Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

If it wasn't deeded over to you, it wasn't "given" to you at the time without a will or trust provision. If you are the only heir, it would have been pretty straight forward in 1998 to deal with a will or trust, if one existed. Now, 16 years later, and the other parent passing away, all the survivorship rights must be dealt with in Probate Court to clear up the title issue.

If serious about hiring counsel to help in this, and if this is in SoCal courts, feel free to contact me. I�ll be happy to help fight and get the best outcome possible, using whatever facts and evidence there may be.

Mr. Nelson is right. This should have been dealt with in 1998, or in 2000 at the latest. You may be able to represent yourself in probate court on this if there are no complications (such as you have no living brothers or sisters). Even so, however, you will need to pay an attorney to guide you through the process.

THe first thing you need to do is get a title report to see exactly where title is now. At that point you can determine the correct process to follow. I suspect you are in for a visit to the probate court. So, who has been paying the property tax bills? Is there a mortgage. If so who has paid the payments?