Transfer Deed of Deceased Person's Real Property

[bokaba]

What is the name of your state? CA

My friend's mother recently passed away without any estate planning. Her only asset is a home with a paid off mortgage probably valued around $300,000-$400,000 and held in fee simple absolute with no other owners. I understand that real property cannot be distributed through small estate procedure. He does not want to sell the property, but wants to get the title in his name alone. The only heirs are his sister and children of his deceased brother. They don't want anything to do with the house and want the title transferred to my friend.

Is there any process in California that would transfer the deed into my friend's name alone without having to go through probate court?

 

[adjusterjack]

Is there any process in California that would transfer the deed into my friend's name alone without having to go through probate court?

No.

He'll have to be appointed by the court as representative of the estate and probate the property under intestacy. If the other heirs don't want anything from the estate they will have to sign documents renouncing their inheritance.

He should be hiring an attorney to handle all that for him.

 

[Taxing Matters]

If the other heirs don't want anything from the estate they will have to sign documents renouncing their inheritance.

Those would be disclaimers, and need to be done within 9 months from the date of the mother's death.

He should be hiring an attorney to handle all that for him.

Absolutely a good idea, although in CA that can get expensive. The OP's friend should talk to several attorneys and ask in detail about how the fees will work.

 

[bokaba]

Thanks for your replies. I assumed he would have to go through probate. I had urged him to become a joint tenant with his mother, but he never got around to it.

Knowing him and his family (major procrastinators), what would be the consequences for this property if they never probated it or try to probate it years later?

 

[adjusterjack]

Knowing him and his family (major procrastinators), what would be the consequences for this property if they never probated it or try to probate it years later?

$ to do it right.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ to get it fixed later.

 

[zddoodah]

I understand that real property cannot be distributed through small estate procedure.

Your understanding is incorrect, but the affidavit procedure for real property wouldn't apply where the property is valued at $300-400k.

Is there any process in California that would transfer the deed into my friend's name alone without having to go through probate court?

No.

Absolutely a good idea, although in CA that can get expensive. The OP's friend should talk to several attorneys and ask in detail about how the fees will work.

For an estate valued at $400k, the statutory fee would be $11k. If you were paying an hourly rate of $300, that would get you 36.67 hours of work. Is that "expensive"? Is it a reasonable when compared to an average hourly rate? Obviously, opinions may vary, but I'd say it's pretty reasonable given what's involved. The problem issue here is that the OP's friend's mother's estate apparently doesn't have liquid assets sufficient to pay that amount, to say nothing of funeral/burial costs, which could easily be $10-20k (and the OP didn't mention anything about estate debt), so the OP's friend might have to take out a home equity loan to pay those costs.

Knowing him and his family (major procrastinators), what would be the consequences for this property if they never probated it or try to probate it years later?

$ to do it right.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ to get it fixed later.

Exactly. "adjusterjack" and "Taxing Matters" and I have been posting on boards like this one for the better part of the last 20 years (as have many others who post here regularly). We've all seen scores of posts about estates that weren't handled properly at or shortly after the time of death and someone wants to fix things 10-20 years after the fact, by which time it has become a big mess.

 

[Zigner]

Your understanding is incorrect, but the affidavit procedure for real property wouldn't apply where the property is valued at $300-400k.

This is meant as a clarification for the OP:

The reason it was said that your understanding is incorrect is that it is, in fact, possible to use the "small estate" procedures in California for real property if the fair market value of the real property is low enough. The real property in your matter exceeds the limit, which is why it doesn't work for you.

 

[Taxing Matters]

For an estate valued at $400k, the statutory fee would be $11k. If you were paying an hourly rate of $300, that would get you 36.67 hours of work. Is that "expensive"? Is it a reasonable when compared to an average hourly rate? Obviously, opinions may vary, but I'd say it's pretty reasonable given what's involved.

If all that is really needed here is the transfer of the real estate then IMO $11k is expensive. I'm not a big fan of statutory fees for lawyers and estate administrators, having once lived in a state (not CA) that had them and my experience was that unless an estate was contested or for some reason particularly difficult the statutory fees often were more (sometimes considerably more) than what the hourly fee would be for the exact same work. Probate lawyers did quite well for themselves off that system. Thus I'll freely admit I have a bias against statutory fee systems for probate.

 

[zddoodah]

If all that is really needed here is the transfer of the real estate then IMO $11k is expensive.

I suppose, but that's not all that's involved in probating an estate.

As I mentioned, if the work were being done at an hourly rate of $300, $11k buys 36.67 hours of work. Can this estate be probated in less time than that? Maybe, but it's by no means certain, so you can't just assume that the statutory fee schedule will work out to the OP's friend's detriment.

 

[bokaba]

Thank you for all your response. I presumed this would be the case. I suppose my friend will have to take out a loan to pay attorney fees as he and all the other heirs are indigent.

 

[adjusterjack]

I suppose my friend will have to take out a loan to pay attorney fees

Possibly, but not necessarily. The CA court website has lots of useful information, guides, and forms for people who want to do it themselves. He could talk to lawyers about fees to do minimal work once he gets everything started.

https://www.courts.ca.gov/8865.htm

He can also check with local Legal Aid and see if he qualifies for assistance.

 

[xylene]

If the heirs, including your friend, are indigent why in the heck would they give away their share of a sizeable estate?

Honest your friend should be liquidating the estate for distribution among the heirs, instead of this scam to avoid probate.

 

[bokaba]

From what I understand, his mother was in a nursing home for at least a decade before her death. My friend took care of her, her property, and all her other needs. She told everyone in the family that she intended to give the property to him and so far, they say they are willing to honor that. I had urged him to talk to his mother about executing a joint tenancy deed with right of survivorship or TOD deed, but he never got around to it.