Where do I find information?

[pirategirl68]

What is the name of your state? Ca
Hi. My grandfather died several years ago. I was out of state when he passed away. He had a house in Pasadena and I can’t find any information on what happened to it. My question is what online website or sites can I find out about a will, if any, and what happened to any and all of his belongings? Thanks for any advice in advance, I appreciate it.

 

[CdwJava]

Is there any other family you can contact about it? If the matter went to court in probate, there may be some court record in Orange County, but it might take some doing to find a will.

Why is it an issue now since it has been "several years"?

 

[t74]

The county assessor has an online search in the property records. The probate court also has records search.

The genealogy websites may have links to obituaries and other family information.

 

[zddoodah]

My question is what online website or sites can I find out about a will, if any, and what happened to any and all of his belongings?

None. Assuming he lived in Pasadena, which is in Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles County Superior Court has very limited public access to case files. If a probate case was filed, you'd have to go to the court clerk's office to pull the case file. Depending on how many years ago is "several years," the file may or may not be in remote, off-site storage (and I don't know whether the clerk's office has digital images available for public viewing). Nor does the Los Angeles County Recorder provide online access to or searching of real estate records.

That said, the logical thing for you to do would be to inquire of one or more of the following people (if they exist and are still alive): your uncle's surviving spouse and/or children, your parent who was a sibling of your uncle, your grandparents who were your uncle's parents, and/or any other cousins of yours.

The county assessor has an online search in the property records. The probate court also has records search.

While you can search by address at the Los Angeles County Assessor's website, you cannot get ownership information, and the search function at the Los Angeles County Superior Court's website only works if you have a case number (or have signed up and paid for access).

 

[Dandy Don]

If he died after 1983, you can do a case search yourself on the Los Angeles County Superior Court website at the link below. Just click on the CONTINUE button at the bottom of the webpage, and then click on CONTINUE AS A GUEST. You will probably be doing a one-time lookup by name to see if there is a case number. You will need to create a username and a password. Then do your case search by the decedent's name. You will then be asked for your email address and for your credit card information. After you pay the $4.75 fee for a one time lookup, if there was a case for him, then the results will show the decedent's name case number, which you want to write down. You can then order a copy of all documents in the case file by filling out a records request form (find the phone number for the Los Angeles Superior Court online to ask them how to get that form).

If he died in 2008 or after, you can look at pages (called Case Document Images) from the case file on the Los Angeles Superior Court website after you have done a paid search for the case number,