Stepgrandmother

[Rictuchan]

my grandfather was raising his four children alone until he remarried in 1961 at which time he made a will stating that he recognized that his property was community property in the state of california and that his spouse would receive half and his four children would receive his half of his estate. my grandfather passed away in 1997. he told his children should he die first to wait until his wife passed prior to carrying out the will. my step grandmother passed in august of 2001 willing everything to her brother. leaving out all of my grandfathers children. her brother has sold and thrown away all of their belongings and is getting ready to sell the house and property. is this legal in the state of california?

 

[advisor10]

1-5-2002

DEAR RICTUCHAN:

No, it appears NOT to be legal. I am not familiar with California law, so I am only giving you general comments about your case.

If you can, PLEASE EXPLAIN the reason that your grandfather asked you all to delay the filing of his will: that was a WRONG DECISION AND A SERIOUS MISTAKE! If we assume that the house was paid for in full, then if the will had been filed with the probate court in 1997, then during the probate process, the ownership and names on the house title/deed would have been changed to show the names of all heirs (the step-grandmother and the 4 children). You need to check at the county courthouse to see whose names are listed NOW as official owners of the property (it will probably be only your grandfather's and step-grandmother's names).

The will is normally supposed to be filed within 30 days after the person's death. If you still have access to your grandfather's will, please submit it to the probate court as soon as possible (it may not be too late to submit it, but maybe you want to check with a probate attorney first). After filing it, the executor (whichever family member wants the job, or the attorney you hire) will get legal permission to determine who the legal heirs are and to get the names changed on the deed. However, depending on how many cases are in probate court, this could take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months.

How much is the house worth? Since your step-grandmother's brother is NOT 100% owner of the home, he does not have the right to sell it without getting permission of the other heirs first. The problem is that since the names of the heirs do not show up on the deed now, he THINKS (wrongly) that he owns this property through inheritance.

AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, you need to discuss your case with a local REAL ESTATE ATTORNEY AND/OR PROBATE ATTORNEY to find out if there is a simple way to get your names added to the deed, other than going through the probate court process. If the attorney says its okay, you might want to send your step-grandmother's brother a CERTIFIED LETTER informing him that you all are in the process of having the deed changed to reflect ownership of all parties, and asking him either to delay the sale of the home until the title is corrected, or by advising him that if the sale goes through, that the heirs expect to receive their fair share of profits from the sale.

SINCERELY,

advisor