Do we need to go to probate?

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California.

Hi,
My mother passed away 30 years ago leaving property to 7 kids. Sinse then, 2 of them have passed away having 2 kids each & no will. We have decided to sell the property & have no issues about giving our neices & nephews their share, but do we have to go through probate to do so because thier name is not on the deed? We are in California & the property is worth about 60-70K.
Thanks,
Russ

whose name is on the deed now; mom's or the 7 children?

and if the 7 kids, how is title held?


and if it is tenants in common, what about spouses of the deceased siblings?

What you need to figure out, is whether the asset is legally deeded/owned by the grandmother (and you need to deal with her will and probate), or you can start at a lower level, where the property has already been passed down and is owned by the 7 kids (and/or their spouses/descendants based upon how the asset was titled and their wills).

You're going to need a lawyer.

Probate

Thanks for the replies. The property is deeded to the 7 of us as tenents in common. Both siblings were divorced @ time of death, but all 7 of the spouses had signed a quick claim early on.
Thanks

mandmthome said:

Thanks for the replies. The property is deeded to the 7 of us as tenents in common. Both siblings were divorced @ time of death, but all 7 of the spouses had signed a quick claim early on.
Thanks

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A quitclaim does not always remove dower or curtesy rights, if applicable, plus it does not relinquish any future rights or interest in a property. If they were married for any time after the quitclaim, the spouses may have acquired a new interest in the property (the appreciation of the spouses/title holders interest in the property) . If the interest was not dealt with during the divorce, it is impossible to determine who has any rights and what those rights are in the property.

There are a lot of possibilities in your situation. You need an attorney to look at all of the germane info and actions to make heads or tails of this one.

as to probate: you do not have to probate anything but obviously, without the deceased holders of interest to be able to sign any involved documents, you are going to have a problem doing anything with the property. There needs to be a representative of the decedents estates that have the authority to act for the decedent for you to do anything with the property. I presume the decedents estates have not been probated, or not had probate even opened. You are stuck until such time as there is a representative of their estates that can act on behalf of their respective estates.