Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

My elderly mom( 80) signed title of her house over to my eldest daughter and her husband, due to severe financial distress; she wanted to file bankruptcy but was told she couldn't or the bank would take her house. She now has no title and my daughter is threatening to sell the house and wont allow family to stay over or visit her. She needs help and her grandson was staying there to help. The granddaughter lives in a remodeled section of house out back and has restricted my mom in every way.

Can she get title back, as she was coerced into doing tho and given only minutes to decide this transfer with no legal assistance and no family knew of this. My mom is fearful of them evicting her or selling him, and now she will have no money from the sale...its in SB county and very expensive land...worth about $900,000.

How can she get back title and what about the bankruptcy?


Asked on 12/06/15, 9:02 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Your mother is the victim of financial elder abuse. You need to contact the Santa Barbara County Adult Protective Services immediately. Info here: https://www.sccgov.org/sites/ssa/daas/aps/Pages/report.aspx

As for the bankruptcy, you don't automatically lose your home. Bankruptcy does not protect you against foreclosure if there is enough equity in the property to satisfy the homestead exemptions and pay the bank, although there are some special protections for the elderly that I have not researched well enough to explain. So you generally do still have to keep making payments even in bankruptcy, but you don't automatically lose the house.

Get your mom help from the County first, and then contact a local bankruptcy attorney for help with that.

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Answered on 12/07/15, 8:38 am


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