short of the equity. Finally, before my mothers death, my mother deeded the property to my sister (the one living on the property) to refinance for a better interest rate. Nice mess!

Solution? I have considered several options but do not know how to proceed. It is not my interest to try to secure all of my siblings’ interest in the property, just my 25%. Further, I would like to force a sale of the property and convert this to cash. Should I file a lien on the property evidencing my interest and let her fight back? Should I seek court action? Please give me some sort to steps to take. Thank you, Jane.

[HomeGuru]

Originally posted by Caglitz
California. My mother died almost 12 years ago and left a will. I have three blood siblings. In the will, my mother divided her house equally amongst the four of us – 25% each. After her death, one of my siblings, my mother’s daughter, needed somewhere to live and we (my brothers and I) decided it might be best to allow her to remain on the property until her children were old enough to move out. After her children were old enough and moved out, the dispute arose – she would not transfer the property equally to us. To compound this, nobody seems able to find a copy of the will, including the executor. Perhaps to further compound the issue, during the past years she has taken out a 2nd on the property, but well short of the equity. Finally, before my mothers death, my mother deeded the property to my sister (the one living on the property) to refinance for a better interest rate. Nice mess!

Solution? I have considered several options but do not know how to proceed. It is not my interest to try to secure all of my siblings’ interest in the property, just my 25%. Further, I would like to force a sale of the property and convert this to cash. Should I file a lien on the property evidencing my interest and let her fight back? Should I seek court action? Please give me some sort to steps to take. Thank you, Jane.

**A: your post is very convoluted and confusing.
Suffice to say, if there is a will and a subsequent deed, the deed prevails.
Arguments must be made as to intended ownership, thus Court action must occur if there is a disagreement among the beneficiaries.